Are Humans Good Or Bad

Are humans inherently good or evil? The simple question has been asked many times, even though the answer isn't so simple. In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, he further explores the concept. His novel is viewed through young boys trapped on a deserted island, striving to survive. In The Most Dangerous Game, Richard Connell investigates influences and integrity. In non-fiction texts, like "Why Boys Become Vicious" also by William Golding, the author defends his position and gives specific examples to support his stance. In other non-fiction works, authors have given their own views of human's natural behavior. Although some authors believe humans are good and others believe they are inherently evil, based on the evidence humans are born balance with both good and evil. Different situations however, shape their behavior and cause them to be either more good or evil.

Since the beginning of time there has been confusion about every aspect of life and with confusion comes a number of questions we cannot completely answer or forget. How did we transform from one creature to another? Why are people so violent? Are we inherently good or evil? These are questions that have been asked for centuries, and have taken ever longer to possibly answer. It might be numerous decades from now before they finally answer these questions but, nevertheless many people are trying by using evidence, theories, faith, and science to answer these questions as accurately as possible. Mainly the question about whether we are innately innocent or not. Most people, say humans are inherently evil, that there is evil in all of us. That could be the reason why kids enjoy watching ants succumb when they burn them with reflected rays of sunlight. However, many believe that we are born good with a clean slate and that it is society of whom changes that. I believe that we are born sinful/evil and that society influence us to be good. The facts have proven humans to be innately evil through genetics, control, and mistreatment.

I believe that human beings are basically good. When they are first born and grow up as babies and toddlers, humans are innocent. However, with the effects of outside experiences and social expectations, human beings can be prone to evil. Humans want to be recognized within society and this can be seen in the movie, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. Due to the social environment that Tom Ripley lives in, he feels the need to fit in and be wealthy like the people around him. This causes him to seek for ways, whether the action is moral or immoral, to attain a higher social status.

When I thought of this question the first thing that popped up in my head is babies’, so I did a little research. Babies’ are humans with the absolute minimum of cultural influence (bbc.com). They don’t have a lot of friends, and they don’t go to school or read any books. Their minds are as innocent as any obtain. Yale university did an experiment

Saxe identifies this group as preverbal babies. By studying the behaviors of these infants, psychologists are able determine that basic instinct that humans share. These babies, aged between four and twelve months, are much too young to be influenced by the institution around them. The infants are also too young to communicate their thought processes, so psychologists analyze the only responses these infants can communicate, looking and crawling. In the experiment involving these preverbal infants, babies were shown videos of one man being “nice” to a girl while another was “mean” to the girl.

The day a child is born they are pure, no negative thoughts or connotations. The mother and father see an innocent canvas ready to be painted by the world, in some cases the child is a blank canvas that the

Are human beings mostly good or mostly evil? Does the potential for evil exist in

All human beings, from birth to death, have an evil part of them used to survive hidden deep inside their mind. This is evident in babies who can seem innocent but really have a selfish attitude towards others since their only goal in life is to have their needs met. Evidence of this being true can be found in William Golding’s The Lord of The Flies and the film adaptation of The Hunger Games. Mankind is inherently evil but civilization changes us, we always go back to our evil side, and without a good government or set of rules we all become savages.

Human nature is more complex than black and white. When it comes to individuals, “good” and “evil” are fluid. People are a combination of both “good” and “bad” qualities. People can be rehabilitated from cruel behavior. People can eventually recover, displaying positive characteristics, such as empathy and kindness.

Throughout history humans have shown to be both wonderful and awful. There are many examples of wonderful humans that changed the world for the better like Gandhi. There are some examples of awful humans that made the world worse like Adolf Hitler. Many people think that humans are generally good and are lead to do good things. I believe that humans are bad because they give power to those that abuse it

Man is good, but man is also bad. Good doesn’t override the bad and bad doesn’t override the good. You can not have light without darkness or darkness without light. It is the same with the good and bad sides of man. One can not exist without the other. The goodness of man should outweigh the bad but that is impossible. The true nature of man is good but that good can be easily tainted throughout life. The little acts of kindness throughout the world keep the evil at bay. Good and evil are at a balance but whether the true nature of man is ultimately good or ultimately bad comes down to each individual

Society has changed drastically throughout the centuries, but have become corrupted by many essentials. Many debates have been occurring over this topic, but Humans are born pure, but society has corrupted them to be evil due to the government, surroundings, and religion which makes evil extrinsic.

When concerning moral dispositions, the ongoing debate remains: are people inherently good or evil? Through various readings, many heated discussions, and several informing documentaries and movies, one thing has remained clear—that anyone can be a terrorist, and anyone can be an altruist. There is no biological makeup that urges terrorists to act with violence nor is there a secret mantra altruists recite daily that motivates them to act with goodness. Life does not provide a clear and distinct outline of how we should live; rather, it allows us to define it ourselves. When I think of my future and the way I want to live the rest of my life, I consider myself no different than the people who totally abandoned their humanity or the people who completely embraced it.

Q1i. Being can be spoken of or in many ways, so it is split into categories of being. These are substance, quantity, quality, relativity, where, when, position, having, acting on, and being affected (Categories 1b30-2a5). Good can be spoken of or in these exact same ways(EN 1096a25-20). For example, “Socrates is human” so Socrates’ existence is spoken in the category of substance. Therefore, his substance is human. Also, it can be spoken of in the sense of good. You could say “Socrates is a good human”, here you are speaking of goodness through his substance. You can distinguish each these senses of good by its predication, or what is said about the subject that is being related to the good. The ontological significance of the multiple senses of good is that there must be multiple forms of the good and in turn multiple universals for the good as well (EN 1096a26-30). Therefore, the good can have many homonymous uses.

Whether or not humans are essentially evil or sympathetic is a question that has long left many philosophers in a state of conflict. Through the evaluation of natural human qualities, many different opinions have been formed. The so called “laws” of the world attempt to define a set of uncertain rules which are to govern society in its most raw form, dictate moral rights and wrongs, and create boundaries. Every single action can be separated into any of these three categories, depending upon the action. The Bible states that it is only through baptism that a sin may be removed from the carrier. Non-religious opinions may offer a similar opinion in a sense that humans possess the capability of committing evil acts. Human beings are in