Analyzing the human weaknesses of Americans

Human nature is really an old topic, and it is also a topic with many answers. Confucius said that human nature is similar, and admitted that there is human nature, but did not say what human nature is; Mencius said that human nature is good, Xunzi said that human nature is evil, Gaozi said that there is no such thing as good or evil, and also talked about the nature of food and sex, etc. Most of China's sages and sages elucidated human nature from the perspective of social ethics. The European bourgeoisie after the Renaissance regarded human nature as perceptual desire, rationality, freedom, equality, fraternity, etc. Most of them interpreted human nature from the perspective of human essential existence, natural rights, etc. The reason was to oppose the feudal system's influence on individuality. bondage.

My attitude towards this is: so many great scholars have failed to give a generally accepted answer to human nature, and it is certainly beyond our reach; but since there are already so many answers, What's the harm in giving it another try?

The purpose of my discussion of human nature is: how to better explain, inspire, guide, and organize human behavior, and how to better realize human existence. Therefore, I don’t care how others understand human nature, but I just define human nature according to the following meaning:

Human nature is the fixed human nature that fundamentally determines and explains human behavior.

Obviously, this kind of human nature has universal applicability to human beings and deeply restricts human behavior. Rather than calling this human nature, it would be more accurate to call it "the natural law of mankind."

1. Does human nature exist?

(1) Do similar people have the same nature? Is this nature abstract and universal?

It may never be possible for people to reach a unanimous understanding of this, but my understanding is that the same kind does have its own unique nature, which is universal but not abstract. It is this universal nature that restricts their "choice" of their way of survival.

Looking at it from a broad perspective, every specific individual, group, class, nation, country, etc. in history, reality, and even the future all exhibit their own characteristics. In this case, how can there be a universal human nature that restricts their behavior? It seems ridiculous.

However, if you only pay attention to the leaves of the towering trees, you will not find the leaves growing on the branches; if you only see a certain branch, you will not find the big branches behind the branches. Only by following the leaves and looking for the branches, and following the branches and looking for the trunk, can you finally discover that they all come from the trunk. By extension, it turns out that they all come from tree roots, from the earth, from the Milky Way, from the universe...

It would indeed be ridiculous to study leaves using the methods of studying the universe and the knowledge gained thereby; however, , it would be equally ridiculous to see only the leaves but deny that they all come from the trunk. People who study philosophy cannot use their philosophical knowledge to develop high-performance computers; but people who study computers should not deny the need for philosophical research. It depends on the purpose and angle.

Different observation angles and research purposes are not only necessary, but also necessary; but use this angle and purpose to negate another angle and purpose, and use this angle and purpose to draw conclusions. It is absurd to deny the conclusions drawn from another perspective and purpose.

The key to the problem is to choose appropriate research methods and angles for different and necessary purposes.

(2) Does human beings have universal human nature as understood above? yes.

Although Marxism admits the existence of human nature, it denies the existence of universal abstract human nature: only by starting from the social and class nature of human beings can we get a correct explanation of human nature, and thus assert that in class society, There is no super-class humanity in it.

I think that different classes do have different behavioral characteristics, values, and even beliefs. If we only examine human nature from this level, then human nature must be based on class nature. Therefore, this kind of It is true that abstract humanity on this level does not exist. However, if we delve a few steps deeper and look for it from a more primitive place: Don’t these human natures expressed as different classes have certain sexual characteristics? A simple truth is: any existence, as long as it exists as a class, will always have something unique. Since human beings exist as a species, then they must have inherent characteristics, and among these individual characteristics, there are always some or some main aspects that fundamentally determine human behavior, thus forming a structure that can be Something called human nature. From this I believe that universal human nature does exist.

Everything in the world has its original foundation, and the living social consciousness is ultimately controlled by social existence. As people of the same kind, don’t there be a completely different human nature?

2. What is human nature?

Let us discuss it along the following lines:

First, let’s examine whether objects (including lower-level animals except humans) have sex. I think there is: although things have no spirit, they have their own nature, and the nature of things (nature of things) lies in "my survival". A simple logic is: If the nature of an existing thing is to not exist, then how does this kind of existence "exist"? Why don't flowers and grass grow in deserts? Why do flies have eyes like that? Why "rabbits don't eat the grass beside their nests"? Why do foxes eat chickens and tigers eat people? Why... at the end of the day, it all depends on their need to survive.

The nature of things that "seek my own survival" is thus embedded in all kinds of living things. It is the fixed nature of things and fundamentally determines and explains the "behavior" of things. Therefore, the nature of things is to seek my survival.

Human beings evolved from the ladder of things. This simple fact determines that human nature must be similar to the nature of things. Therefore, human nature should be associated with "seeking my survival." However, the "asking for my survival" that represents the entire content of physical nature is far from enough for humans, because humans and objects are fundamentally different.

I have discussed before that from the essential sense of existence, human beings are active objects (this "object" is expressed in the form of physical tissue); the most essential difference between human beings and objects is that human beings agency (the creative spirit with a clear purpose that is innate and unique to human beings). This determines that: although human beings must pursue survival in order to realize the existence of their physical tissues, they must also pursue spiritual realization in order to realize their active existence; and, with the continuous evolution of human beings, compared with the material existence manifested in the body, , the realization and possession of human beings' active instinct will become increasingly important, and will even become the main aspect of "comprehensive possession of human existence". In this case, a simple "seeking for my survival" (which can only satisfy human physical needs) is not only insufficient to explain all of human nature, but also, with the development of human beings and the gradual improvement of their living conditions, its weight in human nature will surely increase. decrease. For example: If you let a pig eat and drink enough, it will sleep, but what about humans? Do you want people to go to sleep "honestly" after they've had enough to eat and drink?

So, what are the specific requirements for “comprehensive possession of human essential existence”? It means that people's active instinct and physical organization can be realized in a coordinated manner at the same time, or even simply "the material and spiritual products are greatly enriched."

First of all, the realization of physical organization is relatively simple, as long as it has sufficient conditions for survival and continuation (secondary comment: Mencius was unable to refute Gaozi's "eating and sex nature", but I can Tell him without overestimating your capabilities: Food and sex are indeed human nature, but it is not all human nature).

Secondly, it is relatively complicated to fully realize the agency that manifests as spirit, because it requires two conditions: First, agency is first of all a spirit that needs to be satisfied and a product that needs to be enjoyed. For example, a music lover will not be satisfied if you do not provide him with wonderful music. Secondly, being active is a creative spirit, which requires an environment where creativity can be displayed. For example, if you set a lot of rules for a creator, he will not be satisfied.

The above two aspects and the two aspects of the realization of agency are interrelated: without survival and its continuation, there will be no agency, and the exertion of agency creates better conditions for survival and its continuation. Without a good active environment, there will be no rich spiritual products, and the richness of spiritual products can create conditions for the development of agency. Only by creating them in a coordinated and coordinated manner can human beings develop themselves healthily.

If the word "happiness" is used to express this dual need that naturally arises in human beings, then we can say:

What is human nature? Answer: I wish you happiness.

Is it that simple? It's that simple. Such a simple "ask me to be happy" is precisely the fixed nature of human beings, and fundamentally determines and explains human behavior. So we say, it is human nature. It can even be said that the law of human nature "seeking my happiness" not only governs human history so far, but will continue to do so in the future.

Perhaps, in the eyes of many people, this answer is too simple. But upon closer inspection, it actually contains very rich content. Let's see.

3. Human nature and human being

The essential existence of people and things (we call them "human being" and "things" respectively), and the relationship between human nature and the nature of things What's the connection?

Things that exist will inevitably seek the continuation of their existence, which is the nature of things; similarly, existing people will inevitably seek the continuation of their existence in a better way, which is human nature. Therefore, human nature and object nature are nothing more than the external manifestations and inevitable requirements of human existence and object existence.

