Comparing Marx And Nietzsche's Search For The Nature Of Humans
978 Words4 Pages
Humanity as we know it to be has progressed in a way that makes the questions of “who are we”, “what is our purpose” and “how can we fulfill it” much more complex than in the earlier years. I, personally, look to the evolutionary model in answering this question. In searching for the the nature of humans we should be able to identify this/these characteristic(s) in all of us. Our purpose as individuals can be debatable if we consider human beings to be higher. My proposition is that we are not higher but merely lives granted with gifts to contribute to the systems of the earth. Acting in accordance with this should produce a good life. When we trace back to the early pre-societal stages of humanity, we identify means of communication and…show more content… The norms within these societies vary greatly as we can identify across cultures. These rituals which take place within these microsocieties cause people to come up with their own ideas of the nature of human beings. For example, Marx introduced the idea that we all seek monetary gain, Nietzsche thinks that we all crave power and Freud believes that we all want sex. These things may be true, however, they all connect with our urge for survival. The more money we have, it is less likely that we will run out of necessities (food, water, shelter). The power that we crave links back to Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” in some way. The lion, because it is more powerful than the lamb, kills the frail animal with ease. Freud’s claim is the most easy to argue for - our natural sexual urges are due to our instincts to procreate. Human nature then, in a nutshell, are things that we do in order to bring about the continuation of humans.
There is a direct relationship between the nature of humans and the purpose of humans, at least in this argument. As humans, we seek to sustain our species because we are here to aid in the systematic running of the earth. We can claim that humans’ ability to rationalize is solely for the purpose of reaching this goal. In the same way that plants photosynthesize to contribute to the earth’s well…show more content… The reason why we seek this is because companions aid in the maintenance of our species. However, we can still identify our crave for companionship in everyday life. Another factor of “the good life” is living in accordance with our embedded morality. This morality helps in the survival of mankind as well (we do not kill or harm others because this may lead to conflict or death). If someone is living in conflict with their morals there is an obvious internal struggle - guilt. This is our body telling us that we have done something outside of what we are designed for. It is safe to claim, then, that the good life for us is living in accordance with morality while we interact with others in order to sustain our lives and contribute to global