The Philosophy of Human Nature - Term Paper Example

Anthony Sudarga Philosophy 160 Shanahan June 20, Final Term Paper Human Nature The philosophy of human nature is closely associated with the individual behavior of people. Human nature is regarded as one of the most important aspects of the study of philosophy. The behavioral aspects of people are also related to the philosophical structure of their overall thinking process and also related to the level of tolerance indolence of these people. Different philosophers have explained the characteristics of human nature or the philosophical aspects of the human nature in different ways. This paper is aimed at providing these different aspects of different philosophers. Thesis Statement: The thesis statement of this paper is that “data has a soul and so do I”. Plato’s philosophy of human nature re the Soul The source of the confusion for Theaetetus in regard to the epigraph which opens various research papers is considered as a numerical puzzle. This puzzle is forwarded by Socrates and it has revealed that the youth’s level of beliefs relating to the process of appealing and number challenge one another. The second instance has occurred during the speech of Socrates in the “Symposium”, where the great philosopher has recounted the lessons he obtained from “Diotima of Mantinea” regarding the real “nature of Eros” (Plato). In this context, Plato has described that, “Now, one could praise Socrates for many other amazing things; but whereas for the rest of his pursuits—one might perhaps say the like about someone else as well—what deserves all wonder is that respect in which he is like no human being, neither the ancients nor those of the present day” (Plato 7). Also, in this respect, Sternberg has illustrated that “right now, someone in an artificial intelligence lab is fusing silicon circuitry in an attempt to engineer the human mind. In a hospital, a neurosurgeon is attempting to influence a patients emotions by firing electrical impulses into his brain. In a classroom, a teacher is explaining how neurons in the brain interact to generate thoughts, feelings, and decisions” (Sternberg). By this example, he wanted to explain that human behavior is much more dependent on brain and mind (Sternberg). Plato has further opined that the “truth of life” is associated with the way people hear or see it, as both view and hearing are the two precise witnesses of the real attainment of knowledge. Also Plato has added that “and thought is best when the mind is gathered into herself and none of these things trouble her – neither sounds nor sights nor pain nor any pleasure – when she has as little as possible to do with the body” (Plato 15). This aspects cited by Plato argues in favor of the notion of acquisition of knowledge from real life experiences. According to him, soul is the miracle of life, through which humans rethink their deeds as well as the actions of others, filling themselves with fears, loves, fancies, and lusts. Application to the case of Lt. Commander Data One of the most important aspects of Plato’s philosophy related to the nature of human beings has been related to the notion of essentialism. In this context, Plato has described that human nature is largely unchangeable and people are more or less inclined to satisfy their most essential aspects related to the fact. One of the most important aspects of examples related to the notion of idea of human nature provided by Plato is related to the notion of educational experience. Platos dissimilar learning priorities have also reflected his different pedagogy. In this respect, challenging the Sophists – “who prized rhetoric”, has believed in the ethical as well as epistemological relativism. Along with these different claimed aspects to teach the "excellence" – Plato has lectured that training in the level of "excellence" was pointless without content and also that information was absolute, firm, and good. As an outcome of this, teachers have assumed a high level of moral responsibility. In this respect, Plato has doubted whether the standard technique of teaching lived for all, different, subjects, and he also opined that different morally neutral educational aspects would corrupt largest number of citizens. He, therefore, preferred that the “dialectical method” over the most important rhetorical pedagogy of Sophists. For Plato, the function of the teacher had not been to fill an unfilled reservoir with definite skills, however, to give confidence to the students in order to forward his or her spirit as well as to reorganize the most significant priorities within it in order to allow cause to rule over different irrational elements of the soul and appetite (Plato). In the movie Star Trek, in the episode Measure of a Man, Commander Data has argued in favor of the self-determination of different social and cultural aspects. This approach has been similar to what have been revealed by Plato in terms of dialectical method. Hence, according to the theory of Plato, Lt. Commander Data has a soul (Star Trek). According to Plato’s point of view of learning from the life of humans, Lt. Commander Data has also been the perfect example in respect to having the soul. Descartes’ philosophy of human nature re the Soul Freedom is regarded as the central theme in the Descartes’ philosophy of human nature, where it has been associated with “the theme of the infinite” (Descartes, 15). According to Descartes: “it is through the freedom of the will, experienced as unlimited, that the human understands itself to bear the "image and likeness" of the infinite God” (Descartes, 15). In regard to the God the will has been logically preceding to the level of intellect, even though both are regarded as inseparable in respect to the unity related to the divine nature; also related to the infinite, correctly understood, is the will, as its quintessence is the pure power. In this context, he has opined that the human will reflects this power, inspiring to the world of human nature. The Cartesian aspect related to the "thing that thinks," is also related to the rational being, has fundamentally been the aspect that is liberated. These sights align Descartes with the “voluntarist philosophical tradition” focusing on the fact that will in respect to both the human as well as the divine. In this respect, Anselm has been a major shape in this process of tradition. Undoubtedly the resemblance between the Anselm and the Descartes has easily been masked by the dissimilarity of the context: “Anselms De libertate arbitrii deals with the freedom of the will in connection with the question of sin, while Descartes’ Fourth Meditation brings up the notion of free will within the setting of an analysis of error” (Descartes, 149-150). Descartes’ philosophical aspect, tied to the epistemological exigencies, has not been the Anselmian aspect of "faith seeking understanding” (Descartes, 147). Application to the case of Lt. Commander Data Also in this context, the behavior of Lt. Commander Data can be related to the Descartes’ theory of making freedom as the most important element of the human