Reference no: EM133426046

Peter Corning summarizes the aspects of human nature considered most important by eight different European philosophers over the last 2500 years: Plato, Epicurus, Jeremy Bentham, Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Adam Smith, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Select two of these philosophers whose theories of human nature are most convincing to you, in part if not entirely, and identify the aspects of human nature that each considered most important or central.

Earlier this semester, we read about "lost European explorers" and the fact that human survival is a collective enterprise (Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, Ch. 3). That is, we need community and culture to survive. In this week's readings, Peter Corning makes the same point, citing evidence from six research domains on the social and moral traits that are central to human survival: animal behavior, anthropology, behavioral genetics, brain sciences, evolutionary psychology, and experimental and behavioral economics. Select one of these domains and summarize the evidence it provides regarding the social and cooperative nature of human beings.

How does Peter Corning define basic needs? How does he distinguish primary needs from instrumental needs? How does he distinguish needs from drives and perceived needs?