Human nature and essence

From the point of view of a substantialist approach to man, striving to find the unchangeable basis of his existence, unchangeable “human qualities”, “human essence” and “human nature” are one-order concepts. However, if, together with the outstanding thinkers of the 20th century. try to overcome the substantialist understanding of man, then the difference between these concepts will become obvious.

The concept of human nature is extremely broad; with its help, one can describe not only the greatness and strength of a person, but also his weakness and limitations. Human nature is a unity of the material and spiritual, natural and social, unique in its contradictory nature. However, with the help of this concept we can only see the tragic inconsistency of “human, all too human” existence, the dominant principle in man, the prospects of man will remain hidden. Human nature is the situation in which every person finds himself, these are his “starting conditions”. M. Scheler, like other representatives of philosophical anthropology (M. Landmann, A. Gehlen, etc.), is inclined to recognize the bodily-spiritual nature of man. A person cannot “jump” beyond the boundaries of his bodily organization, “forget” about it. " The concept of human nature lacks normativity; it characterizes a person from the point of view of “existence”.

1.1. Human knowledge. Human nature and essence

A person is able to realize the contradictory nature of his nature, to understand that he belongs to conflicting worlds - the world of freedom and the world of necessity. Man, wrote E. Fromm, is both inside and outside nature; he “for the first time is life, which is aware of itself” 1 . A person does not feel at home in any of the worlds; he is both an animal and an angel, both body and soul. The awareness of inappropriate conflict makes him lonely and full of fear. According to the Spanish philosopher X. Orte y Gasset, man is “an embodied problem, a complete and very risky adventure...” 2

Of all the creatures in the Universe, man is the only one who does not know exactly what he is. A person may cease to be humane, but even when he acts cruelly, he does it humanly. Humanity is a moral characteristic of a person; it differs from the concept of human. Human - it is life given along with its awareness. Of all living beings, wrote the Russian philosopher Vl. Soloviev, only a person realizes that he is mortal.

Human nature is a contradiction that is immanent (internal) to human existence. But human nature also presupposes awareness of this contradiction as one’s own internal conflict and the desire to overcome it. According to Fromm, this is not a theoretical desire, it is a need to overcome loneliness, often at the cost of abandoning one side of one’s “nature.”

There may be many answers to the question of who I am, but they all boil down to two, says Fromm. One answer is regressive, it involves a return to animal life, to ancestors, nature, immersion in primary collectivity. A person strives to shake off everything that hinders him in this endeavor - language, culture, self-awareness, law. Philosophy offers a person various options for a regressive answer: this is the naturalistic “idea of ​​man”, and its pragmatist version, and the triumph of F. Nietzsche’s “Dionysian man”. Another answer, another way - progressive. This is the path itself

1 Fromm E. Soul of man. M., 1992. P. 84.

2 Ortega y Gasset X. Man and people // X. Ortega y Gasset. Dehumanization of art and other works. M., 1991. P. 242.

12 Chapter 1. Social thought about the problem of human needs

existence in which a person finds his essence. The essence of man is a path of creativity, self-sacrifice, intense self-awareness. In the Christian worldview, human essence is the image of God. Fromm expresses the essence of man in the concept of being as opposed to having. For K. Marx, the essence of man is a universal attitude towards the world, the ability to be “everything”. For Ortega y Gasset, the essence of a person is a constant risk, danger, constant going beyond oneself, a person’s ability to transcend, to destroy a stable image of the Self, this is not a “material” being. A thing is always identical to itself, but a person can become anyone. Vl. Soloviev wrote:

It is natural for a person to want to be better and more than he really is; it is natural for him to gravitate towards the ideal of a superman. If he really he wants it, then he can, and if he can, then he should. But isn’t this nonsense - to be better, higher, more than your reality? Yes, this is nonsense for an animal, since for him reality is what makes him and owns him; but man though too is a product of an already given, pre-existing reality, at the same time can influence it from within, and consequently, this reality of his is one way or another, to one degree or another, what he does it himself..."

So, the essence of a person is the result of his free choice from two possibilities that are given to him by his own existence, its "nature". “The essence of man” is a concept from the world of the proper, it is an attractive image of a superman, it is the image of God. Even the seemingly quite mundane definition of the essence of man as a set of social relations given by Marx (“Theses on Feuerbach”), upon careful examination reveals an ideal normativity, inaccessibility for full and final embodiment. How can an individual person embody in his final life the simplicity and monolithic nature of life in a primitive community, the hierarchy of relationships in class society, etc.? Of all earthly creatures, noted Vl*. Soloviev, one person is able to critically evaluate himself

1 Soloviev Vl. The idea of ​​a superman//V.S. Solonyev. Works: In 2 vols M 1989 T II S. 613. " "

1.1. Human knowledge. Human nature and its essence 13

way of being as not corresponding to what should be. Accordingly, the essence of a person is that “human image” that can become a value guide for an individual who freely makes his life choices. The essence of a person is not a collection of certain qualities that a particular individual can take possession of forever. A bridge that connects the original conflict human nature, the existence of man and his essence, is freedom, therefore, free action. Freedom, free action is self-determination, self-determination, the ability to be and remain the cause of oneself. However, the attempt to imagine an absolutely free action, not determined by anything or anyone, encounters paradoxes. Human life is inseparable from external circumstances. But these circumstances are varied; they provide different possibilities for action to the person who makes the choice. Behind the commission of a specific act, behind the determination of a specific method of action, there is a choice, the origins of which are rooted in human nature itself - the choice of value guidelines, meaning, direction of life as a whole. “We are free under compulsion,” wrote Or-tega y Gasset. Freedom is closely related to awareness inconsistency, underlying human nature; with the impossibility of avoiding choice as a “vital” resolution of this contradiction; with constant efforts to maintain one's human essence. Freedom is inseparable from the essence of man. “True freedom,” wrote the Russian philosopher S.A. Levitsky, “is not an irresponsible play with possibilities, but the realization of one’s unique possibilities, burdened with responsibility” 1 .

Man is one of the biggest mysteries for... man, according to the French thinker B. Pascal, “the most incomprehensible phenomenon of nature.” Already the Blessed Augustine asked in vain: “What am I, my God? What is my nature? Once upon a time, the very famous, even famous N. Malbranche, in the preface to his main work “On the Search for Truth” (1674), wrote:

Levitsky S. A. The tragedy of freedom. M.: Posev, 1984. P. 202.

Chapter 1. Social thought about the problem of human needs

Of all human sciences, the science of man is the most worthy of his attention. However, it is not the most revered and not the most developed of all the sciences that we have... Among those who diligently study science, there are very few who devote themselves to it and even fewer who succeed in it.

The great I. Kant, who outlined the four main problems of philosophy: (1) what can I know; (2) what I need to know; (3) what I dare to hope for and (4) what a person is - I had every reason to say that in essence all problems could be reduced to the last of them. In Kant's works there are many valuable comments that help to understand a person: about sincerity and lies, about selfishness, about daydreaming, fantasy, even clairvoyance. But he does not even pose the question of what a person is. There is probably not a single significant thinker who has not identified the problem, just as there is no thinker who has solved it in any satisfactory way.

The past century has not brought clarity to this issue. According to N.A. Berdyaev, man is still “a mystery in the world and, perhaps, the greatest mystery.” Even today he would like to know “who he is, where he came from and where he is going.” M. Buber emphasizes: a person is mysterious, inexplicable, he represents a kind of mystery worthy of surprise.

Since time immemorial, man has known about himself that he is an object worthy of the closest attention, but it is precisely this object in its entirety, with everything that is in it, that he is afraid to approach. Sometimes he makes such an attempt, but soon, overwhelmed by the multitude of problems arising here, he retreats with silent resignation and either begins to think about all sorts of matters other than man, or dismembers this man, i.e. itself, into component parts that are convenient to operate separately, without much hassle and with minimal responsibility 1 .

Attempts to identify the “mechanism” and the main stages of human development have been made by science more than once, but even today the problem seems prohibitively complex. There are few indisputable facts, in fact there are none at all. The prehistory of mankind, going back thousands of years, is so diverse, confusing,

Cm.: Vagliano M.V. Philosophy. M., 2003. P. 367.

1.2. History of social thought on the problem of needs

is overloaded with randomness of various kinds, so that it is possible to single out even what is essential and decisive only with a greater or lesser degree of probability. Some researchers compare the problem to a “black box” - at its entrance, in the darkness of bygone millennia, looms a herd individual, little distinguishable from the common ancestors of humans and monkeys, at the exit - Homo sapiens (reasonable man).

A concept that characterizes a person in his highest, final state and ultimate goal. Ancient philosophers (Lao Tzu, Confucius, Socrates, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle) ​​identified the main essential qualities in human nature - intelligence and morality, and the ultimate goal - virtue and happiness.

In medieval philosophy, these qualities and goals are interpreted as given. God creates man in his own image, but man's divine nature can only be realized by following the example of Christ's life, death, and posthumous resurrection. Final goal earthly life - acquisition eternal life in the sky.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

HUMAN NATURE

a concept that expresses the natural generation of man, his kinship, closeness with everything that exists, and above all, with “life in general,” as well as all the diversity of strictly human manifestations that distinguish man from all other forms of existence and living. P. h. was often identified with human essence, which was reduced to rationality, consciousness, morality, language, symbolism, objective activity, the will to power, unconscious libidinal foundations, play, creativity, freedom, attitude towards death, religiosity... The mutual exclusivity of these characteristics does not allow us to find an unambiguous “essence” "of a person without losing living diversity, to establish integrity, unity, without turning a person into an object external to oneself, into a kind of prepared exhibit, a one-dimensional being. The "essence" of a person cannot be torn out of his "existence". Existence, one’s own life, vital activity, living and experiencing are the substance of man, his natural foundation. Life activity goes into “life in general,” into vital, bodily “zoo” structures, that is, it turns out to be a generation and continuation of the universe, nature; but it also covers the entire diversity of human manifestations, accomplishments, incarnations, the entire sphere where a person “simply lives,” where he “leads his life” (H. Plesner); and, finally, it again emerges into “being-in-general”, illuminating it, rushing towards the universe. Life activity, existence, existence (and at the same time “existence,” i.e., enlightenment, breakthrough into being, revelation) is precisely what is called P. h.

P. h. includes the following aspects: human origin; a person's place in the order of life; human existence itself.

The origin of man is explained either in a religious way (man was created by God on a special day from the dust of the earth in his own image and likeness), or in a scientific evolutionist way (man naturally arises in the process of evolution of living organisms, in particular anthropoids, simplified: “man descended from a monkey” ). In order to understand the validity of natural anthropogenesis, it is necessary to compare humans and animals, understanding the place of humans in the series of life. Man has something in common with both plants and animals. In morphological terms alone, there are 1560 characteristics by which people can be compared with higher anthropoids. At the same time, it is discovered, as A. Cervera Espinosa notes, that we have 396 characteristics in common with chimpanzees, 305 with gorilla, 272 with orangutan. At the same time, however, 312 properties characterize exclusively a person. The famous hominid triad - “upright walking - hand - brain” distinguishes humans among the higher anthropomorphs. It was this triad that was key to reconstructing the origin of man from the animal world.

The commonality of physiological manifestations (food, blood types, life expectancy, embryonic period are approximately the same), as well as the similarity of mental organization (sensory-emotional sphere, memory, imitation, curiosity...) does not make us the same as animals. “A person is always something more or something less than an animal, but never an animal” (Cervera Espinosa A. Who is a person? Philosophical anthropology // This is a person. Anthology. M.: Higher school, 1995, p. 82) .

Indeed, in biological terms, humans are “less than animals.” Man is an “insufficient” creature, “biologically unequipped”, characterized by “unspecialized organs”, the absence of “instinctive filters” that protect against dangers, from the pressure of the external environment. An animal always lives in one or another environment - a “cut out of nature” - as if at home, equipped with the original “knowledge-instinct”: this is an enemy, this is food, this is a danger, this does not matter for your life, and acts accordingly. A person does not have an initial species-specific “measure of behavior”, he does not have his own environment, he is homeless everywhere. A. Portham called man “the normalized half-baked monkey.” It is biological lack of equipment that “pushes” a person beyond the sphere of life, into the World. Man is a “disease of life” (F. Nietzsche), a “deserter of life”, its “ascetic”, the only creature, capable of saying “no” to life (M. Scheler).

A comparison with animals shows that “on the zoological scale, man stands next to animals, more precisely, with higher primates, but this “nearby” does not mean homogeneity or sameness, but rather a close connection between unities that are different in essence. The place occupied by man is not next, but a special place" (Cervera Espinosa A. This is a man, pp. 86 - 87).

Man is “more than an animal,” for he is determined by the “principle of spirit,” which is opposite to life; spirit and life intersect with each other in man. The spirit “ideates life”, and life “vivifies the spirit” (M. Scheler). As a result, a special place appears - the world of culture - a value-based, objective-symbolic reality, which is created by man and, in turn, creates him. Culture becomes the measure of humanity in a person. Culture, on the one hand, limits a person, closes him in on himself, makes him a “symbolic being” (E Cassirer). A person can no longer directly relate to the world; he is mediated by culture (primarily by language, patterns of thinking and action, a system of norms and values). Man objectifies the world, comprehends, defines and creates everything in accordance with himself and his needs. A person turns into a subject - a carrier of activity, “bends the world to himself” (O. M. Freidenberg). Nature and the world turn into an object that exists independently of man, but becomes a means of satisfying his needs. The “world” turns out to be commensurate with man. As a cultural-historical, ethnic, socially defined place, it sets limits for a person and makes it difficult to enter another cultural environment, into nature, into “being in general.”

On the other hand, thanks to the “cultural factor” in a person (A. Gehlen), an individual is able to rise to the level of achievements of the human race, to appropriate his own generic essence (Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, etc.). Moreover, man is a fundamentally world-open being. He takes an “eccentric position” (H. Plesner), that is, he transfers his center outside himself and thereby constantly expands his limits, expands his World to the Universe, the Absolute, through his individual self-existence he “highlights” “being-in-general” ( M. Heidegger), goes into the incomprehensible (S. L. Frank), into the sphere of the transcendent. It turns out that man is the only creature capable of standing “above himself” and “above the world” (M. Scheler), that is, taking the position of God, becoming “the key to the universe” (P. Teilhard de Chardin).

P. human being as a strictly human existence emerges from human existence, from life activity. The elementary phenomenon of human life turns out to be a pre-logical (or metalogical), pre-theoretical premonition of life, a manifestation of one’s existence, which is difficult to express verbally, but can be conventionally captured by the formula “I exist” (“I am”, “I live”, “I am alive”). .

The phenomenon “I exist” is the “irreflexive starting point” of a person’s life, in which “I” and “existence” are not yet divided, everything is pulled together into the unity of self-existence, into the collapsed potentiality of possible unfoldings of an individual’s life.

Traditionally, in this natural foundation, three elements of human existence are distinguished: corporeality, soulfulness, spirituality.

The body - first of all "flesh" - is the dense, obvious basis of our existence. As “flesh”, “materiality”, people are one with the world, with its flesh and substance. The human body is isolated, formed flesh, which not only goes out into the outside world, but also turns out to be the bearer of one’s own inner world and one’s Self. “Body” is “corpse,” i.e. bottom, limb, “perishability,” but at the same time “body " - "whole", i.e. the rootedness of human integrity, self-identity.

The human body is not anonymous, but “one’s own body,” distinguished among “other bodies.” The body turns out to be not just a vital, but a vital-semantic basis of self-existence and comprehension of the world - a “body that understands.” The body is not only an external expression of a person’s self-existence, but also an “internal landscape” in which “I exist.” In this case, self-existence comes to the fore in the form of “mental life”, “inner mental world” or “soul” of a person. This is a special internal reality, inaccessible to external observation, a hidden inner world, fundamentally incapable of being fully expressed externally. Although this is where goals, motives, plans, projects, aspirations are rooted, without which there are no actions, behavior, deeds. The spiritual world is fundamentally unique, inimitable and intransferable to another, and therefore “lonely”, non-public. This world does not seem to exist, it does not have any special place in the body, it is a “non-existent country”. It can be a land of imagination, dreams, fantasies, illusions. But this reality “does not exist” for others, but for the individual it is the true center of being, the true “being-in-itself.”

