Human Nature: Plato, Aristotle, Religion And Science

What is Human Nature?

The definition of philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. This all has a connection with our question of what is human nature. We know that humans are capable of thinking, complex problem solving and long term memory. Animals on the other hand simply act based on their instincts and appetite, they can’t understand change, communicate with themselves, think about themselves in the world and so on. This is what sets us apart from animals.

There are four major positions on the question of what is human nature: Plato, Aristotle, Religion and Science.

Plato divides the human being into two component parts: the body and the soul. The body is seen as the temporary constraint upon the soul, reducing the full scope of its understanding to that which can be perceived through a narrow mortal lens. He sees death is the triumph of human nature, the soul’s liberation from such limiting circumstances. The soul component of a human being is, therefore, as immortal and unchanging as the Ideas.
Plato further distinguishes among three aspects of the human soul: reason, spirit and the appetites. Reason, which Plato believes should ideally

He proposed two main ideas. The first one is that because animals produce more offspring than can survive, they are continuously caught in an great “struggle for existence” - that is, they must continuously compete with one another to stay alive. For example: a newborn cat starts it’s life having to compete with it’s many siblings as they all struggle to suckle from their mother’s few nipples. Later the cat must compete with other cats for mates and food. Throughout it’s life he struggles to stay away from wolves and other predators. Always it must struggle against heat and cold, sun and snow, droughts and storms. This a life and death struggle for every animal, and many fall by the wayside and