rs essay

intro

1. Intro

• What is human nature = the basic traits of humankind

• Augustine's teachings on human nature:

1. Before the fall = our nature was perfect

2. Post-lapsarian = our nature was corrupted by adam and eve's disobedience

3. We are now unable to overcome our desires, damned to sinfulness and hell unless saved by God's grace

• LoA = Augustine's teachings on the inherent, permanent, universal, irremovable sinfulness of our human nature = too pessimistic, to the point of being harmful to society

• Scholars = Sartre, Rousseau, Pelagius

p2

1. idea of a pre-destined nature is pessimistic

• Augustine's teachings

• Human nature is corrupted by a tendency to do evil, due to Adam and Eve disobeying God causing a corruption in their nature which

• Adam and eve's disobedient actions, using their free will to east the fruit from the tree, even though God said ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ = fall of humanity + corruption of human nature = causes an irresistible desire to sin, which has been inherited by every human as we were all 'seminally present'

• Augustine says that before this moment - pre-fall - human nature was perfect + Relationship between God and humanity was perfect, until it was corrupted by acts of humans, misusing free will and falling from a state of perfection into a 'post-lapsarian' state of imperfection and corruption

• The original choice to sin by Adam and Eve ruins man's nature permanently = we abused our free will by sinning and now it has been permanently altered

• How this is pessimistic

• Jesus died for nothing = if nothing could save our innate sinfulness, inherited from A/E, then why did J go through such great suffering on the cross?

•  idea of having a permanent and pre-destined nature is very pessimistic (+ on a large scale bc applies to all ppl) because it condemns us to sinfulness before we are even born

• Dawkins = it "condemns every child before it is born, to inherit the sin of a remote ancestor"

• Sartre = sinfulness is a choice, not something that is passed down + says we don’t come into world determined by a 'nature', but are free as individuals to decide how we will act

p3

• LoA = while idea of a universal human nature is supported by other philosophers, Augustine's claims that this universal human nature is inherently selfish is too pessimistic

• Rousseau + evolution

• R would agree with Sartre that we all have an inbuilt and pre-destined human nature = he says we are all motivated by 'amour de soi' (a love of the self and desire to continue the species)

• Supported by evolution and natural selection = Dawkins says that we are just "survival machines" and every trait we have - our so-called 'human nature' - has evolutionary roots = ensure survival of the species = universal human nature

• Supports Augustine's ideas on there being a universal human nature

• But, although Aug's approach to having a pre-destined nature may not be too pessimistic and may be defensible, the nature that he claims is pre-destined is a very negative nature

• How this is pessimistic

• Augustine is more negative = he says that this inbuilt nature is, since the fall, sinful + Rousseau is more positive = he says humans are naturally generous creatures, and only act otherwise because circumstance forces us to

• Augustine is also too pessimistic bc he says this sinfulness is irremovable + built into our innate nature = R, although he agrees in the concept of humans having an innate nature, says idea that selfishness is part of it is too pessimistic = Rousseau suggests that our sinfulness is not innate and can be fixed by societal reform

p4

• LoA = Augustine's teachings depict a realistic version of HN, not a pessimistic one

• Example - Oliver O'Grady-bad

• Irish catgolic priest who raped, molested, and abused at least 25 children in California from 1973 onwards

• Convicted on four counts of 'lews and lascivious acts" on two minors + sentenced to 14yrs in prison

• A man who calls himself a man of god repeatedly committed horrific acts = sinfulness is innate and universal, bc what else could cause a person to do this?

• Dark reality of human capacity for evil

• Neibuhr

• We are all always going to do wrong + no action is truly good

• "humans must realise that no action is entirely good"

• Counter

• Oliver O'Grady-bad = while horrific, this is an isolated example + isn't enough to justify the universal condemnation of people as having an innate sinfulness = negative to say that, just bc of this example, all ppl are inherently and inescapably evil (same w/ Adam and Eve)

• While Neibuhr supports Aug, this doesn’t mean that Aug isnt pessimistic, just that Neibuhr is also pessimistic

p5

• LoA =

• Augustine

• Pre-fall = All ppl were wholly rational and in control of their bodies before the fall (not plagued by appetites and bodily influences, but instead masters of our own bodies)

• Post-lapsarian = we forfeited this control with the fall and are now plagued by uncontrollable desires/appetites = evidence is how sexual organs can be active against our will + genitalia act as reminder of our sinful rebellion and become 'pudenda' (parts of shame)

• The will is corrupted by concupiscence = even if we want to do good, we can't

• We all deserve to go to hell because we are all sinful + we will go to hell unless saved by God's 'grace'

• How this is pessimistic

• Defeatist + negative

• Bad for individuals and society = No point in doing good if we are innately doomed

• We are helpless and can do nothing to save ourselves from sinfulness or become good = pessimistic

• Pelagius = we aren't innately doomed bc adam only doomed himself + sin is socially transmitted + humans can be good through the use of their own reason (we arent entirely dependent on the grace of God)

conc

• Aug says

• Human nature is corrupted by a tendency to do evil

• This corruption is universal + unchangeable

• We no longer have free will or control over our 'concupiscence'

• While

• You could say, looking at examples of unexplainable horrific acts, that this is realistic, not pessimistic

• His ideas on having a universal human nature are defended by key scholars

• It is pessimistic bc:

• We are all sinful

• No point in trying to be good = hopelessness

• We cannot save ourselves, have to wait for God's grace to save us