The spiritual world is not fenced off from the outside world. B-impressions, experiences, perceptions indicate a connection with the outside world, that the soul listens to the outside world; consciousness is fundamentally intentional, that is, it is directed toward something else; it is always “consciousness about” something else. The soul is multifaceted. The psychic sphere includes the unconscious, consciousness, sensory-emotional, and rational; and images and will, reflected and reflection, consciousness of another and self-awareness. Various manifestations of the spiritual world can come into conflict, confront, giving rise to mental illness, anxiety, but also forcing a person to change, look for himself and make himself.

The soul is relatively autonomous, but not separate from the body. If the body is the “shell” of the soul, then it also turns out to be its “appearance”, embodies the soul, expresses it and takes shape itself. A person’s own unique face appears, he becomes a personality. Personality is called the center of the spirit in the individual (M. Scheler and others), “the embodied face” (P. Florensky and others). This is already a manifestation of spiritual self-existence, the spiritual hypostasis of human nature.

If the body is externally representable, and the soul is the inner world, then the “spirit” presupposes a connection between oneself and the other, a “meeting”, “revelation”, news of the other (ultimately - about the transcendental, universal, about the universe, the absolute, “being in general” ). Having been perceived by the individual, the “message” finds a response, becomes “co-ness” and, finally, “conscience” - a properly human, individual state. On the basis of spirituality, the idea of ​​the unity of all things appears, as well as the unity of the human world. Co-existence with others and with other people is formed into a “shared world” (X. Plesner).

The concept of "P. h." also includes gender identity. "Man" is the same as "man" in many languages. This fact is often cited as an argument to justify such a form of sexism (oppression of one sex by the other) as phallocracy, i.e. “the power of the masculine.” Phallocracy presupposes the dominance of the male value system and the construction of culture and society on the basis of these values.

Men's values ​​traditionally include: reasonableness in the form of rationality; dualistic thinking; the prevalence of the active, volitional principle; desire for a hierarchy of power; “narcissism” (a state in which, “by loving and protecting himself, he hopes to preserve himself”).

Women's values ​​turn out to be: the prevalence of the sensory-emotional sphere of the soul, the unconscious-impulsive; a sense of integrity with the world and with other people; sacred feeling of one's physicality. Women's values ​​act as the "shadow" qualities of a man.

A woman was identified primarily with the body, with the carnal principle, and a man with the spirit, with spirituality. The apologetics of phallocracy reaches its most vivid expression in O. Weininger, who stated: “A woman has no soul, she is not a microcosm, she is not created in the likeness of God. She is an extra-moral being. She is a man’s thing and a child’s thing. A woman is not a person. If a woman asserts herself personally, shows high intelligence and spirituality, then all these qualities are explained by the fact that she is only apparently a woman, and the “masculine principle” prevails in her.”

At the present time, when the subject-object division has exhausted itself and has led humanity to a dead end, the sense of belonging, empathy, addressing another, unity with nature, i.e. “feminine” values, are much more valued. Another extreme appears - the desire to reduce a person to the originality of the “proto-woman” or an attempt to “erase gender”, considering it as a cultural-historical phenomenon, and not a natural-biological one (postmodernism). The symbols become “castrato” (R. Barthes), homosexual (M. Jeannot), hermaphrodite, bisexual. It is unlikely that overcoming sexism should be identified with asexuality. The human race is a unity of diversity; it cannot exist and reproduce without the combination of “male” and “female”.

“Body - soul - spirit” in their unity constitute an abstract P. h., common to all people at all times. In fact, human nature is transformed and modified in the cultural, historical and social life people, depends on living conditions, on orientation, value and semantic attitudes, on ways of co-existence with other people and on the self-identification of individuals.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Benedict Spinoza

What is a person? Who is this person? Why was man created? What is the true nature of a person that determines his essence? In part, human psychology, as well as other human sciences, give us answers to these and many other questions about ourselves. But these answers are clearly not enough for us to fully understand ourselves and other people, so we are still looking for an answer to the question: “who are we and why are we here?” The nature of man, about which we'll talk in this article, has not yet been fully studied, but what we already know about it is quite enough for us to understand many of the most important points in human behavior. And this understanding of the reasons for people’s behavior will allow us to find the “key” to every person without exception, including ourselves. Let's figure out who we people are and why we were created.

Human nature can be called all those innate, genetically determined qualities and behavioral characteristics that are inherent in all people. Human nature is everything that has always been in us, from the moment we appeared, and that makes us human. Human nature is what is characteristic of humans as a species. Human nature is what determines our eternal and unchanging aspirations and desires. Human nature is our ability to specifically respond to external stimuli and perceive in a certain way. the world. Human nature is our ability to shape the world to suit us. And finally, human nature is its ability to survive. The last definition, in my opinion, best explains human nature as a biopsychic construct necessary for him, as a species. Therefore, let's focus on this definition and discuss it in more detail. After all, philosophical debates about human nature have a long history, and there can be many opinions about what human nature is. We need to understand the obvious in this matter, which we can, if necessary, check through basic observations of ourselves and other people. And what is more obvious for us, in my opinion, is not the definition of what human nature is, but what its meaning is and what it is intended for. After all, if we humans cannot or do not want to determine the structure of human nature, then we need to study its functions in order to then link them to various elements of the structure and thus understand it. It's both simpler and more interesting. In the end, what is more important to us: knowing who we are or what we are capable of? In my opinion, it is best to study human nature from the perspective of our needs, desires, goals and capabilities. So let's do just that.

