Ralph Deiparine

SEM 3

Man is intrinsically moral

Is man intrinsically good or evil? This debate has raged on since time immemorial, and even
today, people are still divided. On one hand, many still believe that man is inherently evil and
immoral, and this opinion is helped by much evidence: wars, genocide, corruption and even the
simple bullying is still the order of the day. People also hold the opinion that since there is a need
for laws and government, man is held to be inherently evil, for without laws and government;
man would devolve back into the time when they were still feral and beastly. Even men of
intellect hold this opinion: Thomas Hobbes, in his book Leviathan, wrote that primitive man was
“solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”, and that civilization has helped man uplift itself from
such primal nature. Another man of intellect, Sigmund Freud, in his 1930 book Civilizations and
its Discontents wrote that “…men are not gentle creatures, who want to be loved, who at the
most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among
whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness.”

On the other hand, however, many believe that man is inherently good and moral, and there is
also plenty of evidence to support this. Even in times of war and genocide, people never forgot to
do good deeds. The story of Oskar Schindler and his act of saving 1,300 Jews from
extermination in the concentration camps during WWII is one of the best examples of kindness
in times of war. Another story, who predates Schindler’s deed, tells of a truce conducted on the
frontlines of WWI; the reason: because it was Christmas. To add to this, the soldiers on both
sides celebrated Christmas with merry singing, taking photographs, playing football games and
exchanging gifts, with each other. They also buried their dead, tended their wounded and gave
each other time to recuperate from the stresses of war. Even in modern times, acts of kindness in
times of war are still done. On one such occasion, during the 1995 Balkan Wars, a Serbian
soldier, with orders to round up Muslim men in order to execute them, encountered two such
men, whom he knew as neighbors before the war who treated him kindly. Defying orders, he told
the two men to hide amongst the women, who were not included in the orders to round-up. As a
result, these two Muslim men survived. In another occasion, a Serb police officer, also with
orders to arrest and round up Muslims in their jurisdiction, helped save a Muslim family by
forging their papers, and even helped them escape.

Besides from the average man, many men of intellect also see humans as intrinsically good.
Confucius lived by his rule “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself”, and
saw that humans are innately good, for if they were evil, evil things will be done unto them.
Mengzi, another Chinese philosopher from the 3rd century BC also saw the innate good of
humans, but added that society’s influences taint the innate goodness of man and turn man into
evil. However, Mengzi added that in order to purge the evil inside and regain the lost good, man
has to exert effort in acquiring knowledge about him. The Greek philosopher Socrates also
believed that men can reform themselves because they are innately good and that the best
possession a man can have is his virtues. Plato, a contemporary of Socrates taught to his students
to “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. Jean-Jacques Rosseau, a French
philosopher from the Age of Enlightenment in his work The Social Contract believes that man is
inherently born free and good, but society and civilization has chained and corrupted man to
become evil. He also disputed Thomas Hobbes’ contention of the primitive man being evil
savages, stating that primitive man was indeed savage, but instead of the brutish savage, Rosseau
believes that man was a “noble savage”. The German Philosopher Immanuel Kant also adopted
Rosseau’s view of man’s intrinsic goodness, furthermore adding that man can trust in and give
importance to his innate ideas only.

Even modern research has pointed out man’s intrinsic goodness and morality. A study by the
Common Cause Foundation, released and published in 2015 found that that 74% of the 1,000
people they surveyed identifies more strongly with unselfish values than with selfish values. This
means that they are more interested in helpfulness, honesty, forgiveness and justice than in
money, fame, status and power. Furthermore, recent developments in behavioral and social
sciences further support the notion that man is intrinsically good.
Opinion on the matter:

I always have believed that man is intrinsically good, that even though we are born free to
choose or determine our lives, we still follow what is good and just. I have also followed the rule
that Confucius has posited; I always try to do good things, since it is in doing good to your
fellow man that you find that good things will also be done to you, in another way. Furthermore,
history also has taught us that despite the negative events, like war, there are still people who are
innately good and moral who are doing their part to prove that good still prevails in times of evil.
I also believed in the notion that surely, we are born innately good, but civilization and society is
corrupting humans. However, we have to bear in mind that in addition to being born innately
good, we were also born free to choose; and that it is up to us whether we will succumb to the
temptation and corruption that civilization and society bring.

Sources:

 Beck, R. (2006, June 12) Are Humans Good or Bad?: Hobbes vs. Rousseau or should you breast-feed your
baby?
o Retreived from http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2006/06/are-humans-good-or-bad-
hobbes-vs.html
 Unknown (2012, August 16) Famous Philosophers Who Believed in Good
o Retrieved from http://infomory.com/famous/famous-philosophers-who-believed-in-good/
 Grant, S. (2013, May 23) 10 Reasons Humans Are Naturally Evil
o Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2013/05/23/10-reasons-humans-are-naturally-evil/
 Monbiot, G. (2015, October 14) We’re not as selfish as we think we are. Here’s the proof
o Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/14/selfish-proof-ego-
humans-inherently-good
 Morris, M. (2015, April 12) 10 Acts Of Kindness From Those On The Wrong Side Of History
o Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2015/04/12/10-acts-of-kindness-from-those-on-the-wrong-
side-of-history/
 Mason, A. (Date Unknown) The Real Story Of The Christmas Truce
o Retrieved from http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-real-story-of-the-christmas-truce