Human nature
+ All socialists believe that human nature is rational, sociable and cooperative.
A02) Humans need the right environment to fully develop their cooperative nature,
implying a role for the state, which can make social environments more conductive to
bringing out this aspect of human nature through initiatives such as social housing,
support for families and free education
A03) This is a fundamental area of agreement, as it underpins socialist attitudes
toward social progress and impacts other aspects of politics, such as the
interventionist role of the state.
+ All socialists think political aspirations should be based on a common humanity,
since human nature is the same everywhere.
A02) For socialists we are all fundamentally the same and therefore cultural
differences are insignificant. Socialists therefore advocate for global solutions from a
universalist perspective, as there is more that unites us than divides us
+ All socialists believe that human happiness is derived from contributing to a wider
collective effort
A02) stresses the importance of social responsibilities, to improve wider society rather
than being conditioned to complete against other individuals, which only encourages
anti – social natures.
A03)socialists have consistent veiws about human nature across all strands of the
ideology that influence their approach to society, the state, and the economy.
Differences:
Rationality: Revolutionary vs Evolutionary
The faith of Revolutionary Socialists in human nature is reflected with the concept of
class consciousness – the belief that the working class would have a self realisation
of their oppression under capitalism. This suggests that Luxemburg believed that
working class had the capability to grasp the reality of their situation and change it,
reflective of revolutionary faith in human rationality.
Evolutionary Socialists have a more elite approach, with Webb not believing that
workers possessed the intellectual means to overturn capitalism themselves. Instead
she advocated for an elected socialist government. ‘we do not have faith in the
average sensual man’ Webb
Self – Seeking nature of humanity: Full Socialism vs Reformed Capitalism
Socialists who wish to reform capitalism (Social Democrats and Third Way) are
acknowledging that human nature also has a competitive and self seeking side to
it which can be harnessed for social good.
Full socialists view all private profit – making activities as exploitative and
therefore believe that any competitive or self seeking side to human nature cannot
be harnessed for good.
, This is arguably the most fundamental difference between full socialists and social
democrats/third way socialists
Self seeking/cooperative nature of humanity: Social Democrats vs Third way
In their view that humans are both co-operative and self seeking, Social democrats
seek to maximise the co – operative and minimise the harm of self seeking.
This is reflected by their support for publicly owned utilities and trade unions.
Contrastingly, Third Way Socialists offer the most positive approach to the self –
seeking side of human nature, by accommodating this within a communitarian
approach. This states that an individuals identity is shaped by the community in
which they live, with third way socialists such as Giddens arguing that in this way it is
possible to bridge individual self interest with personal responsibility toward
your community and wider civic society.
To what extent is socialism divided on human nature
Although there are some basic agreements within socialism surrounding human
nature when considering Revolutionary, Evolutionary, Social Democratic and Third
way socialists, these are discounted by fundamental differences, particularly between
full socialists and those who look to reform capitalism. Therefore, this essay will
conclude that socialists are divided to a large extent on human nature.
All Socialists agree that humans are social, co – operative and rational beings.
Humans need the right environment to fully develop this co – operative nature, thus
implying a role of the state to create environments which are likely to bring out this
nature through initiatives such as social housing. This is the most significant area of
agreement between all socialists in regard to human nature, as it underlies social
attitudes toward social progress whilst impacting other aspects of politics such as the
interventionist role of the state. Despite the basic agreement that all humans are
rational beings, there is a fundamental disagreement within full socialism between
revolutionary and evolutionary socialists in regard to the extent of rationalism. The
faith of Revolutionary Socialists in human nature and rationality is reflected with the
concept of class consciousness – the belief that the working class would have a self
realisation of their oppression under capitalism. This suggests that Luxemburg
believed that working class had the capability to grasp the reality of their situation
and change it, reflective of revolutionary faith in human rationality. This is contrasted
by the attitude of evolutionary socialists, who have a more elite approach, with Webb
not believing that workers possessed the intellectual means to overturn capitalism
themselves. Instead she advocated for an elected socialist government due to the
way in which she does ‘not have faith in the average sensual man’ (Webb). This is a
significant area of disagreement, and is illustrative of the way in which there are
divisions even in full socialism surrounding basic agreements of human nature, with
the agreement that all humans are rational being undermined by disagreements on
the extent of this irrationality, thus impacting socialist governance.
Socialists also agree that political aspirations should be based on a common
humanity, taking a universalistic perspective. This is because socialists perceive
human nature as being the same everywhere, thus deeming cultural and ethnic
differences as relatively insignificant. This is a relevant point of agreement, as it
+ All socialists believe that human nature is rational, sociable and cooperative.
