Bringing Human Nature Back In

Human nature has been critical in the development of Western political philosophy, and hence of politics. Socrates in the Republic posed the question of what is true of humans “by nature,” and what is merely customary. Customs are subject to change and can be deliberately shaped by societies, while human nature has a permanence which gives it a priority with respect to human ends. To take one example, human languages vary across cultures, but the faculty for language is common to individuals in all cultures, Greek or barbarian, and the ability to use language has been closely connected to human reason and social organization.