Augustine

Question 1

Thomas Hobbes on human nature

Answer 1

Humans are selfish, and only work together for convenience and to survive.

“The life of man; solitary, poor, brutish and short”

Question 2

Rosseau on human nature

Answer 2

Humans are inherently good and unselfish, but civilization and society have constrained us.

“Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains”

Question 3

Immanuel Kant on human nature

Answer 3

Humans are unable to live strictly according to heir good will, as we wish to establish our own higher existence.

Question 4

Foucault on human nature.

Answer 4

Humans are selfish, due to societal rules and norms that we follow. We conform to those in power.

Question 5

Marx on human nature

Answer 5

Humans conform to the group they belong to in society, making them a product of their own environment.

Question 6

Pinker’s humanitarian principle

Answer 6

Humans get on better when each person takes others interests into account - as this is respecting individuals ability to reason. This means God’s grace is not required to be saved from sin, only reason.

Question 7

Niebuhr on sin

Answer 7

Sin enables us to realise that no action can be wholly good - which therefore reduces injustice and suffering . The modern rejection of sin has destroyed the human sense of responsibility.

Question 8

Pelagius on original sin

Answer 8

People could try to live morally pure lives if they tried hard enough. Just because Adam set a bad example, doesn’t mean that humanity has to imitate this.