So, in order to better understand human nature, it is necessary to understand the meaning of its purpose, which is quite simple to understand, if you do not go into details - human nature is intended for the survival of man and humanity. By nature, we are what we must be in order to survive in this world, therefore, when studying and explaining human behavior, we should always proceed first of all from this basic need. This need gives rise to other needs, which in turn encourage a person to take certain actions necessary to satisfy these needs.

To understand what people are naturally capable of, let's look at human nature through the prism of the biblical commandments, which show us what negative qualities a person has and how they manifest themselves in him. With your permission, I will cite only a few of them, namely the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth commandments. It’s quicker and easier for me to explain them, so I’ll show you by their example what is inherent in people by nature. So these commandments are: Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; don't steal; Do not bear false witness and do not covet what your neighbor has. That is, don’t do what, attention – you want, you can, and in some situations you are forced and inclined to do. Do you understand what these commandments tell us? They tell us that a person is characterized by all these actions and desires - he tends to kill, commit adultery, steal, lie, desire what others have, but what he does not have, and this, as you understand, is only a small part of those actions and desires to which we are inclined from birth, which are inherent in us by nature itself, or, if you like, given to us by God. Here, too, a natural question arises - if God does not like certain qualities of a person, then why did he endow him with them? To then punish a person for his natural behavior? What for? Okay, we will discuss these questions some other time, now we are not interested in religion, it has its own purpose, we are interested in human nature, which we need to understand well in order to understand ourselves and other people and live in accordance with this understanding, then eat, in harmony with your nature.

So, as you and I see, it is common for a person to do everything that God forbids him to do with the help of his commandments, and much more that society forbids him to do with the help of his laws. What we call good, kind deeds is also characteristic of man. This, in turn, means that a person by nature is neither kind nor evil, neither bad nor good, he is simply the way he is, the way he should be, so that not so much even himself, but his species, can survive in this harsh world. If we are inclined to kill, steal, deceive, commit adultery, as well as other, both bad and good deeds, then we need to do them in certain life situations in order to survive. Therefore, we should not evaluate our actions as bad or good, since they are all inherent in our nature; we need to understand their necessity for us in certain situations. We cannot completely change our nature, and probably should not, but we can supplement it, complicate it, improve it, develop it, and we can control it. But most importantly, we must subjugate our nature so that it is not she who controls us, but we who control it. Then our behavior will be as rational, prudent, practical and adequate as possible, and therefore reasonable.

So you see, friends, our behavior can tell us who we are by showing us why we are the way we are. Our actions tell us about our capabilities, and our capabilities indicate our needs, to satisfy which we perform these actions. And our needs are determined by the need to maintain life. Therefore, a person most often does something not because he wants to do it, but because he must and, most importantly, can do it. In some situations, due to our personal qualities, we can be evil and cruel, in others, kind and sympathetic, ready to help our neighbors. We react to external stimuli and act according to our nature and our capabilities. And depending on who we have become in the course of our lives, our capabilities and abilities can vary greatly, and as a rule they do. This means that we can behave differently in the same situations. We are different, friends, despite our nature, which we all have the same, and have always been and will be different. A person is formed as an individual under the influence of natural and social factors, so we are relatively easy to adapt and adapt to almost any conditions. But some do it better, some worse. We also tend to adapt the world to ourselves, creating a human situation, that is, an environment that suits us, in which we feel comfortable and safe to live. We have, or rather may have, both the desire and the opportunity for this. And again, depending on the level of development that determines a person’s capabilities, either the desire to change everything around him awakens in him, or not. The more primitive a creature is, the weaker it is, and the weaker it is, the more often it is forced to adapt to external conditions rather than change them. Consequently, a person adapts to everything that he cannot change. That is, it’s not a matter of desire, it’s a matter of possibilities. The ability to adapt makes us more resilient, and the ability to adapt speaks of great strength and high level human development. This is how human nature can manifest itself in different ways, the basis of which is unchanged, but certain personal qualities a person develops them in himself in the process of life, or life develops them in him, with the help of various life scenarios. Also, in the process of life, a person, if he is constantly engaged in self-development and self-improvement, discovers in himself more and more new possibilities inherent in his nature. That is why it is so difficult to say what human nature is in its holistic form, because there is no limit to human perfection, which means we will always learn something new about ourselves and our capabilities.

Our basic instinctive needs, which we all have the same, flow from the need to survive in our world, which is very unfriendly towards humans. Our worldview and understanding of the world may be different, but the basic, or rather, primary needs are the same for everyone, and every person on this planet strives to satisfy them. This is the need for food, water, safety, sexual satisfaction, in general, everything that a person needs for survival and procreation. This is followed by more elevated, secondary needs, which a person begins to experience as he satisfies his basic needs [physiological needs and the need for security, that is, to guarantee the satisfaction of physiological needs]. Familiarize yourself with Abraham Maslow's pyramid of needs; in my opinion, it perfectly demonstrates not only what needs can determine the specific behavior of a particular person, but also what level of development a particular person or group of people is at, depending on their aspirations and capabilities satisfy one or another of your needs. The hierarchy of needs shows us what human nature is as a whole [as we know it], and how it manifests itself in different people, depending on their development, lifestyle, environment, opportunities. More developed person it is easier to satisfy his needs, especially the lower ones, so he is calmer and less aggressive. It should also be said that the higher a person’s intelligence, the more veiled and thoughtful his desire to satisfy his needs will be, and therefore, the more successful.

