Good Man

People might be naturally strong and good. Human rivals like wolves, dolphins, parakeets, and chimpanzees seem to be thus. So maybe people are too.

Human beings evidently naturally tend towards education and morality. Towards acquiring information and knowledge, as well as towards choosing the healthy, happy, and lofty thing to do. People seemingly naturally love truth and virtue, since these generally lead to pleasure and joy. Truth and virtue also evidently lead to experiencing a life of meaning and purpose, plus satisfaction and nobility. Human beings hunger for all of these. Clearly, in many senses, mankind desires intellectual and moral wealth and power.

Individuals naturally want to enhance and uplift themselves. They naturally want to enhance and uplift their fellow man too – especially their family and friends, and even neighbors and co-workers. Hence they work hard to improve themselves, along with their companions and allies.

Human nature might indeed be naturally strong and good. Evolution, the ascent of man, human domination of the biosphere, and the rise of culture and civilization over the millennia seem to have made it thus. When children are innocent, pure, and uncorrupted, they seem especially strong and good.

If people seem weak and evil – from the advent of Greek reason to today – that’s possibly entirely the product of our illiberal society. It’s arguably the result of 2600 years of significantly illiberal philosophy and culture, as well as the illiberal attitudes and lifestyles of the victimized peoples. 

Human beings are inherently social creatures. They have a powerful or even overwhelming need to conform and fit in. People almost always seek this. Even if their community is immensely illiberal, and thus social acceptance costs them the vast majority of their mind and soul. If their society was wholly or even mostly liberal, virtually all the people inside it might well be filled with, and radiate, strength and goodness.