Do you agree with the statement that man is a social being Well, in case you agree, you should know that you have on your side great thinkers who can endorse this statement. In today's text, we bring you the reflections of 4 extremely famous thinkers. While 3 of them defend that the human being is a social animal, 1 defends that in fact, every human being is essentially bad. Find out who said this by reading the entire reflection we have prepared!

Learn about 2 theories that operate on this premise and 1 dissenting point of view

If you paid attention to what we said above and read the title of this section, the mathematics must not be making sense. We explain: although we present 3 reflections, one of them was made by a very famous duo. Without further ado, let us introduce the preachers of today's text:

• Aristotle,
• Marx,
• Engels,
• and Hobbes.

Aristotle: man is a social being because he is an animal that needs other members of the species

Let's start the discussion that the human being is social by one of the oldest reflections on the subject. No wonder we need to go back to Greece, because the one who will give us this lesson is Aristotle. For him, man needs other people because he is a needy being, so he needs other people to feel full and happy.

According to the philosopher, it is possible to divide the animal species into different groups. These are:

• the gregarious (koinonia) ,
• the lonely (monadika) ,
• those who are prone to a sociable life (politika),
• and those who live sparsely (sporadika) .

At this juncture, the human being belongs to the first three groups. Although some people prefer a certain isolation, no one lives well 100% alone. Moreover, it would only be possible to manifest the greatest human greatness in coexistence. We are talking here about language, for although animal languages exist, no other species can speak.

Marx and Engels: bourgeois individualism is a construction. Man is a social being

Speaking of political life, we have already taken the opportunity to engage in a discussion about man from the point of view of Marx and Engels. Leave aside all your preconceptions and partisanship in order to understand what they have to say about the human being. Although these ideas come from a Marxist perspective, something that does not please Greeks and Trojans, it is important to understand that there is value in what you like and also in what you don't like.

To understand what the authors advocate, let's go back to what Aristotle said. Imagine that we are animals and we need to live in a group. Without the members of our group, we do not achieve wholeness and we become sad animals. When we are together, we feel protected, loved, and valued. However, imagine that one of the animals realizes that it can be greater than the others.

This is not difficult, because several species have an order of organization that is hierarchical. However, in this particular flock that we are talking about, one of the animals decides that only he and a few other acquaintances can grow. Instead of thinking about the good of the collective in general, they begin to see the good that the collective does from an individualistic perspective. It is to this point of human relationships that Marx and Engels draw attention .

Individualism and bourgeoisie

According to the thinkers, the bourgeoisie (the rising, dominant class in society that has control of the means of production) transforms men into individualistic beings. It is as if, in order to get rich, the bourgeoisie perverted the essentially social character of the human being.

Thus, if man is a social being, the bourgeoisie corrupts him. This is because it makes him stop looking at his fellow man in order to pursue his own well-being. In this context, we also discuss the alienated work that arises as an answer to get money to sustain the lifestyle. This reflection reminds a little of the fable of the cicada and the ant, in which the ant represents the bourgeois, leaving the cicada helpless.

Hobbes: it is not true that man is a social being. Every human being is naturally evil

Now that we have talked about perspectives that actually consider man to be a social being, let's talk about a different point of view. According to the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, all this talk of a social essence is a lie. For him, it is impossible for man to be social at that level because every human being is evil. However, his ideas are very controversial.

For Hobbes, the fact that man is evil is a pretext to discipline him in a dictatorial State. Thus, since man is not social, he does not know how to live in society and needs correction. At this juncture, it is up to the State to dictate norms of coexistence that everyone must obey in order to maintain peace. It is only possible to be social from a pact between men mediated by the State.Therefore, to transgress the laws is to transgress the covenant.

Obviously, this thesis is full of problems. If man is a social being, he can elaborate fair rules of coexistence. The opposite, on the other hand, is hard to swallow. How would we respect rules made for bad men, if they were made by equally bad men? There we have a paradox. Besides, believing that we are bad in essence makes changing our lives a difficult purpose. This is in addition tofeeding Gabriela's syndrome.

Final considerations on the proposition that man is a social being

In today's post, you had access to some different proposals about the statement that man is a social being. Some proposals agree. While Aristotle dissects on the subject, Marx and Engels continue the discussion in a practical way. As the bourgeoisie owns the means of production, human beings become more individualistic. Finally, Hobbes even dialogues with this indirectly,but affirming that man is 100% evil.

In this context, depending on what you think about it, it is important to keep in mind how important society is in a person's life. Many have been violated, abused, and rejected in the social environment. Others feel demanded and charged. In this context, how to deal with the pressures and expectations of everyday life?

We hope you will get the answers to this question in our 100% online Clinical Psychoanalysis course. We do not necessarily discuss whether man is a social being Come learn how to do a clinical analysis or incorporate Psychoanalysis into your work! The remuneration and self-knowledge acquired will certainly be worth the investment!

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