In general, our whole life comes down to satisfying our needs, and can only differ in what needs each of us strives to satisfy at one time or another in our lives. From this point of view, we are not much different from animals, except that only as we develop we awaken in ourselves new, more elevated needs and, thanks to our intelligence, can find more opportunities to satisfy them. In this sense, we, as I have already said, have unlimited potential to expand our capabilities. So it is still unknown how much we can change the world, but the fact that we will strive for this is beyond doubt. Indeed, in addition to needs, a person also has desires that have gone far beyond his capabilities, and they pull a person upward, to that stage of development, being at which he can fulfill these desires. In this sense, human nature is unique - we can want what does not exist, but what we guess about, what we dream about. So dreams, as a higher form of needs, also motivate us to action. Curiosity and the desire to change the world, and at the same time oneself, are an integral feature of human nature. And this is not surprising. After all, a person’s energy potential is very high, so it is natural for him to strive for maximum action, after which, depending on the capabilities of each individual person, the world can change greatly, both for the better and for the worse.

In general, friends, the nature and essence of man is known through careful observation of different people, studying their culture and history, traditions and laws, as well as through introspection, because some part of human nature manifests itself in each of us. Those qualities that a person has and which manifest themselves in him in certain situations are an integral part of his nature, and the more primitive a person is, the easier it is to understand his innate, unchanging essence, which changes the more the more actively a person develops, improves, and therefore complicates his behavior and habits. This very tendency of a person to change in his life and complicate his behavior is also his natural quality. Therefore, what we call the human mind is undoubtedly present in him, but requires development, since the higher the rationality of a person, the more adequate existing reality he behaves. And as you and I know, a person is not always adequate in his behavior, which in turn means that human nature is unreasonable, but we have the power to make ourselves sufficiently intelligent beings, taking advantage of the potential inherent in us.

The most interesting and, perhaps, important thing about human nature is that it, this nature, can be adapted to almost any lifestyle. Man is a suggestible creature; you can suggest anything to him, thereby creating in him the so-called “second nature”. The second nature is the first nature modified, or better said, supplemented by man. That is, second nature is a set of sensory, cognitive, and operational traits acquired in addition to the basic personality. It can be said even more simply - permanent personality qualities that are acquired are the second nature of a person. A person, as a rule, considers the qualities he has acquired to be the same natural part of his personality as everything that is given to him genetically. Thus, a person, thanks to suggestion and self-hypnosis, can consider as part of his nature such moments in his behavior, and such desires and needs of his, which are not characteristic of him by nature, by his “first nature,” but which he acquired and developed over the course of his life. life. For example, a person’s “second nature” is his cultural education, as well as his professional skills and behavior that he has developed. The second nature of a person is expressed in situations, for example, when a person begins to associate himself with his activities, with his cultural and mental merits, as well as with his hobbies and achievements. As for suggestions, a person can, for example, be instilled with the idea that sex is a sin and that engaging in it is sinful, and therefore not necessary. And a person who believes in this will not have sex, thus going against his own nature, that is, against his first nature. You can also instill in a person the idea that he is a certain person, who is characterized by certain qualities, for example, you can instill in him that he is a slave, born to serve his master. And this role accepted by a person will become his second nature, and he will behave according to this role. So, in our lives, friends, a lot, perhaps even everything, depends on what other people inspire us and what we inspire ourselves. Each of us will be in this life what other people or ourselves make us. Human nature is quite flexible and even unpredictable to some extent, since we still don’t know a lot about what a person can be like if we create certain conditions for him or subject him to certain tests, or if we instill in him something like that, which will completely change his personality and behavior. Therefore, it is very important to pay serious attention to everything that goes into our head, so as not to allow thoughts, emotions, opinions, actions, values ​​and goals that are abnormal for us to become normal.

So far, you and I know about human nature only what people have been able to learn about it throughout their history and what we ourselves can see by observing human behavior. But we still don’t know much about ourselves, since man is not fully known, and it is unknown whether he will ever be fully known, especially by himself. However, we can conclude that human nature is fundamentally unchanged, our basic needs and primitive ways of satisfying them have not changed throughout our history. This in turn means that every newly born person is like a blank slate on which you can draw anything, regardless of who his ancestors were. By nature, all people are practically the same; they all have the same instincts that govern them and determine their needs. Any qualities inherent in one person, under certain circumstances, can be inherent in another person. Whatever one person can do, other people can do if they put in the necessary effort. From this we can draw a very simple, but very useful conclusion for us - by ourselves we can partially know other people, just as well as we know ourselves, and by other people we can understand what a person can be like, what qualities are inherent in him from nature, what capabilities he has and therefore, we can understand what kind of person we are capable of becoming. That is, everything that is in other people is in each of us, in an active or passive state. And everything that is in us is also in other people. From here follows a completely logical conclusion - do not judge, lest you be judged, for what is inherent in others is also inherent in you, and under certain circumstances you can behave the way those whom you condemn behave.

And here's what I want to tell you finally, Dear friends. Regardless of our nature, we can become whatever we want in this life. Man invents himself according to his own at will. You just need to have it, this desire. And although human nature is unchanged, nevertheless, firstly, it has not been fully studied and therefore you and I do not know what else we can be capable of, besides what we already know and what we know about ourselves, and secondly, it in no way prevents us from changing ourselves and our behavior, both as needed and depending on our desires. Remember, you will be in this life who you decide to be. So don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity to determine your own destiny.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Human nature is mysterious, interesting, majestic and, it seems to me, completely incomprehensible. It tells us who we humans are as nature intended and shows us what we can become if we use our full potential. And human development potential is truly enormous. Therefore, the more we learn about ourselves, the wider the scope of our capabilities becomes. Knowing human nature, we can understand many of our own and others’ needs, motives, desires, feelings, interests, opportunities and goals. And thanks to this understanding, we are able to competently manage our own and others’ behavior through thoughtful actions. Which, you see, is a very useful skill for our lives. I suggest you, friends, with the help of this article, get acquainted with the most, in my opinion, important manifestations of human nature for us, the understanding of which will help you understand yourself and others.

