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Ideas of Human Nature: An Historical Introduction
Ideas of Human Nature (second edition) presents twelve of the most influential Western thinkers on the topic of human nature. Roger Trigg examines the thinkers in their historical context and discusses their relevance to contemporary controversies.
224 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2020
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مروری بر بخشی از دیدگاه های مختلف غرب به انسان. برای آشنایی واقعا عالی است.
مروری بر بخشی از دیدگاه های مختلف غرب به انسان. برای آشنایی واقعا عالی است.
January 3, 2021
Good for mind and soul.
June 15, 2024
I took longer to read this than I expected, though it’s less about the book than it is my unfamiliarity with the ideas of some of the philosophers. But that’s why I was reading this book. And also because I got distracted with another book.
I thought it provided a pretty good overview of some of the thinkers that were featured, and their respective positions on what human nature is. Trigg write clearly and succinctly (perhaps too succinctly - I felt he could have gone into greater detail but he was able to convey the general thoughts of each of the philosophers featured.
Starting with Plato all the way to Wittgenstein, he was able to link the following figure with the one that he was looking at, and thus you get the sense of how their ideas are related, and how they build on one another, or repudiate the one(s) that come before.
Each chapter is also structured very similarly - starting from the context, what it means to be human, human society and contemporary relevance. Contemporary here being the late 1990s - the book itself is somewhat dated but I still found value in it reading in 2024.
I can’t judge how accurate some of his writings are, but the chapter on Marx and Freud (both whom I am more acquainted with are pretty decent). I got the sense that he really did not and could not sympathise with the likes of Nietzsche, judging by that chapter though I thought he was pretty even-handed in his treatment nevertheless. The conclusion shows that Trigg is firmly a non-relativist, nor one convinced by the determinism of the socio-biologists. He covered briefly both Richard Rorty and EO Wilson. By featuring these two, tried to make the case for the notion at the conclusion that human beings may differ across time and culture, but there remains something universal that binds them. This makes them relatable and understandable across time and space, so that even as one in 2024 studying the Greeks from 200 BC, we can still understand in some sense why they did what they did, thought what they thought and felt what they felt.
I think that that much was evident in his treatment of the respective philosophers, and in retrospect when one revisits those chapters again.
I personally enjoyed the book, and thought it gave me grounding in my current journey of reading more philosophical works.
I thought it provided a pretty good overview of some of the thinkers that were featured, and their respective positions on what human nature is. Trigg write clearly and succinctly (perhaps too succinctly - I felt he could have gone into greater detail but he was able to convey the general thoughts of each of the philosophers featured.
Starting with Plato all the way to Wittgenstein, he was able to link the following figure with the one that he was looking at, and thus you get the sense of how their ideas are related, and how they build on one another, or repudiate the one(s) that come before.
Each chapter is also structured very similarly - starting from the context, what it means to be human, human society and contemporary relevance. Contemporary here being the late 1990s - the book itself is somewhat dated but I still found value in it reading in 2024.
I can’t judge how accurate some of his writings are, but the chapter on Marx and Freud (both whom I am more acquainted with are pretty decent). I got the sense that he really did not and could not sympathise with the likes of Nietzsche, judging by that chapter though I thought he was pretty even-handed in his treatment nevertheless. The conclusion shows that Trigg is firmly a non-relativist, nor one convinced by the determinism of the socio-biologists. He covered briefly both Richard Rorty and EO Wilson. By featuring these two, tried to make the case for the notion at the conclusion that human beings may differ across time and culture, but there remains something universal that binds them. This makes them relatable and understandable across time and space, so that even as one in 2024 studying the Greeks from 200 BC, we can still understand in some sense why they did what they did, thought what they thought and felt what they felt.
I think that that much was evident in his treatment of the respective philosophers, and in retrospect when one revisits those chapters again.
I personally enjoyed the book, and thought it gave me grounding in my current journey of reading more philosophical works.
November 26, 2025
"the most potent ideas of all are those we form about ourselves"
it took me longer than I expected to read. it isn't easy but it's very rewarding.
With the development of science, we might think we are better and that there is nothing previous philosophers have to say that is relevant to us. But even with our scientific knowledge, their questions are our questions, their influence is very much alive.
it is not surprising we still see ourselves in the tragedies and mistakes we read in characters of the Greek plays or of Dostoevsky's novels.
There is something that binds us together that transcends time and circumstances.
What it is to be human might seem to have been an outdated discussion. But in times of AI, it is again in our day to day conversations.
When a different kind of intelligence is able to make so many things we have traditionally regarded as ubiquitous to humans, then the autonomy and malleability of human reason, what makes us different and the same everywhere, becomes of greater importance for our understanding of our place in the world, and the value we attribute to ourselves.
it took me longer than I expected to read. it isn't easy but it's very rewarding.
With the development of science, we might think we are better and that there is nothing previous philosophers have to say that is relevant to us. But even with our scientific knowledge, their questions are our questions, their influence is very much alive.
it is not surprising we still see ourselves in the tragedies and mistakes we read in characters of the Greek plays or of Dostoevsky's novels.
There is something that binds us together that transcends time and circumstances.
What it is to be human might seem to have been an outdated discussion. But in times of AI, it is again in our day to day conversations.
When a different kind of intelligence is able to make so many things we have traditionally regarded as ubiquitous to humans, then the autonomy and malleability of human reason, what makes us different and the same everywhere, becomes of greater importance for our understanding of our place in the world, and the value we attribute to ourselves.
March 11, 2024
He obviously prefers religous idea and it is reflected on the text. But it seems like he tries to hide his bias and does not make a concrete statement based on his own viewpoint which is quite disappointing.
October 12, 2024
Overview of the great western philosophers ideas on human nature. Deep and interesting.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews