Preview

Mankind is Inherently Good

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1017 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mankind is Inherently Good
Anthoney Tracey
Mr. Foesenek
English 10
4/11/2013

Mankind is Inherently Good Many people would say that men are inherently evil, but the truth is, people are good, this is quite easy to prove, if someone does a good deed for someone, it will feel good on that person’s part perhaps more than on the receiver’s part. Mankind is good for many reasons, one of which being how people strive to persevere for one another. People also for some reason all feel the need of something to follow and/or believe in. regardless if you are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, atheist, Darwinist or even criminal, who aren’t really “good” but they do follow something in order to be better in terms of wealth or greatness. Manners, a whole set of rules that we follow for no reason; if people thought about it, with no manners, there would be no such thing as rudeness. People may be very violent, but no matter what someone does, they are good somehow. People are always trying to meet the occasion and help others even if it costs us lives, such as finding Osama for 911. No one had to, but they did for our dead, even though those seals could have handled it a little better. When it came to the formation of the Nazi party, the bombing and all that madness, people were 85% for the allies’ alliance and 15% for the axis alliance according to a Wikipedia “good article”. “In 1933, 90 percent of Germans showed unflinching support for Adolph Hitler. That leaves 10 percent who didn't. Hans Hubermann belonged to that ten percent” (page 65), a quote from the book The Book Thief that shows how even some of the Germans themselves were against the Nazi party. An example containing a little less death that people stepped in about was during the Haitian earthquake. Our need to help others is but one reason why people are inherently good. A very big thing that probably influences everything people do during the day and night is religion, a center of society. People cling to religion because

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Good and evil are polar opposites, yet one cannot exist without the other. To understand this intricate relationship, one must have a clear understanding on what exactly good and evil are. These two are not always so black and white, but good can be defined as acting agreeably with societical and personal values. Evil can be defined as going against those values. However, as societies and humans differ, so do their moral codes. What is seen as good in one society or time may be seen as evil in another. Two more factors to consider are intentions and actions. They are two separate entities. Actions are seen, and judged, by everyone else, but intentions are known only by the doer. This is why there is no clear-cut line between good and evil.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Quotes

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Germans in the Hitler era were too patriotic to Hitler because they thought of him and his Nazis as Gods. Before Hitler became into power Germany was suffering extreme debt similar to the Proles. The Jewish people were being taken and never heard of again similar to the rebellious comrades. The Germans were easily manipulated by the food and the “services” that Hitler and his Nazis provided for them exactly like the Proles in 1984. The German citizens easily outnumbered the Nazis but they were too ignorant and naïve to see the larger picture of the real evil that the Nazis were creating in the concentration camps. The Germans were oblivious to looking at the bigger picture of the Nazis’ real evil even when the concentration camps were down the street, in their backyard, or even in plain sight…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After witnessing such things many people were afraid to confront the soldiers which stopped many people from saving innocent Jewish lives. Another factor that could have stopped people from stopping Nazis was the spread of reports that the Russian Army was gaining ground quickly and would soon arrive to the areas controlled by Nazi Germany to liberate them. In the end, not much was done to stop the super-power that was Nazi Germany and millions of people died because of…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Various religions define good and evil in various ways. However, one thing is certain. Since our society has existed, good and evil have also been in existence and many religions see them as two sides of the same coin. Some religions see them as counterparts, one of which focuses on promotion of happiness and the other on everything evil or all that is contrary to happiness. Every religion and mythology define them in its own way and they find representation in various forms like demons and angels in Christianity and Devas and Danavas in Hinduism. But the concept of good and evil has always been there and in old times people considered everything that made them unhappy evil - even diseases - and everything that made them happy good.…

    • 1696 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not one little animal stood up for what could have been right. Terrible things are things you can’t help because they probably were raised wrong or just wanting to do bad things in life. In the story “Adolf Hitler” by Jessica McBirney was talking him, what has going on, and how people were always following in the crowd, and people were always turning on friends and family just like everybody else was during World one and two. Nobody wanted to be the outsider and stick out from other people.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout human history, people have shown through many ways that they possess the ability to exude pure evil (or some form of it). There are a few exceptions to this vile display, however it is nearly impossible to deny that everyone possesses it. I believe that humans are bad because they attempt/commit acts of murder and violence (and in some severe cases genocide) and are obsessed with power and self-improvement.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though there are good people with decency and morals, most everyday acts of kindness are not given attention unless they occur after a disaster of some kind. That is why I disregard good as being the overall quality. We have to teach young children not to act bad or indecent, so by birth are we are evil in nature? However, this idea contradicts the idea that if man were naive and innocent then he would not be evil in nature. As a child we are often not blamed for our wrongdoing because ‘we don’t know any better’, but if we didn’t know any better would we not have done it all? Even in other species the youngest of the species has to be taught how to act, but after a certain point man has For some people it takes an act of evil to show compassion. Those people who are not evil or have no bad intentions, shouldn’t they also be blamed for knowing of the rest of man is evil and doing nothing about it. Or should they be blamed for selfish motives when they do help, they only help because they don’t want it to happen to them. They don’t care about the devastation that happens to the people they’re ‘helping’. You cannot say for sure that a person is evil until you see their intentions against other people. Most people never show their hand and others do, such as figureheads, terrorist groups, radical politicians,…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religion is demonstrated on a daily basis by how the religion influences behaviors during the waking hours through ritual and practice and even during periods of sleep.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are also myriad examples showing the positivity in human nature. On the contrary, this may be due to taught values in society. One may argue that selfless actions done for other human beings show how humans may be inherently good. An example of an action corresponding to this theme would be an opposing softball team witnessing a girl who stuck a home-run collapse with a knee injury, but instead of leaving her there they brought her around all the bases, sacrificing their victory. The girls on the opposing team say sweet comments such as: “We just wanted to help her (text 4.)” and the girl with the knee injury says how she “would do the same for her in the same situation (text 4.)” One may think that kindness is an inherent property of humans or rather that society just teaches us how helping other human beings is the correct action to take in an event. Without a society to teach man what is morally right, man would want to do what is right for themselves so they can feel satisfied with themselves. Correspondingly, one may argue that “in most cases people will not do things to harm themselves or others (text 2)” therefore proving to be inherently good. Although this may be somewhat true, there is still a lot of violence that is present, even in today’s society. People’s inner evils may be at a chance of increasing due to the others around them acting hostile, therefore reverting their mindsets to their original nature. As explained in Hobbes’ work Leviathan, man “acts morally only when they are sure that others are the same (text 6,)” explaining how morals are put into thought only when others use them. Without the confidence that one is using morals, it is said that humans’ “rational behaviour leads [them] to attack others (text 6,)” which exhibits to how people may not do things to harm others when morals are present, but act more violent when morals are…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Evil a Learned Behavior