Looking at it from another perspective, if there is no such thing as "asking for my survival", how can existing things exist? And how to ensure their continued existence? In the same way, without the human nature of "seeking my happiness", human beings cannot exist, cannot continue to exist, and cannot exist better. Therefore, human nature and the nature of things are the basis of the existence of people and things.

If we have to investigate who comes first and who comes later, human existence and human nature, object existence and object nature, I think we can’t come up with an answer, because such an inquiry itself is not valid; because sex and existence are integrated. The unity of earth exists in every existing thing: if we examine all things in nature (including human beings) from the perspective of existence, what we see is "being"; if we examine it from the perspective of how and how all things in nature can exist, What we see is "sex". The starting point is just different.

If you think that "being" is just a recognition of existence, then "xing" is the law of why existence "exists".

4. Human nature and agency

We know that everything except human beings is nothing more than a material reality in the sense of existence. However, while man appears as a material reality, he also appears as his unique active existence.

Therefore, in an existential sense, agency is the most essential characteristic that distinguishes humans from other things.

The nature of anything except human beings is "to survive." However, people's active instinct makes human nature no longer simply expressed as "asking for my survival", but expressed as "asking for my happiness" with richer content. Therefore, in the sense of human nature, agency is still the most essential feature that distinguishes human nature from physical nature.

Activity itself is an important foundation for the human nature of "seeking my happiness"; however, agency itself can give this human nature a very different realistic expression.

From a human perspective, "seeking my happiness" must realize itself. From this:

"Pursue my happiness" determined by "human existence" can be called "free human nature". It is an inevitable requirement of "human existence". It is not only "reasonable" but also independent of human nature. Human will is transferable;

The "humanity in itself" (shown as different personalities) that has been changed by the action of agency can be called "humanity in itself", although its roots are still in human beings. exists, but its content changes with people's will (activity) and is affected by it.

The actual manifestation of human nature in reality can be called "realistic human nature", and its content is the synthesis of human nature in itself and human nature for itself.

Whether it is human nature in itself, human nature for itself or real human nature, its fundamental aspect is the same, which is "seeking my happiness"; however, its external manifestations may be completely different, and through "seeking" Different ways and different contents of "happiness" are expressed.

(2) Whether it is "asking for my survival" or "asking for my happiness", the word "seeking" in it only explains the realization requirements of existence.

Conscious and active human beings created the word "Qiu", and at the same time gave it a "conscious" and subjective color. Here we give it a broader meaning.

For inanimate beings, "seeking" means "choosing", which is the mutual choice between a certain existence and nature. If the desert chooses the forest, it will destroy itself; conversely, if the forest chooses the desert, the consequences will be the same. As a result, they do not choose each other, just for their own existence. What is the wonder of the Creator? Just ask me to exist. Obviously, this kind of choice does not have "consciousness" (a term coined by humans). However, it does have "consciousness". This consciousness is the endless movement law of nature. We might as well call it "natural consciousness" ".

When we use the word "Qiu" to analyze spiritual beings, we begin to feel that it is "natural", because the meaning of "Qiu" here is getting closer and closer to the way humans use this word "Qiu". The meaning of the word "Qiu": "Qiu" means "looking for". After the weather gets cold, the geese fly south. This one example alone is enough to reveal the "wild goose nature" hidden behind Nan Fei.

Our purpose is not to delve into the nature of things other than humans. The above analysis is still to analyze human nature. People, the most advanced spiritual animals, what is their "nature" and its realization? Under the influence of agency, how will humanity in itself evolve into humanity for itself? What kind of self-humanity has it evolved into?

5. Human nature and sociality

Since humans entered the civilized era and began to realize the study of themselves, the humans they faced were all in organic social organizations. . Naturally, they concluded from this that man is a social animal by nature. Marx once believed that human essence "is not an abstract object possessed by a single person. In terms of its reality, it is the sum of all social relations."