behavior. Lt. Commander Data has the belief that freedom can make the most important contribution in the process of improving human behavior with the development of various successful actions. Also, according to Lt. Commander Data, self-belief is also closely associated with the freedom in the sense that greater freedom helps to execute different tasks alone which again helps in the process of developing the self-belief. Hence, in this context also Lt. Commander Data has a soul (Star Trek). Turing’s philosophy of human nature re the Soul Turing has described the notion of human nature as the “thinking machine” and the associated works which are executed by people. According to Turing, based on the results obtained from the “Turing Test”, human nature as well as human behaviors is largely based on the thinking results of these people. Turing has described the notion of human nature as the fact that people do think at first and then based on the possible observation of those results they take their decisions or future steps. Based on a mathematical experiment on the basis of a game, the level of machine intelligence of people are observed by Turing and then the conclusion drawn on the experiment has been that the level of human intelligence is necessary as well as sufficient to make significant level of positive impacts on the level of human activities or actions (Seising and Gonzales, 90). According to Turing, “the level of intelligence of human beings is established by the procedure where the performance of human intelligence is revealed” (Seising and Gonzales, 90). Application to the case of Lt. Commander Data The test conducted by Turing has revealed the fact that people do interact with the level of intelligence that they possess, and based on that varying level of intelligence human nature also varies considerably. Different barriers of the society and of the human civilization along with the existing resources of different goods and services play an important role in the process of making significant level of positive effects on the human behavior. These behavioral aspects are largely associated with the level of human intelligence that people possess. This test has also revealed the fact that people are largely associated with the degree of philosophical aspects which are largely based on the emotional and perceptional aspects of these people (Seising and Gonzales, 90). In regard to the theory of Turing, Lt. Commander Data has a soul in the context that according to Lt. Commander Data, people’s level of intelligence is the most important factor in the process of development of his human nature. Also according to him, human nature is necessarily dependent on the level of intelligence that he possesses and also on the related behaviors of that person (Star Trek). Murphy’s philosophy of human nature re the Soul Murphy has demonstrated the fact that human nature is largely determined by their religious beliefs and notions. Religion and ethics plays an important role in regard to the process of development and implementation of changes in the human nature. Murphy has opined that the nature of human beings is guided, in most of the times, the religion belief which they possess. For instance, in case of the Christian people different Christian beliefs and aspects are closely associated with the level of human nature. Christian people are, in almost all instances, are significantly guided by the Bible and the beliefs of the Jesus Christ and his followers. In this context, a survey conducted on the biblical survey in the 20th century has revealed the fact that the notion of human nature is closely associated with the notion of phisicalism. This concept is related to the fact that human nature is controlled by the physical aspects which are closely associated with the natural as well as human aspects. Murphy has described her idea of human nature as the fact that the most significant role of the human nature or human behavior is not to describe or place the good for the sake of themselves, but simply to describe what are the possible aspects of human accomplishments are (Murphy, 10). Murphy has also opined that “because we seldom discuss our theory of human nature it is difficult to know what others think…the terms “phisicalism” and “materialism”…more appealing to Christians...” (Murphy, 2). Application to the case of Lt. Commander Data In respect to the theory of human nature described by Murphy, Lt. Commander Data has a soul. This is because Lt. Commander Data believes that self-interest, as well as cultural and social factors are important in respect to the process of development of human nature (Star Trek). Student’s philosophy of human nature re the Soul I believe that the philosophical nature of a human being is essentially related to the emotional aspects and perceptional aspects. These aspects are also associated with the level of intelligence that each individual possess. These aspects are also closely associated with the level of religion beliefs that each person possesses; human nature related to the same action or human behavior varies considerably according to the religion aspect of these people. For instance, the level of human nature varies across the Muslim and Christian religions. Along with this the philosophy of human nature is also expected to vary according to the level of education that each people possess and also the level of resources that they have. Application to the case of Lt. Commander Data In the context of my description of human nature, it can also be argued that the character of Lt. Commander Data in the TV series Star Trek has a soul. This is because his role has been important; it is justified by the fact that in spite of having numerous diseases, he has been the strongest member of the crew. The most important aspect in this context has been that his ability as well as positive beliefs toward the Enterprise has made him the best member (Star Trek). Application to Myself Hence, it can be pronounced that the self-belief is the most important driver of achieving success in human life. In this context, it is most likely to argue that I do have a soul as I do possess the self-belief and freedom to execute any action. I do believe that the human life is best explained by the works that they do and also by the consequences that they face after doing those works. I also believe that most important aspect of my life is to learn from what I have done and what I have achieved in life. Works Cited Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy. 3rd edition, Hackett: Indianapolis, IN, 1998. Print. Murphy, Nancey. Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies? Print. Plato. Phaedo, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1977, June 12, 2012. Print. Sternberg, Eliezer J. Are you a machine?: the brain, the mind, and what it means to be human. USA: Humanity Books, 2007. Print. Star Trek: The Next Generation. Created by Gene Roddenberry. Paramount Pictures. 1987-1994. Television series. Seising, Rudolf and Veronica Sanz Gonzalez. Soft Computing in Humanities and Social Sciences. USA: Springer, 2011. Print. Read More