To begin with I would like to give you short definition what we call human nature, or human nature, as you prefer. So, human nature is the sum of all his genetically determined abilities and predispositions that make up his personality, or rather, characterize him as a species. Simply put, human nature is what we all have from birth that makes us who we are. So what did nature, or, if you like, God give us? Let's get a look.

Instincts

And she gave us, first of all, the instincts that drive us. I hope, dear readers, you are not one of those people who deny the presence of innate instincts in humans, since even with the help of the naked eye and a mind not burdened with excess knowledge, it is clear that from birth we have a genetically specified set of aspirations and tendencies that are expressed in our relatively complex behavior, the purpose of which is to satisfy a number of vital needs. Thus, no matter what kind of person we are talking about, no matter what part of the world he was born in and no matter what he dreams of, he will inevitably strive first of all to satisfy, first his basic, that is, primary needs, and then, to the extent of their satisfaction, to more elevated, secondary needs, determined by his instincts. We all experience the need for food, water, oxygen, warmth, safety, as well as the need to sleep and the need for sex and other needs that we begin to experience as our basic needs are satisfied. All these needs are determined by our innate instincts, that is, they are inherent in us by nature and therefore are part of our human nature. Thus, friends, when you study, analyze, evaluate the behavior of this or that person, be sure to ask yourself: the desire to satisfy which of your instinctive needs explains the behavior of this person? This will help you understand the motives behind his behavior.

In general, the human mind, which we develop throughout our lives, when we learn and gain life experience, is engaged in nothing more than servicing our instincts, that is, searching for opportunities to satisfy our needs. Therefore, I recommend starting the study of human psychology with the study of human instincts, that is, with his biological essence. Instincts are necessary, first of all, for the survival of a person and the continuation of his kind, this concerns basic instincts. But instincts of a higher order allow us, firstly, to realize ourselves worthily in this life, awakening in us the desire to leave something behind in this world [or express ourselves in some other way], and secondly, they encourage a person to sacrifice their interests and, if necessary, even their lives for the sake of other people and the common good. For example, a mother may sacrifice herself for her child. Or, a person can sacrifice his interests or his life for the sake of his loved ones and dear people - for the sake of his family, his community, his people. You must admit, not every person is capable of this. Or rather, we are all naturally capable of this, but not everyone manages to reach such a state of soul and mind in their lives. Indeed, in order to manifest instincts of a higher order, a person must learn to satisfy his basic instincts, or he must learn to control them with the help of his mind. However, some people act as they do, following the call of the heart, by which we can understand their intuitive understanding of what needs to be done and how to act for the sake of the common good. So in this sense, human nature is not always predictable.

Learning ability

Learning ability, or more correctly, the desire to understand the world around us, and at an even more primitive level, curiosity is also an innate quality of a person, inherent in his human nature. It is curiosity, and in a more complex form, reflection and comprehension, that allows a person to ask questions about the meaning of life. The question about the meaning of life, I believe, speaks about the rationality of a person. Only a rational being, when doing something, can think about why, why and for what purpose he is doing it. Therefore, the question about the meaning of life is a very smart question. Many people ask them, but not many, unfortunately, think thoroughly about this question, so not everyone finds the answer to it. We'll discuss it with you sometime. But human learning, as you understand, is not one or even a thousand, but millions of questions that you and I begin to ask ourselves and others [first others, and then ourselves] from the moment of our birth, when, studying the world around us, we we want to learn about how everything is arranged in it and why everything in it is arranged exactly this way and not otherwise. A person’s tendency to learn must be supported and developed, because nature, having endowed us with the desire to understand the world around us, is not going to do anything for us in this direction. We either use our capabilities and develop them, or they will simply not be used by us, which is equivalent to the fact that we do not have them at all. After all, the laws of human nature are such that everything that we use develops in us, and what we do not use atrophies and stops working. Therefore, the opportunities given to us by nature need to be developed in order to use them. You and I must constantly learn to become smarter and better, this is what nature [God] wants from us, since she has endowed us with such an opportunity. So nature has given us everything we need, and our task is only to take advantage of it. Remember, friends, that talent and genius are not innate, but acquired qualities. But our innate tendency to learn, coupled with hard work and perseverance, helps us develop these qualities in ourselves.

Creation

Creativity is not just a part of human nature, opening up limitless possibilities for it, it is, I would say, a piece of God, that is, the creator, creator, in us. No matter who and how created this world, he partially, and maybe completely, endowed us with the ability to create, the ability to transform matter and energy in such a way as to create something fundamentally new, which does not exist in nature. Just think about the meaning of this quality - it allows us, first to imagine, and then, if possible, to create something that has never been and is not in the world. That is, you and I can create our own own world, which is what we did, thereby making our lives better, more interesting, and of higher quality. You and I are endowed with the ability to imagine something that does not exist, and I believe this is simply a fabulous opportunity, thanks to which we can change and transform the reality around us in accordance with our desires. At the same time, we don’t even fully know what we are capable of. As we study the laws of this world, we get more and more opportunities to materialize our creativity. You and I can create - we just need to realize this thought to understand and feel how lucky we are to be born and live in this amazing world.

