Human nature
Locke
Human beings =rational, guided by pursuit of self-interest, but mindful of other
concerns- rationality enables them not to have destructive tendencies
Men are naturally in state of perfect freedom – can order actions, dispose of property
within bounds of law of nature- universally naturally equal
Rational – explains liberal view of state – limited power – shouldn’t interfere with
individual rights – rational individual wouldn’t want state to damage rights or take away
any of their rights
People could work out through rationality, in logical fashion, what’s in best interests-
reason- encourages belief in individual progress and capacity of human beings to resolve
differences through debate and argument rather than war
Equality of opportunity - Title to perfect freedom and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all
the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man or number of
men in the world - Everyone is indifferent – rules apply to all parties
o Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
All citizens are eligible to offices and employments, without any other distinction
than that of virtue and talent
Importance of education , foundational equality – born with moral worth and share
common humanity making life equally valuable – deserving of respect and dignity
o ‘All human beings, as creatures belonging to the same species and rank and born
indiscriminately with all the same natural advantages and faculties are equal
amongst themselves’ , That being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm
another in his life, health, liberty or possessions
o ‘Nobody neither single persons nor churches nay nor even commonwealths have
any just title to invade the civil rights and worldly goods of each other upon
pretence of religion’
Argued natural rights like life, liberty and property existed in state of nature- can never
be taken away or voluntarily given up by individuals, individual creates social contract to
gain civil rights which are better than natural rights
o Declaration of Independence
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the
rights of people to alter or to abolish it
Tolerance – by excluding all private judgement of every particular member – community
would become an umpire
o Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
Article 11 – free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious
of the rights of man – every citizen can freely speak, write and print- subject to
responsibility for the abuse of this freedom
, Meritocracy- ‘Public power of all society is above every soul contained in the same society ‘
o Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
No longer nobility, nor peerage, nor hereditary distinctions of orders, nor feudal
regime, nor patrimonial jurisdictions- nothing grounded upon distinctions of birth
All citizens are eligible to offices and employments, without any other distinction
than that of virtue and talent
Freedom = not a ‘state of license ‘ - man has liberty to dispose of his person /
possessions he has no liberty to destroy another’s- freedom ends when you take away
someone else’s freedom
Tyranny of the majority –find yourself in a permanent minority you have a problem
o Everyone of the members hath quitted this natural power- resigned it up into the
hands of the community in all cases that exclude him nor from appealing for
protection to the law established by it
o Every member of society must have given consent to the government and if
government doesn’t work in their favour, they can take away this consent
o One body politic under one supreme government – when any one joins himself to
and incorporates with any government already made – for hereby he authorizes the
society to make laws for him as the public good of society shall require
o Authority to determine all the controversies and redress the injuries that may
happen to any member of commonwealth
o Common consent given to be ordered by whom they should agree upon- without
which consent there would be no reason that one man should take upon him to be
lord or judge over another
Wollstonecraft
Rationalism defines both genders; intellectually men +women aren’t different - equal.
Women may appear inferior due to lack of education + opportunity- optimistic view of
human nature parallel to Enlightenment but thought it should apply to women as well.
o Importance of education in rational manner to allow women to contribute to
society
o ‘If a woman isn’t prepared by education to become the companion of man she will
stop the progress of knowledge’
o ‘Truth must be common to all or it will be inefficacious with respect to its influence
on general practice’
o ‘How can a woman be expected to co-operate unless she know why she ought to be
virtuous’
o ‘Who made man the exclusive judge, if woman partake with him the gift of reason’
, o ‘The more understanding women acquire the more they will be attached to their
duty, comprehending it, for unless they comprehend it, unless their morals be fixed
on the same immutable principles of man, no authority can make them discharge it
in a virtuous manner
o Without reason human beings are ruled by narrow self-interest, by prejudice born
of ignorance, and by crude lust- should be treated equally as rational human beings-
envisaged society where women could be educated and work alongside men as co-
equals in every pursuit – advocated education of middle-class children
Opposed to ‘sensibility’ particularly as women ‘blown about by every momentary gust of
feeling’ - leaves women ‘the prey of their senses’- perfectly capable of being reasoned
More explicit on universality of human nature across sexes – greater focus on
importance of equality in opportunity – particularly focused on education as seen in
opposition to Talleyrand ideas for French education system – male curriculum was work
based and practical, female was domestic – gender-based funnelling into gender roles
Cares about opportunities for those who’ve already fulfilled societal expectations
Equality - Wishes to see ‘woman placed in a station in which she would advance instead
of retarding’ - Inconsistent and unjust to subjugate women, should be regarded as full
human deserving all same educational rights as men- human beings endowed with
inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Advocated formal equality in which women were entitled to the same civil liberties
as men to experience a life of genuine liberty free from the constraints of patriarchy.
