The Nature of Man

The Nature of Man
Are humans basically good, evil, or neutral? That is a good question in regards to The Republic and the “Just Man.” You can think about the concept that if mankind was considered to be basically good, would it not basically follow that somewhere along the lines eventually mankind would be able to progress into something that was considered to be good, that bad would be gotten rid of once and for all, and that we would have peace exist. So shouldn’t the good outweigh the bad in the world today?  
Plato believed in an ideal society in which justice reigned supreme, but when we look around can it honestly be stated that the world is getting any better, what with the wars and recession going on? Instead, we see things like executions, murders, gangs, and crime going on, some places more than others. There are liars and people who cheat to get where they need to be in life and even in the government there are twisted individuals. Other places there are protest and things going on with people who hate those in higher power. So at what point do we see the good things happening in the world, like what about the people who actually seek to do good in society? If we go on with the concept of justice in Plato’s sense that he saw in justice the remedy for curing those evils. I guess you can say that if human nature was truly good, then there would be no need for people to be lacking in anything to where they would have to call for help from another. But if you think about if we considered ourselves to be good than why is it so surprising when someone goes out of their way to good for someone they don’t even know. Like when someone saves someone else’s life, such as police officers or fireman or doctors, so wouldn’t that be considered to be a good society? But when we are talking about someone of a neutral will it is different because if man was neither looked at to do good nor evil then why would he do anything at all? Plato felt that it was a man just... [continues]

Read full essay