Stupidity

Unfortunately, I have to admit the fact that human stupidity, which, as Albert Einstein said, is infinite, is also an innate quality of a person. This, however, has its own explanation, which I will not give in detail now, so that later I can explain it to you in more detail for better understanding. I will only say that stupidity is associated with laziness - with laziness to think, which in turn allows a person, firstly, to save energy, and secondly, to save time when making decisions. After all, the human brain, in order to work faster and save energy, strives to make ready-made [template] decisions, which are not always appropriate, which is why they look stupid. That is, the reluctance to think leads to stupidity and this reluctance to strain one’s brain is innate in a person, which then leads to an acquired inability to think when necessary. But at the same time, taking into account the above-described innate ability of a person to learn, and therefore his desire to strain his brains, we can safely say that to be or not to be stupid is not a question, it is a choice that is given to each of us.

Faith and trust

Faith and trust are also part of our nature. Someone calls them various manifestations stupidity, someone finds salvation in faith, but sees weakness in gullibility. I think that both are a necessity for some people in certain situations. As children, we are all gullible and believe almost everything we are told. We have nothing of our own, we learn life from the world around us, so we are forced to trust it. But then, as we grow older, we develop critical thinking, and we begin to understand that not everything that other people say is true. Since critical thinking is acquired, or more precisely, develops in us as we gain experience and knowledge, a mature mind differs from an immature one in its tendency to question everything, rather than recklessly believe everything. But in this world we are forced to trust other people, even if we don’t want to, because in many issues we ourselves are not able to understand thoroughly enough and we have to rely on other people, we have to believe them.

As for believing in something that is not there, which calms us down and gives us strength, also allowing us to shift responsibility for our life to someone else, for example, higher power, then it is difficult for a person to live without such faith, since, firstly, he cannot know everything in order to simply know and understand, and not believe in something, and secondly, he cannot check everything himself in order to justify his disbelief or logically explain this or that phenomenon. And thirdly, in difficult life situations, when a person is in pain and scared, when he has nothing left but faith, it is his only salvation. And this is better than nothing. Faith saved many lives. Although, as a person who is involved in science, I still believe that you should not blindly believe in something and completely rely on this faith, it is better to try to learn more about something in order to understand how it works, and thus save yourself by the power of reason, and not only and not even so much by the power of faith. However, each person decides for himself how it is easier for him to live - by believing in someone who will help, protect, guide, advise, save, protect, reward, give strength, or instead - by exploring, studying, discovering, getting to know the environment the world and the phenomena and processes occurring in it that will explain what and how to do. Both are not without meaning, so I personally, having matured and become wiser, realized that in this life you need to both believe and study in order to be completely open to this world and have more opportunities to solve a variety of problems and tasks.

Spirituality

Spirituality, or more correctly, a person’s inclination towards spiritual values, is also a part, and a very important one, of his nature. Spirituality itself, as a state of a person’s soul, as a great value for him, is an acquired trait, or better to say, a strength [spiritual strength] that he acquires through the development of his mind, since spiritual values ​​are realized by a person only at a certain level of his development and are valued the higher it is, the more satisfied its primary needs are. But I nevertheless believe that man's innate tendency to create, protect and exalt values ​​such as spiritual values ​​deserves our attention. An animal, no matter how you teach it, will not be able to understand spiritual values, both due to its less developed intelligence and due to its lack of need for such values. A person is a completely different matter, he can not only be a materialist, he can rise to a higher level, at which spiritual values ​​determine his entire life and at the same time serve as a reliable support for him in the struggle for material wealth. That is, spiritual and material values ​​should not be opposed to each other, they should complement each other and thus strengthen each other. Spirituality and spiritual values ​​are phenomena and values ​​of a very high order. You need to grow to such values, as they say. And human nature allows us to do this.

Love

Even though love is an innate quality of our soul, I still believe that real love comes to a person only after he is fully aware of such human values ​​as: freedom, life, happiness - by which I mean a person’s ability to enjoy life, no matter what it is, spiritual values ​​that make a person human, and children who are the meaning of our lives. Only for the sake of all this, as well as for the sake of the one whom a person loves, he can sacrifice not only his interests, but also his life. It is quite obvious that the first thing for whom we must be willing to sacrifice ourselves is our children, who are our future, for which we live and survive. Without a future, our present is meaningless. And for the future, we can raise worthy people, both from our own and from other people’s children, and also do great things that will improve the lives of all humanity. And when a person is ready for such sacrifices, when he begins to think not only about himself and even not so much about himself, but also about other people, he gains the ability to truly love. After all, by true love, among other things, I understand a person’s willingness to sacrifice everything in his life, including this life itself, for the sake of the one he loves. There should be no egoism, no sense of ownership in true love, and even sexual attraction to a person is not an essential moment for it, because true love is sacrifice. This is why not many people can truly love, because, again, you need to grow into such love, both mentally and spiritually. But it is human nature to love this way, so we always need to remember this great feeling given to us by nature in order to strive to fully experience it.

Here, friends, we have looked at the most important features and abilities of human nature, the understanding of which will help you understand why people behave in certain ways in certain situations. Also, and this is especially important, by understanding human nature, you can see what opportunities a person has for development from birth, using which we can constantly make our lives better, depending on our needs and desires. In the future I will return to this topic, since it is very important for us, and it needs to be studied most carefully. The more we know about our nature, the better we will be able to understand our own and others’ behavior and the more unique abilities we will discover in ourselves. So we will definitely discuss human nature in the future, I promise.