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Is Human Nature Inherently Good

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“Human nature is neither demonic nor angelic”, a statement by Mark Passio, is an expression which I do not quite agree, because to me, it seems that man is inherently good. Generally, there are 3 schools of thought with regards to the nature of men. These includes humanity is essentially good; humanity is essentially bad; and humanity is neither essentially good nor bad. According to the Oxford Dictionary, human nature can be defined as the core characteristics such as the ways of thinking, feeling and acting which humans tend to have naturally. Humanity is justified by how we perceived the world. With the recent happening in Penang, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has ordered that all stray dogs shall be put to sleep so that the people will not contract the rabies virus if they are bitten by the strays. However, many people including the non-governmental organisations formed by animal lovers had opposed this action. Some people deemed him as being cruel, while some see his action justifiable. Although his order may seem inhumane, but his intention is good. He wanted greater good for his people and thus he has no other way but to contain the spread of this virus by killing. Hence, I believed that men are fundamentally good. This is supported by Plato and Aristotle that considered men are good because they are born rational. Jean-Jacques Rousseau agreed with Aristotle that men are able to distinguish what is right and what is wrong. Rousseau believed that what differentiates men
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