J.S Mill
Although fundamentally rational, human nature isn’t fixed- always progressing to higher
levels. Harm principle distinguishing self-rewarding+ other-regarding actions. Humans
free to pursue actions that don’t constrain liberty of others- self-regarding actions
Rational humans can discern actions which are best and which are failures, society will
evolve into a ‘marketplace of ideas’, where the best rise and the worst fall (Mill).
Individual – humans should be free to form + express opinions without reserve – can act
according to own judgement in things concerning themselves – need to have different
opinions so there can be different ‘experiments of living’ and varieties of characters
Human nature = can progress to true happiness by striving to develop themselves and
help others do the same- humans can learn from non-conformity
o Must not make a nuisance to other people – must be tolerant and consider impacts
of your actions on someone else’s rights, must not mistake non-conformity which is
not respected as having any good in itself, and is not seen as essential to well-being.
Children should be trained in accumulated knowledge of human experience+ have
freedom as adults to interpret that experience as they see fit.
‘Customs without questions: only people who make choices are using all of their
human faculties’ - "One whose desires and impulses are not his own, has no
character, no more than a steam engine has character."
o Difference between action + opinion – if actions affect someone negatively this isn’t
tolerated – Harm Principle
, Doesn’t make sense now due to rise of technology – you can affect someone
without even having to be in front of them – Mill more about physical attack and
repression of ideas- not worried about emotional and psychological damage
Disregards how individual harms can have broader social impacts
o Society naturally prefers conformity- preference exacerbated by democratization
and the control of society by the masses-conformity hurts society + individual in
minority, - through conformity people lose out on potentially desirable ways of
approaching life and stop learning from each other-progress = dynamic give and
take between conflicting ways of life, through discussion+ dissent that "truth" is
kept alive in society, conformity leads to social stagnation.
Individualism –belief in supreme importance of human individual not any social group or
collective body –individuals of equal moral worth+ separate + unique – individuals can
flourish and develop- pursuing good to best of his/ her abilities- liberalism =morally
neutral but lays down set of rules allowing individuals to make their own moral decisions
J.S Mill - emphasising role of individual- should be free to form +express opinion without
reserve + act according to own inclination+ judgement in things which concern himself.
o End goal of human beings= wellbeing + happiness relies upon rationality- becomes
rational for develop + cultivate themselves- individuals only develop skills+
attributes (decision-making skills) if they make individual decisions not just
conforming to societal expectations. – developmental individualism
o Mill argued universal suffrage has to be preceded by universal education –
promoting developmental individualism – advancement of potential to safeguard
tolerance, reason and individualism – vote should be withheld from illiterate and
unschooled – those with university education should receive more than 1 vote -
Individual should always come first, and be ‘sovereign’ over his ‘own body and mind’.
(Mill)- free to choose our own path in life regardless of what society dictates as ‘norm.’
Liberals - we should be allowed to express ourselves fully as guided by our own free will.
o He argued that to achieve true happiness, individuals should strive not only to
develop themselves but also to help others do the same-humans are fallible
T.H Green
Laws alone cannot make people good- can enable individuals to make themselves good.
Ego is constrained by a certain degree of selflessness.
Common good – full realisation of capabilities of human soul developing in every human
of character disposed to do what is good because it is good
Person can realise moral capabilities and satisfy himself to that – only if he takes this
o Non-exclusive – no conflicts of interest or it or competition for it
o Every human being can pursue it and achieve it simultaneously without
diminishing another person’s success
Man has a part to make the most and best of humanity in his own person and in the
persons of others , Perfection of all is involved – including the others’ good as his
own – all beings in common, Perfect life is open to all men and fully attainable by
one man only in so far as it is attained by all
