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Article: Human Nature, Religious and Philosophical Aspects
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
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Human Nature, Religious and Philosophical Aspects
The suggestion that there is such a thing as human nature implies a specific stance with relation to what a human being is. Do humans have something like a nature? If so, in what does human nature consist? These questions can not be answered from a sole description of specific characteristics, which is one of the main reasons there is a continuous debate over this issue. To say something about what a human being essentially (or in nature)
is,
implies saying something about what humans
ought to be.
Consequently, there is always a kind of normative self-reference in the way the question "What is human nature?" is answered. It is not ...