Quote:
Originally Posted by Sainters7
So I'm working on a persuasive argument assignment for my English class, and we're being asked to argue if we feel humans are naturally good, or naturally evil and goodness is acquired. It's an interesting topic with legit examples to argue both sides. I'm interested to hear what you think, and provide examples if you can.
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I think good and evil are two very polarizing words that really don't capture the issue well. My take is that at the core humanity is self-interested and self-lessness is a learned behavior. Out of self-interest what is defined as 'evil' would be the negative side effects of people acting in self-interest. Thus the furthest advanced nations of the world have an econmic system in place that reconizes and harnesses this innate human trait, and a political system designed to identify and rectify situations where self-interest creates negative externalities for the common group. Of course the systems in place are far from perfect, but they reflect the traits of their imperfect designers.