    • 6329 Words
    • 26 Pages

    What is evil? Is it characterized by a desire to cause hurt or harm, “an evil mood”? What causes people to do evil? The strong feelings of hatred and dislike that builds up in all of us or simply that all our emotions are constantly on the dark side for such a long period of time. What is right from wrong when the hate in our hearts makes us all make terrible mistakes and commit evil. The writings of Confucius say, “There is no light without darkness, no positive without negative, no good without evil.” Throughout the history of humanity, humans have committed inconceivable and unthinkable acts of cruelty towards one another. From the brutal wars during the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, to the modern area of ethnic cleansing and genocide one cannot help but wonder what is the root cause of this evil. Unthinkable numbers of human life has been lost in every corner of the world from the genocides in Armenia and Nazi Germany to the guerilla wars in Vietnam and Cambodia and presently to the devastating conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sudan. Evil is a learned behavior which is illustrated in dictators, school violence, and classical novels such as Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Night by Elie Wiesel.…

    • 6329 Words
    • 26 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abandonment of the Jews

    • 2222 Words
    • 9 Pages

    "To kill the Jews, the Nazis were willing to weaken their capacity to fight the war. The United States and its allies, however, were willing to attempt almost nothing to save them" (Pp 5). If we would have put half as much energy into loving the Jews as Hitler spent hating the Jews we could have made a great difference.…

    • 2222 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perils Of Indifference

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages

    It takes a lot of courage to stand up to one person, but it takes true bravery to stand up against a whole country of people. “The White Rose” is a story about three teenagers who realized what Hitler was doing to the Jewish people and decided it was time for someone to take a stand. Hans and Sophie Scholl, along with their friend Christoph Probst, decided to make a leaflet to expose Hitler’s malevolent ways. They believed, “It was the duty of the citizen, even in times of war, to stand up against an evil regime, especially when it is sending hundreds of thousands of its citizens to their deaths.”(pg. 82) They knew it was essential for citizens to stand up because they were the only ones who could make the situation better. The suffering people can not stand up to their enemy without help from others, and as one nation it is our duty to help take down evil. The teens were eventually caught and arrested, then sentenced to death for treason. Even though they perished while doing it, these three teens are just one example of citizens who stood up to indifference, and won the battle. They knew how dangerous it would be to stand up to Hitler, but that did not stop them from being an exponent for the Jews. They exposed Hitler to numerous German citizens and got the ones who agreed with them to come out of their shell and stand up too. The story of “The White Rose” shows that if citizens do not do their job…

    • 1250 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Goodness - Natural or Caused by Religion Everyone knows the textbook definition of good: "morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious" (Dictionary.com). But this definition does not answer the evergrowing question: do people do good deeds because of religious reasons or because humans are naturally good? The Puritans were part the colonial period, were extremely religious and hardworking, and believed that people do good deeds out of fear of an angry God. However, the Humanists, who were part of the revolutionary period, based their beliefs on logic and reason and believed that people do good deeds to make the world a better place and help their fellow man.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Studying the human psychology is an unresolved mystery. There is a huge debate on whether people are born good or evil. Psychologists, philosophers and scientists try to reach a crucial point in this issue. However, it is still highly debatable. Especially in the modern times, there are some people claiming that there is some evidence shows that we are born evil. This evidence includes scientific research, psychological studies, and the Christian idea of original sin. On the other hand, there is another opinion that says that people are born good. Their evidence includes theological studies, psychological research, and logical argument. It seems that there is more evidence for the second position over the first position. According to Islam,…

    • 1758 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Kathryn A. LaFortune is a Forensic Psychologist who works at the Oklahoma State University - Centre for Health Sciences. She has served as the Chief of Forensic Psychological Services for the Oklahoma Indigent Defence System.…

    • 909 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays