Are Humans Naturally Bad Or Good Philosophy Essay

Are Humans Naturally Bad Or Good Philosophy Essay I believe that humans are naturally bad because our base mentality is one of evil. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, human beings fought unnecessary wars, tortured prisoners, raped, murdered, and pillaged. Not surprisingly, all of that still occurs in todays society. The world we live in is an essentially bad one. Radical vigilantes bomb cities, open fire in crowded places, and incite disastrous riots every day. From looking at the world around us and seeing our degeneration, it is ludicrous to believe that we are naturally good. Although the evolutionary process has instilled a modicum of civility and humanity in us, we are still naturally evil beings. Thomas Hobbes recognizes the evil nature of humans and paints a very blatant picture of it in Leviathan. He states that laws were devised for the sole purpose of keeping our evil nature in check. Without them, our base instincts would resurface and chaos would reign supreme. That is why Hobbes was in favor of authoritarian governments; they were necessary to keep us under control. Basically, they are needed to protect us from ourselves. Hobbes also states that our true natures arise in times of strife. For example, in war-torn countries, civilians kill and steal form each other in order to survive. Self-preservation is one of the most natural of human compulsions and we will do anything to survive. Hobbes also asks an interesting question to those who believe that human are good. He asks that if humans are so benevolent in nature, then why do we lock our doors at night and guard our possessions? By doing so, we are unconsciously recognizing the evil nature of humans. Hsun Tzu also maintained that mans nature is inherently evil. He believed that humans are born evil, but it is a teachers responsibility to educate them and reign in those evil instincts and eradicate them. Although he has valid points, it is still unrealistic to think that mans naturally evil instincts can be curbed so easily. Those suppressed instincts that have been stored away in the annals of the human psyche will resurface eventually. It is also unrealistic to think that one can make man good simply by means of education. If anything, education leads to evil because it has the power to corrupt. Those who oppose Hobbes and say that humans are naturally good are, frankly, idealists. The Chinese philosopher Mencius states that humans are naturally good and that ones circumstances influence their nature. The idea of ones circumstances influencing their nature is ridiculous. One may be unfortunate enough to be born into less than favorable circumstances, but it is up to that person to overcome them. Yes, one can become embittered and callous by their debilitating situation, but to say that their circumstances influence their nature is to give a justification for bad behavior. Attributed to Plato, the idea that love can make one good has become another idealistic opinion for many. Plato stated that love is one of, if not the most, natural emotions that humans have, thus we are naturally good because love itself is good. While love is a very fulfilling emotion that can lead to change within a person, that change is not always for the better. Love has led to wars, murders, and the destruction of kingdoms, throughout history. For example, Helen of Troy and the iconic war fought over her. Her love for a foreign prince led to the deaths of thousands of soldiers and civilians and the complete destruction of an empire. Another example is Henry VIII and his love for Anne Boleyn. He divorced his queen, broke with the Catholic Church, and tore his country apart in order to marry his mistress. Perhaps the most common examples of how love can change a person are domestic violence cases. In simpler terms, love often leads to recklessness, irrationality, impairment of j udgment, and, in some cases, bad behavior in an individual. In 20th century opinions, the idea of Nature vs. Nurture was believed by some. Nature meaning that we are born with whatever behavior we exhibit, and nurture meaning that our culture has the ability to mold us into what we are. The scientist Edward O. Wilson stated that if the process of natural selection has determined our biological functions, then natural selection must have determined the operations of our brains. Basically speaking, he believed that humans are born with whatever nature they possess, therefore validating my argument that we are born evil. At the opposite end of the philosophical spectrum, the anthropologist Ruth Benedict wrote that ones culture and its social norm has the ability to mold that individual into a good or bad being. Once again, the concept of ones surroundings influencing their nature is introduced. Benedict basically gives the same justification for bad behavior that Mencius gave thousands of years earlier. In conclusion, humans are inherently evil in nature because it is our base mentality. Sadly, it is a part of us that is unchangeable and, try as one might, it cannot be quelled by education or instruction, nor can it be influenced by our culture or surroundings. We are born the way we are, and we must accept it.

Theories of Development

Theories of Development There are many branches of psychology. The field of human development is divided into five theory groups. The theory groups are Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Systems, Biological and Behavioral. Each theory group has many contributing theorists. Some theories overlap while others are independent. Often theories are credible whereas others cause skepticism. There are many contributors to the world of psychology with different views and beliefs about human development. Psychodynamic Theory Sigmund Freud was one of the most influential contributors to the field of psychology.Freud was born in 1856, in Moravia. In 1881, Freud received a doctorate in medicine. Freud’s main focus of study was neurology; this led him  to begin  concentrating his research on nervous disorders. Freud’s research brought him to his psychoanalytical theory. Freud’s theory suggests that an individual’s unconscious processes or thoughts contribute to one’s personality and influences one’s behavior. Freud’s theory included the concept that personality is composed of three elements: the id (pleasure seeker), the ego (deals with reality), and the superego (one’s sense of right and wrong).Freud also believed that human development consisted of five psychosexual stages: the oral stage (birth-18 months), anal stage (18 months-3 years), phallic stage (3-6 years), latency stage (6-12 years), and the genital stage (12 years and up). The theory included the belief that if one wants to develop a healthy personality, one has to complete all five psychosexual stages successfully. Another great contributor to the Psychodynamic field of psychology is Erik Erickson. Erickson was born in 1902, in Germany. Erickson travelled around Europe and attended the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.Erickson was intrigued by Freud’s theory, however Erickson believed that development occurred throughout one’s lifespan and that oneà ¢â‚¬â„¢s personality is shaped consciously from social interactions. Erickson developed the psychosocial theory of personality development. The theory includes eight stages of development: Trust vs. mistrust (birth-12 months), Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (12 months-3 years), Initiative vs. guilt (3-6 years), Industry vs. inferiority (6-12 years), Ego identity vs. ego diffusion (12-18 years or older), Intimacy vs. solation (18-40 years), Generativity vs. self-absorption (40-65 years), and Integrity vs. despair (65 years and older). According to Craig and Dunn (2010),   Erickson’s theory emphasizes social interactions and argues that a distinct part of each individual is based on the culture in which the individual is raised, depending heavily on the individual’s interactions with  caregivers  during infancy. Social forces continue to shape personality throughout the lifespan as the individual experiences relationships with others (p. 13). Cognitive TheoryThe cogn itive theory attempts to explain human behavior. This theory of psychology tries to understand the thought process behind one’s personality or behavior. Two of the main cognitive theorists are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both theorists have come a long way to help us understand the cognitive theory. The cognitive approach to psychology has shown a lot of advancement from the contributions made by Piaget and Vygotsky. They have set the foundation for other theorists to do more research. Vygotsky and Piaget had similar thoughts on how children learn.Both theorists believed that children learn and think differently than adults and that children learn actively, through hands-on experiences. Piaget suggested that children think differently than adults. He developed this belief from observations and his stage theory of development. He was one of the first theorists to state that children are actively gaining their own knowledge of the world. Piaget often referred to children as à ¢â‚¬Å"little scientists†. The reason behind the nickname is Piaget believed that children in free play were conducting their own â€Å"experiments† in the world to gain their own knowledge from it.One way that Piaget believed that children were learning object permanence, was by rolling a ball into the other room and then going to get it. This was the natural way for children to learn from their own â€Å"experiment†. Piaget developed a theory of cognitive development, known as the Development Stage Theory. Piaget’s theory is broken into four stages. Stage one is the sensorimotor stage, which occurs from birth to two years of age. Children use their five senses and movement to experience the world. Children are completely egocentric.Stage two, Preoperational Thought Stage, occurs from 2 years of age to seven years old. They must be able to organize their own thoughts and ideas. The third stage is Concrete operations stage, from seven years old to eleven ye ars old. This stage of thinking becomes organized on a mental plane. The fourth and final stage of Piaget’s theory is formal operations. This stage occurs from age eleven to adulthood. Thinking goes into the realm of purely abstract and hypothetical (Crain, 2011). Vygotsky was a psychologist; his interest was developmental psychology, child development and education.Vygotsky also studied children’s play. Vygotsky was a Marxist; a person that believes that we can understand humans only in the context of the social-historical environment (Crain, 2011, p. 224). Vygotsky presented the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD is the range in which a child can complete tasks on their own and tasks that they can complete with guidance from adults to assist. The ZPD captures a child’s cognitive level of maturation (Crain, 2011). This method is guidance assistance; the children gain new skills with minimal assistance.This method helps each child develop equally in the classroom. Biologicial Theory Biological Foundations of Human Development influence the course of development throughout an individual’s lifetime. Some developmental processes include growth during the prenatal period, the onset of puberty, and when a person gets their first grey hair. Most development through the lifespan is a result of successive interactions between biology and experience. (Craig & Dunn, 2010, p. 4)   There are factors of biological development that considers maturation, ethology, and attachment.Jean-Jacques Rousseau introduced several keys into developmental theory and proposed a biological timetable that included these components. Maturation, a theory created by Gesell, is the development of growth and aging over time and depends heavily on biological processes. The theory states that development has a preordained sequence, that the rates vary but the sequence does not, and depends heavily on the internal make up and the environment. The theory basica lly suggests that development begins in the womb. The theory continues on to measure the development of a child in the first few years of life.Maturation definitions include reciprocal intervening, functional asymmetry, self-regulation, individuality, proximodistal, ontogeny/phylogeny, patterning and others. Ethological theories have major influences on biological development. Ethology is the study of behavior within the evolutionary framework. It is the science of animal behavior and the study of human behavior and social organization from a biological standpoint. The theory states that how a person thinks is passed down genetically. Learning has a small role in this theory.Charles Darwin, who wrote the â€Å"Theory of Evolution†, is included in this theory. Though controversial, Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest and natural selection shows that evolution is a major factor in a person’s development. Evolution is factual and gives people the genetics th at create skin color, height, etc. Konrad Lorenz wrote, â€Å"Modern Ethology† and discovered the idea of imprinting. He showed that this is a critical bonding period when animals are born. Animals bond with the first thing they see after they are born, be it their mother or any caregiver.Lorenz studied with Nikolaas Timbergen and they won a Nobel Prize for their work with animal patterns. Ethology includes naturalistic observation, instinctive behavior, and imprinting. Systems Theory Ludwig von Bertalanffy originally proposed general systems theory, in 1928. Bertalanffy was born and grew up in a little town near Vienna. He grew up in a wealthy family and had private tutors. After Bertalanffy’s parents divorced, he found a new example to follow, Paul Kemmerer, a famous biologist. Kemmerer was Bertalanffy’s neighbor. Kemmerer soon became an example for Bertalanffy.Bertalanffy attended the University of Vienna. At this time he had to choose between studying philos ophy and science. Bertalanffy chose to become a biologist. Bertalanffy was a professor at many universities. Many early theorists that studied about system’s theory aimed their work and research to find a general system’s theory that would explain all the systems in all of the fields of science. Bertalanffy developed the â€Å"Allgemeine Systemlehre†. The â€Å"Allgemeine Systemlehre† is a German term that means a system that can be applied in a number of fields. He did not like when it translated into â€Å"General Systems Theory†.His idea cut across what is known as the Weltanschauung, or worldview that entails Epistemological (study of nature), ontological (relating to existence), and ethical implications. Systems can be controlled or uncontrolled. Today researchers are still using the studies and findings from Bertalanffy. Other researchers of the system’s theory are Barker, â€Å"Behavior Settings† and Learner who did work on lif e expectancy and environment and wrote, â€Å"Developmental Systems Theory. † A most recent theory used in social development today is the use of the four stage model of development.It is a major model used in the measurement from birth to adulthood. The four stages are co-dependant (0-8 months), counter dependant (9-36 months), independent (3-6 years), and interdependent (6-29 years). The most current happenings in system’s research include how environmental factors and culture influence adolescent development. The five theory groups of human development have led to many breakthroughs  in psychology. There are many theorists that have contributed to the five theory groups. However, there are also theorists that are considered to be the founders of each group.All of the theories are relative and may help explain human development, including one’s personality or behavior. Works Cited Crain, W. (2011). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Craig, G. J. , & Dunn, W. L. (2010). Understanding human development. (2nd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Mike Wade (October 18, 2005) Theories used in Research General System Theories http://www. istheory. yorku. ca/generalsystemstheory. htm   Walonick, David S. (1993) General Systems Theory. http://www. statpac. org/walonick/systems-theory. htm