A02) Humans need the right environment to fully develop their cooperative nature,
implying a role for the state, which can make social environments more conductive to
bringing out this aspect of human nature through initiatives such as social housing,
support for families and free education
A03) This is a fundamental area of agreement, as it underpins socialist attitudes
toward social progress and impacts other aspects of politics, such as the
interventionist role of the state.
+ All socialists think political aspirations should be based on a common humanity,
since human nature is the same everywhere.
A02) For socialists we are all fundamentally the same and therefore cultural
differences are insignificant. Socialists therefore advocate for global solutions from a
universalist perspective, as there is more that unites us than divides us
+ All socialists believe that human happiness is derived from contributing to a wider
collective effort
A02) stresses the importance of social responsibilities, to improve wider society rather
than being conditioned to complete against other individuals, which only encourages
anti – social natures.
A03)socialists have consistent veiws about human nature across all strands of the
ideology that influence their approach to society, the state, and the economy.
Differences:
Rationality: Revolutionary vs Evolutionary
The faith of Revolutionary Socialists in human nature is reflected with the concept of
class consciousness – the belief that the working class would have a self realisation
of their oppression under capitalism. This suggests that Luxemburg believed that
working class had the capability to grasp the reality of their situation and change it,
reflective of revolutionary faith in human rationality.
Evolutionary Socialists have a more elite approach, with Webb not believing that
workers possessed the intellectual means to overturn capitalism themselves. Instead
she advocated for an elected socialist government. ‘we do not have faith in the
average sensual man’ Webb
Self – Seeking nature of humanity: Full Socialism vs Reformed Capitalism
Socialists who wish to reform capitalism (Social Democrats and Third Way) are
acknowledging that human nature also has a competitive and self seeking side to
it which can be harnessed for social good.
Full socialists view all private profit – making activities as exploitative and
therefore believe that any competitive or self seeking side to human nature cannot
be harnessed for good.
, This is arguably the most fundamental difference between full socialists and social
democrats/third way socialists
Self seeking/cooperative nature of humanity: Social Democrats vs Third way
In their view that humans are both co-operative and self seeking, Social democrats
seek to maximise the co – operative and minimise the harm of self seeking.
This is reflected by their support for publicly owned utilities and trade unions.
Contrastingly, Third Way Socialists offer the most positive approach to the self –
seeking side of human nature, by accommodating this within a communitarian
approach. This states that an individuals identity is shaped by the community in
which they live, with third way socialists such as Giddens arguing that in this way it is
possible to bridge individual self interest with personal responsibility toward
your community and wider civic society.
To what extent is socialism divided on human nature
Although there are some basic agreements within socialism surrounding human
nature when considering Revolutionary, Evolutionary, Social Democratic and Third
way socialists, these are discounted by fundamental differences, particularly between
full socialists and those who look to reform capitalism. Therefore, this essay will
conclude that socialists are divided to a large extent on human nature.
All Socialists agree that humans are social, co – operative and rational beings.
Humans need the right environment to fully develop this co – operative nature, thus
implying a role of the state to create environments which are likely to bring out this
nature through initiatives such as social housing. This is the most significant area of
agreement between all socialists in regard to human nature, as it underlies social
attitudes toward social progress whilst impacting other aspects of politics such as the
interventionist role of the state. Despite the basic agreement that all humans are
rational beings, there is a fundamental disagreement within full socialism between
revolutionary and evolutionary socialists in regard to the extent of rationalism. The
faith of Revolutionary Socialists in human nature and rationality is reflected with the
concept of class consciousness – the belief that the working class would have a self
realisation of their oppression under capitalism. This suggests that Luxemburg
believed that working class had the capability to grasp the reality of their situation
and change it, reflective of revolutionary faith in human rationality. This is contrasted
by the attitude of evolutionary socialists, who have a more elite approach, with Webb
not believing that workers possessed the intellectual means to overturn capitalism
themselves. Instead she advocated for an elected socialist government due to the
way in which she does ‘not have faith in the average sensual man’ (Webb). This is a
significant area of disagreement, and is illustrative of the way in which there are
divisions even in full socialism surrounding basic agreements of human nature, with
the agreement that all humans are rational being undermined by disagreements on
the extent of this irrationality, thus impacting socialist governance.
Socialists also agree that political aspirations should be based on a common
humanity, taking a universalistic perspective. This is because socialists perceive
human nature as being the same everywhere, thus deeming cultural and ethnic
differences as relatively insignificant. This is a relevant point of agreement, as it
