Feinberg (A secular Perspective)

Self-fulfillment and a Person’s Nature

Generic and Individual Natures

The Self-fulfillment Perspective

A Worry about Evil Natures

→ A person’s nature concerns how individuals may act, influenced by both internal dispositions and external circumstances.

→ These dispositions play a big role in self-identity: making you who you are

→ The more you exercise them, the more they become you…

→ A person’s generic nature:
    Consists of their deeply seated behavioral disposition that are shared by (almost) everyone else. ( Disposition to communicate through language, to walk upright, engage in complex social relations, and form friendships and love)

→ A person’s Individual nature:

    Consists of their deeply seated behavioural disposition that are not shared by (almost) everyone else. ( The love of philosophy, a preference for punctuality, the love of cooking, a penchant for generosity, the joy of parenting.)

→ The self-fulfillment perspective:

    The meaning of life is self-fulfillment. In other words, the meaning of life is to perform activities that are in your nature, generic and especially, individual— to perform.

→ it i deeply satisfying to perform activities that flow with your individual nature

→ Also consider how bad it can be for someone when society doesn’t let them perform these activities.

→ On the otherhand, a person’s evil nature may consist of their deeply seated but evil behavioral disposition, deeply entrenched aspects of their mindset that make them want to perform certain sorts of terrible, hurtful, destructive, or otherwise deeply