Date/Time
14/05/2026 (Thursday)
8.00 - 9.30 pm
Location
The Adelaide
Hidden behind the wide diversity of (arguably mutually morally incompatible!) collective behaviours, beliefs, societies, economies and political practices that we see evidenced across the Human World, does there nevertheless lie a sub-stratum of Human traits that are common to all of us, which we can call ‘Human Nature’? Does our Way-of-Being in the World arise wholly from Nurture or, behind the amazing diversity of Societies, Faiths and Polities that we have developed, is there a common, innate Human Nature that conditions all of our Cultural behaviours?
These are questions that have been debated by philosophers and anthropologists many times over the years, one notable example being the famous Chomsky-Foucault Debate that was presented on Dutch Television in 1971 – still easily available on-line, just type ‘Chomsky-Foucault Debate’ into your web-browser. Michel Foucault was adamant that there is no common Human Nature, Noam Chomsky insisted on the basis of our ready ability to learn languages as children that there must be.
A few potential questions for debating:
If we do have a common Human Nature, is it a morally attractive one? Are we basically greedy, self-focussed and/or aggressive, or do we hope to promote our shared humanity and care for others? Aren’t we Empathic? Is Warfare our permanent Human Lot, or is Peace-Making a project that we all dearly aspire to? Are we basically Good or Bad?
Would or should the recognition that we actually do have a common Human Nature help us to be more ready to resolve our World-Wide social, religious and political differences?
Given that it appears (from decades of research) that there are scientifically and anthropologically well-established Human traits that comprise an innate Human Nature, how can we use this knowledge to better the Human Lot and that of the Biosphere in general?
Following a short introduction, the floor will be open for everyone present to contribute to our discussion. Do come along and take part!