Of course, "human beings are naturally social beings" is a reality. However, it seems not enough to simply describe this reality, nor should sociality be regarded as human nature. This is because human sociality only tells us that people can only survive and develop by relying on society. But what we care about is: why human beings are social, what kind of behavior they use in society, and why they use this behavior to survive and develop. A "sociality" only points out the problem itself, but does not tell us its origin. Therefore, we should pursue three questions:

What purpose organizes human beings together?

What capabilities enable humans to organize together?

How can they be better organized together?

The reason why I discuss human nature is that I want to explore these three issues, and even more so, I want to explore the last issue.

Through the examination of human nature, it seems that "seeking my happiness" is the answer to those questions.

(1) Let’s look at the first question first: Why do humans organize themselves together?

If we look at it in an existential sense, humans and everything in the world are just a kind of existence. Existing things must seek their existence, and this is true for humans, as well as for everything outside of humans.

If we look at the actual performance, the "free humanity" of "seeking my happiness" fundamentally restricts the starting point of human behavior: for oneself rather than for others. This is true for people, and so is everything outside of people.

However, it is not as powerful as an ox, not as powerful as a horse, not as powerful as a tiger, and not as powerful as a wolf.

The natural shortcomings of human physiological conditions (expressed as material existence) make their humanity, which is essentially self-serving, inevitably encounter a huge natural contradiction in the process of realizing itself: purely "for self" always encounters a huge natural contradiction. Self-interest cannot be fulfilled satisfactorily; if one blindly follows the motive of "self-interest" and acts purely for self-interest, not only will one not be able to seek happiness, but even "survival" will become a problem. So, how do they resolve this contradiction? That is to say, how can our kind take the initiative, exist better, and seek happiness in the competition among all things for survival? Group also.

The choice of survival and the free humanity of seeking happiness tell them: Only by grouping and combining into organic organizations, and organically integrating the strengths of different individuals into a collective force, can we achieve better results. To survive and better realize human nature.

It can be seen that it is the free human nature of "seeking my happiness" that is the fundamental reason for human beings to form organizations and then form societies.

From another perspective, only by forming a society can humans ensure the realization of human nature: ever since humans existed as a species, and even during the evolutionary process before humans existed, their "group nature" ( Sociality) has always been with them and has become the most important condition for their existence. What's more, thousands of years of organizational life and social life have caused future generations to live in an organized life from the day they were born. This organizational and social nature, in turn, affects and promotes human beings strongly enough that we cannot study people without society, and we cannot discuss human nature without human sociality. Therefore, Marx said that in terms of reality, human nature is "the sum of all social relations."

Of course, human nature will inevitably lead to human sociality, and human sociality also profoundly affects human nature from beginning to end, anytime and anywhere. It is even the "essence" of human beings in the sense of reality. An important sign of distinction from things; however, from the perspective of human existence and the realization of human nature, sociality is not the fundamental purpose, but only a means to realize human nature. That's all. No matter how strong the influence of human sociality is on the birth, existence and development of human beings.

Of course, if we take away people’s social relations, people will definitely not be human beings; however, if the essential existence of people (active things) no longer exists, then the social nature of people will not exist. , his complicated and exquisite social relationships, and everything about him, what is the meaning?

We have analyzed that there are many reasons for alienation in human society, but treating means as the fundamental purpose may be one of the important reasons.

(2) How can human beings be organized together?

As mentioned before, the value goal of human beings organized together is human nature. However, we have also seen that there is a natural contradiction between the goals and means of human nature: simply using "for me" behavior as a means can never effectively achieve the "for me" goal itself. Therefore, for human organization to be sustained, it requires not only that value goal, but also a necessary ability that enables humans to coordinate many contradictory "for-me" behaviors. In this sense, such ability is also the fundamental prerequisite for the existence of human organizations. So, do humans have this ability? Where does this ability come from?

