Ten Theories of Human Nature

By David L. Haberman and Leslie Forster Stevenson

Book Overview

With over a quarter of a million copies sold since 1974, Seven Theories of Human Nature was a remarkably popular introduction to key points of Western thought. Now entitled Ten Theories of Human Nature, this completely revised and expanded third edition broadens the cultural and historical range by incorporating new chapters on Hinduism, Confucianism, and Kant. It also extends and deepens the discussion of the original seven theories, taking into account the most recent scholarship and addressing issues of feminism and relativism. A new final chapter reviews the prospects and limits of the scientific understanding of human nature and includes a survey of nine different types of psychology.
This lucid text compresses into a small space the essence of such ancient traditions as Confucianism, Hinduism, and the Old and New Testaments as well as the theories of Plato, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre, B.F. Skinner, and Konrad Lorenz. The authors juxtapose the ideas of these and other thinkers in a way that helps students understand how humanity has struggled to comprehend its nature. To encourage readers to think critically for themselves, the book examines each theory on four points--the nature of the universe, the nature of humanity, the ills of humanity, and the proposed cure for these ills. Ideal for introductory courses in philosophy, religious studies, human nature, and intellectual history, Ten Theories of Human Nature will engage and motivate students and other readers to consider who we are, what motivates us, and how we can understand and improve the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195120418
• ISBN13: 9780195120417
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.4" x 0.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A good one stop read

I have used this book as an ethics instructor for six years. The book is useful in identifying the multiple influences upon our lives for how we make ethical decisions. Our religious perspectives and understanding of behavioral sciences find residence in our lives, whether we are aware or not. It is through these we are formed and make decisions. Stevenson and Haberman present overviews of Taoism, Hinduism, and Judaism, as well as behavorial sciences and philosophy by examining these theories' underlying philosophies and intellectual difficulties. While Judaism and Christianity are not separated by chapter [but combined into one], and Islam is not given a full discussion, the book is useful for understanding the complexity of global interaction and how we can relate to the millions of people who hold religious or philosophical premises unlike our own.

Ten Theories of Human Nature by Leslie Forster Stevenson [Paperback]

Quality book. Received in a timely manner.

Great introductory book

I like the way the author analyzes the religions and thoughts that have influenced the course of world history. It doesn't compare one against the other so the reader is allowed to view the theory in a vacuum. I only wished that the author wrote a chapter on the importance of why we need to engage in such an endeavor that would set the trajectory of our lives. Great book!!!

Short, solid, still some surprises

Socrates postulated that only the examined life was worth living. His great inspiring idea was that we can come to know the right way to live if we use our reason properly, and inquire in an open-minded, nondogmatic way.In this spirit, "Ten Theories of Human Nature" does not restrict its inquiry to five major thinkers of the Western Tradition (Plato, Kant, Marx, Freud and Sartre), but includes three ancient religious traditions (Confucianism, Hinduism, and Christianity) as well as two scientific thinkers (Skinner and Lorenz).Each of the ten theories is examined under four aspects:(1) what is its theory about the world?(2) what is its theory of the nature of human beings?(3) what is its diagnosis of what is wrong with us?(4) how can we put it right?The result is a concise, well-balanced textbook with useful suggestions for further reading. It shows how the focus of each theory on different aspects of human existence branches out into elaborate (sometimes, arcane) systems of thought. It also illustrates how the dominance of very comprehensive theories, especially religious ones, is replaced in time by more scientific, narrow theories which increase our knowledge about human behavior in very particular, small aspects but tend to lose sight of larger, "non-scientific" issues.While the authors claim at the beginning of their book to present "rival" theories, the book is actually open-minded about the contributions of each theory to the understanding of the human condition: they are adding up, rather than canceling out.Meeting the ideas of Sartre, Skinner and Lorenz in the context of the book was an interesting experience for me. Surprisingly, I found that Sartre's ideas about freedom and choice could well form the philosophical basis of the main-stream American self-help book - a thought that any self-respecting French intellectual would definitely hate.

A threshold to understand human nature

The authors attempt to compress 9 philosophers' senses of human nature into a small book. These 9 philosophers are Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Jean Paul Sartre, B.F. Skinner, and Konrad Lorenz, Confucius, Hinduism and Kant. In hope of making the comparison among these philosophers to be clear, the authors examine each theory in terms of nature of universe, nature of humanity, ills of the world, and proposed solution to cure the world. In short, this book should be an excellent threshold for a person who wants to approach human nature