CHAPTER VIII

HUMAN NATURE AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY

SHI DEFU

            Since humankind appeared on earth, it has tried continuously to obtain knowledge of all surrounding things. Furthermore, it has continuously speculated over what human beings are: for thousands of years philosophers and other thinkers have been probing the essence and nature of the human being and putting forward their own different ideas.

HUMAN NATURE

            One of the oldest definitions of humankind is "a kind of two legged-animal without feathers." But Xun Zi asserted, "What makes mankind to be such is not only that they have two legs without feathers, but also that they have the ability to discern."

            The problem of human nature is the deepest of the issues regarding human beings which have long been under discussion. In ancient Chinese philosophy, disputations between doctrines on the goodness and evil of human nature led to others between doctrines of "principle and desire". In modern western philosophies the dominant position defined reason as the essence of human being, meaning that it is reason which makes the human being to be human. But in modern philosophies definitions of reason differ greatly. For example, though classical philosophy defined reason as the human essence, Hegel considered it to be self-consciousness, while Feuerbach included will and feeling along with reason. In contrast to modern rationalists, con-temporary western philosophers have been being looking also to irrational elements. Thus Schopenaur and Nietzsche focused upon will, Bergson upon intuition, the existentialists upon feeling, and Freud upon human subconsciousness and sexual desire, etc.

            All the philosophical theories about human nature and essence constitute a precious spiritual endowment which is instructive for us. Based on different foundations they deepen our self-consciousness and ability to recognize ourselves. But their shortcomings also are evident: some are too abstract, others too onesided, the methods and starting points of others present obstacles to the achievement of scientific knowledge or the recognition of human nature. This chapter will focus upon this problem.

THE OBJECTIVE CHARACTER OF HUMAN NATURE

            As humankind is an objective existent, in order to grasp human nature we should first recognize and analyze it as it is, just as we treat natural beings. Natural science has shown that humankind was not created by gods. Such ideas as "God created mankind" or "Death and life lie within fate, wealth and nobility lie with Heaven" have been shown to lack solid foundation, although they are believed by some. Humankind exists and develops according to the laws of the natural world of living things. But humankind is not simply an existent in the natural world; it is moreover a subjectively social existent, a unity of individual and species, of individual and society. Individuals are as cells which constitute society so that humankind as an organic whole constituted by individuals who on their own initiative actively and continuously exchange materials, energy and information with the outside world. This kind of special life process is the premise and foundation of individual and social existence and development. This two-way passive-active process between humankind and the external world forms laws for human development; it produces and manifests the qualities and essence of humankind.

            Therefore, in order to learn about the general nature of human beings (i.e., of humankind generally), we should study thoroughly the process of human history. In order to recognize the manifestations of human nature in different times, societies, classes and even individuals, we should study concretely the practices of classes and individuals in different times, societies and communities. Methods which grasp only the general essence of human beings at most can explain only the distinction between humankind and other animals, but cannot reveal the difference between classes and individuals in different times and societies. But if we study only the special character of classes and individuals in different times and societies without grasping what is common to humankind, we will not be able to grasp the essence by which human beings are distinguished from other animals. Methods which try to get an eternal and abstract human nature in a manner separated from human practice and historical development are not worth the effort.

            Not only does the human being have a complicated physiological organization, but the multi-leveled and changing practice and relationship between himself and the external world, and among individuals, classes and society, has manifested that the human is the most complicated changing material system known. Therefore, we can achieve the truth about human nature and essence only when we regard it as a material living system and study it from a comprehensive and developmental viewpoint. This means that in order to bring to light the real essence of the human being not only should we analyze the concrete and manifest form of each level and aspect of human nature in the system of human qualities, but also we should study comprehensively and synthetically the position of different human attributes and qualities in the system of human nature and in the relationships among the qualities and attributes. This disqualifies the method of some philosophers who grasp only a certain human attribute or special quality and exaggerate it one-sidedly as the essence of the human being without paying attention to other aspects.

THE SOCIAL CHARACTER OF HUMAN NATURE

            As an object of the study of philosophy and the social sciences the human being has natural attributes and social and spiritual qualities because the human being is a natural, social and conscious existent. But comparatively speaking, we must recognize that the human is first of all a social existent; thus the social is the essential quality of the human being. His natural qualities of physiological organization and function, such as appetite, sexual desire, and the tendency of self-protection, are the natural material foundation on which the human being as a physiological organism exists and multiplies. But these natural qualities are transformed in continuous social practice and life; they differ from the instincts of animals and are dominated or con-trolled by the human’s social essence. Were human nature to be reduced to merely physiological instincts, we could place it only in the category of animality. The spiritual qualities of human being, such as the ability to think, consciousness, will, feeling and the capacity to make aesthetic judgments are complicated conscious actions. Doubt-less they constitute important aspects of human nature and play an important part in social life. But when we study further the source and development of these conscious actions we will find that essentially they are products of a social practice and develop along with the development of practice.

            The social qualities of the human being are many-sided, such as the capacity to do productive work and other social practices, dependence upon other individuals and groups for one’s existence, communication and cooperation with other individuals and classes, etc. But for the following reasons productive work is the most essential and dominates the others:

            (A) External things and humankind itself both are objects of knowledge, but in this they differ greatly. There is a special epistemological difficulty regarding knowledge of one. A person’s eyes can ob-serve external things, but cannot see themselves. External things can be presented to us, but our faces are special objects which cannot be observed directly. In order to reveal the secrets of human nature and essence, we must find means by which to observe ourselves, just as we must use a mirror in order to look at ourselves. Objectified action, namely, social practice, which is constituted of productive work and its products, can be used as this means. In productive work one’s inner essential strengths (physical and intelligential) are revealed and at last are reified in their products so that we can recognize ourselves in the objectified world we create.

            (B) One cannot do productive work in isolation, but only in the social relationships developed in productive work. Thus, in work people not only change the forms of natural materials and create products which meet people’s material and cultural needs, but in the material process of production also have created social, political, ideal, racial, family and ethical relationships which are based on economic relationships. It is in these working and social relationships that human nature is revealed.

            (C) To assert that productive work is the most essential dimension of human being which distinguishes humankind from animals does not deny that humankind has other qualities which distinguish it from animals, such as rational thought, self-consciousness, the desire for freedom, language, etc. It asserts only that productive work is more essential than these qualities, for they can be explained only starting from productive work.

            Therefore, society is not a collectivity of isolated individuals, but a living organism united in social practice constituted of productive work. The sum total of the connections and relationships formed in the social practice of myriads of individuals constitutes society. An individual cannot be absolutely separated from society because he or she is social, and society is a society of individuals.