There are many things that live in groups and groups in order to survive. Although I have never studied plants or animals, according to my understanding of physical properties: if trees do not form forests (thus further creating and strengthening conditions suitable for tree growth), it may be difficult to ensure the survival of individual trees; if evil wolves cannot If they forage in groups, they may be exterminated by tigers. (I have to use many impossible assumptions here, perhaps because I am trying to find their inherent ultimate rules in nature that has evolved to the present) However, their organizations have not developed to such advanced levels as human organizations. form. What is the fundamental reason?

It’s all because they don’t have the same ability to survive as humans: whether they live alone or in groups, the only way for all living things to survive is to rely on the instincts brought to them by their existence. In nature, Just choose and search.

People are not like that.

I don’t pay attention to how this wonderful thing like humans has evolved to such an advanced level. I just see that this type of advanced animal has its own unique agency (the kind of creative spirit with clear purpose orientation) ; I don’t pay attention to where this agency comes from or what it is determined by. I just see:

It is this agency that allows human beings to “want” from nature in order to seek happiness. "Yao" mainly has two manifestations: one is to improve their labor ability by using tools, creating tools, discovering and utilizing the objective laws of nature. Second, it can not only organize human beings, but also make their organizations more and more perfect to achieve greater organizational effects.

It is this initiative that gives humans the ability to organize naturally. The active instinct not only makes people different from things, and human nature is different from the material nature, but also makes the realization of human nature different from the realization of material nature. Try:

6. Humanity in itself and humanity for itself

We must note that although human sociality cannot be regarded as human nature, it will affect human nature. After humans form a society, individual happiness must coexist with the happiness of others and groups.

Since everyone is seeking my happiness, it is inevitable that there will be contradictions in the happiness of different individuals. At this time, the unchanging, universal, abstract and transcendent self-humanity of seeking my happiness will have an infinitely rich natural evolution, and the result is self-humanity.

(1) When human beings face aliens, seeking my happiness is expressed as "seeking the happiness of my species"; when one country faces another country, seeking my happiness is expressed as "seeking the happiness of my country"; when a nation faces When one class faces another class, seeking my happiness is expressed as "seeking the happiness of my class"; when one group faces another group, seeking my happiness is expressed as "seeking the happiness of my class" Seeking my personal happiness"; when one family faces another family, seeking my happiness manifests itself as "seeking my family's happiness";... Finally, when one faces others, seeking my happiness manifests as "seeking one's own happiness".

In this sense, if the happiness of all mankind in the abstract sense exists, its fundamental foundation lies in the self-happiness of each human individual; if super-class human love exists, its fundamental foundation lies in the human self. love.

If we look at it from another angle, it is this kind of self-happiness and self-love that exists in every human individual that will produce a wider scope and higher level of human happiness and human love.

(2) Secondly, after human beings form a society, due to the contradiction between needs and possibilities, there will inevitably be contradictions and conflicts between every behavior of "seeking my happiness". Therefore, in order to realize itself, human nature in nature has to adopt different forms of realization, and the active instinct gives human beings the ability to complete this impact on human nature. In theory, it has enough ability to change the expression of free human nature:

First, it can make human beings realize that only by giving labor, creating wealth, seeking the happiness of others and the happiness of society Only by sharing happiness can we better realize personal happiness; it can make human beings give up themselves first in order to realize themselves, and "be for others" first in order to "be for themselves".

Secondly, it can create huge spiritual power and material wealth, thereby changing human beings' view of happiness, and can make the same human nature show different personalities: it can not only provide good guidance for "free human nature" , to create noble personalities such as "putting others before self, putting public before private, sacrificing one's life for charity, and sacrificing one's life for righteousness"; it can also make "free human nature" wantonly promoted to its extreme, creating "people do not serve themselves, heaven and earth will destroy them, harm others to benefit themselves, and see benefits" "Forgotten" and other despicable scum.