Collecting Used Vegetable Oil for Homemade Diesel Fuel

Finding and maintaining a good supply of quality used cooking oil for diesel fuel  is as much about fostering relationships as it is about schlepping containers of the amber elixir. The best way to approach the subject is with a friendly upbeat â€Å"we can scratch each other’s backs† demeanor. When first meeting up with restaurant staff try saying something along the lines of, â€Å"Sure we can take that oil off your hands, and it won’t cost a thing.† This puts restaurant managers at ease, making them more likely to provide you with the vegetable oil you need to  make  biodiesel. Keep the Agreement Once you’ve successfully forged an agreement about the how, when and where you’ll pick up the oil, keep it. We can’t stress enough the importance of being prompt and reliable about pick-ups. This is especially important if the restaurant staff make the kind effort to put the oil in buckets or jugs for you. Do whatever you can to score that kind of an arrangement, because it is difficult and messy when you have to pump it out of a sticky, gooey—often smelly—oil barrel out behind the building. Magnify that description by ten on a hot, humid July afternoon.   Securing Your VegetableOil When packing the vessels of oil in your vehicle, make sure the lids are  tightly secured. Take the time to strap or wedge the containers in position or place them in crates to stabilize them for the ride home.  This may seem obvious, but it only takes one loose lid to spill an entire container of smelly oil all over your car.   Always Be Communicating Before getting a restaurant’s waste oil, be sure to ask if it is vegetable oil. A lot of restaurants use liquid shortening, and although it will work, it’s much less reliable for good biodiesel reactions than pure vegetable oil. Stay away from animal fat grease as well—it’s even more difficult to work with than shortening. It’s not good for your reputation among the restaurants if you agree to take their waste vegetable oil only to find it’s shortening or animal grease that you don’t want, and then have to extricate yourself from the deal. Worse still is to just stop collecting it without a word to the manager. If you find, for any reason, that you need to discontinue collecting oil from a particular establishment, give them the courtesy of notification. If you leave them hanging, word travels fast, and you can even ruin the opportunity for other budding â€Å"biodieselists† who will follow in your footsteps.

The Mental Health Of Adolescents Essay - 1335 Words

Student’s name Instructor’s name Course Date Health Care Introduction The mental health of adolescents is fairly considered to be one of the major prerequisites of the country s sustainable development in economics, culture, and social life. Subsequently, the easy and nondiscriminatory access to the psychological treatment appears to be a matter of top priority for the federal government. Nevertheless, the recent statistical data indicates the substantial problems in terms of providing the adolescents with the necessary medical support. In accordance with the US Department of Health Human Services, in 2014, less than 50% of the country s adolescent population were provided with a required treatment (US Department of Health Human Services). Moreover, the data on the minorities access to the mental health treatment demonstrates that, for instance, African-Americans are twice as likely as whites to be prescribed a treatment from schizophrenia (American Psychological Association). Undoubtedly, such a trend may be primarily explained by the insufficient efforts of both federal and local health care institutions in terms of providing the minorities representatives with the necessary psychological treatment. Consequently, in order to understand comprehensively the problem of the adolescent mental health in the US, it is necessary to define the issue-related objective and subjective concerns as well as to analyze the peculiarities of a potential corrective to theShow MoreRelatedAdolescent : Adolescent Mental Health2010 Words   |  9 PagesAdolescent Mental Health in Australia Introduction The following essay is an overview of mental health in persons between the ages 13-18 known in human development as adolescences. This stage differs and has specific vulnerabilities as a person make their transition into adulthood and responsibilities associated with it. 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