What is Human nature?
'''Human nature''' refers to the characteristics of [[human race|mankind]]. This means ways of [[thought|thinking]], [[emotion|feeling]] and [[behaviour|acting]] which [[human]]s have [[natural]]ly. What these characteristics are, what causes them and how fixed human nature is, are good questions. They among the oldest and most important questions in western [[philosophy]]. These questions affect [[ethics]], [[politics]] and [[theology]]. Human nature is a source of advice on how to live well, but it also puts limits and [[wikt:obstacle|obstacles]] on living a good life. The complex implications of such questions are also dealt with in [[art]] and [[literature]], while the [[humanities]] inquire into human nature, and what it means to be human.<ref name=Human/> ==Theories of human nature== Many great thinkers have had definite ideas on human nature, but some ideas have lasted better than others. An example of this is the best-selling college [[textbook]] which first appeared in 1974 as ''Seven theories of human nature''.<ref>Stevenson, Leslie 1974. ''Seven theories of human nature''. Oxford University Press.</ref> The seven theories were those of: #[[Plato]] #[[Christianity]] #[[Marx]] #[[Freud]] #[[Sartre]] #[[Skinner]] #[[Lorenz]] Thirty years later the selection was of ten theories:<ref name=Human>Stevenson, Leslie and Haberman, David L. 2009. ''Ten theories of human nature''. 5th ed, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-536825-3}}</ref> #[[Confucius|Confucianism]] #[[Hindu]]ism #[[Buddhism]] #[[Plato]] #[[Aristotle]] #The [[Bible]] #[[Kant]] #[[Karl Marx|Marx]] #[[Jean-Paul Sartre|Sartre]] and #[[Charles Darwin|Darwinian]] theories of human nature. ==Aristotle== [[Aristotle]], [[Plato]]'s most famous student, made some of the most famous and influential statements about human nature. In his works some clear statements about human nature are made: * Man is a conjugal animal. 'Conjugal' means living together, building a household (''oikos''). A clan or small village could still be run by the head of