Thirdly, it can create huge social coercive power and constrain human nature within the scope permitted by human organizations.

(3) The above-mentioned manifestations of self-humanity tell us:

1. Although the self-human nature of seeking my own happiness makes human behavioral motivations fundamentally positioned on individual and local interests , but through the active guidance of human beings, benign "self-humanity" can be created, so that human beings can make reasonable behaviors that are beneficial to them as a whole.

2. Although human agency can create self-humanity manifested as noble personality, and, in terms of value, such self-humanity is naturally most conducive to the operation of society. However, human beings cannot regard it as the basis for the operation of society. This is because: first, self-humanity originates from self-humanity, and self-humanity is positioned on "for me"; secondly, agency can certainly create Self-humanity manifests itself as a noble personality, but it may also create self-humanity in the opposite direction.

3. Pursuing happiness is a natural expression of free human nature. It does not matter whether it is good or evil. In other words, it can create both "good" and "evil". It all depends on how people's active instincts are channeled. it. This objective logic of human nature not only provides an infinite space for activity and infinite opportunities to create brilliance, but also prepares all kinds of traps for it to make various mistakes.

At this point, we can see that being active makes people change from "things in themselves" to "things for themselves", making people different from the existence of things, and making human nature different from the nature of things; but it Its function is to make the realization of human nature different from the realization of material nature.

(4) From this, I often admire the subtlety of nature: she makes everything in the world move freely according to her arrangements, and always maintains an exquisite balance.

I often lament the stinginess of nature: on the one hand, she has endowed human beings with sufficient abilities, turning them into "things for themselves", allowing them to use their abilities to create brilliant achievements ; But on the other hand, she did not give humans enough abilities, so that they could never handle the things they created and "for themselves": How can humans better organize their behavior?

Natural choice is always so reasonable: nature does nothing. Human creations are not always so reasonable: they create huge material wealth, but bring revenge from nature; they create all kinds of spiritual wealth, but also set up all kinds of spiritual traps; they set up an exquisite society The system has also brought about the oppression of individuals by society;...Human society is always alienating and always in a state of intoxication.

Perhaps, the Bible’s theory of original sin really contains a profound meaning.

(5) But I also firmly believe in human agency: since humans can destroy nature, they should also be able to repair nature; since humans have alienated their organizations, they should also be able to overcome this alienation.

We should strive for this goal, this generation, future generations, generation after generation, until the destruction of mankind, we should always strive for this.

My investigation of human existence, my investigation of human nature, my thinking, and my efforts, although very weak and even full of absurdity, are the fundamental goals.

(6) To sum up:

When free humanity wants to realize itself in concrete ways, when free humanity makes human beings form a society in order to realize itself, "Humanity in itself" in the existential sense will inevitably evolve into "humanity for itself" in a rich and realistic sense:

First of all, in the process of its specific realization, human nature in itself will naturally evolve Richer content.

Secondly, in the process of its concrete realization, human nature in itself has to inevitably evolve into different concrete forms. Although this kind of "having to" is a kind of "helplessness", this kind of "helplessness" is also the natural requirement of human nature, because only through these different specific forms can free human nature itself be realized.

It can be seen that just as human agency will inevitably transform into social agency, human nature in the existential sense will inevitably transform into human nature for itself in the practical sense. Self-humanity actually includes two contents: one is the natural expression of self-humanity, and the other is the influence of active instinct on the actual expression of self-humanity.

7. Realization of Human Nature

(1) Human nature is not transferred according to people’s subjective will: Although the active force is powerful, it is definitely not powerful enough to subvert human nature. Because agency is one of the forces that creates that kind of human nature (without agency, humans become things, and human nature becomes object nature).

Human nature is actually the natural requirement of human existence: only through human nature can human existence be realized most directly and completely; conversely, if human nature is fully extended, human existence will inevitably be possessed and realized smoothly.