Views of Human Nature

For Marx, the hidden force determining human behavior is economic and involves the relationship of the human being to labor. Sigmund Freud sees a hidden force as well, and for him the hidden force is found in theoretical constructs of the mind which govern different aspects of thought and behavior and whose interaction produces the behavior we can see. Max Weber associates a spiritual impulse with the need to work and acquire capital, though it is not clear if Weber is describing only what he sees as the operation of human nature in a Protestant and capitalist or as something that is universal. Polanyi examines a specific era in the development of

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ding for the benefit of all. Weber implies a similar combination of two urges when he discusses the way the religious impetus of the Protestant colonial era came to infuse American capitalism so that work became an ethical ideal, and it is one that seems to reflect the same tension noted by Freud between the pleasure principle and the spirit of social altruism. Yet, Weber does not seem to be trying to develop an overarching conception of human nature or to fit one to the specific instance of capitalism. Instead, he acknowledges that finding a link between the religious forces he examines and capitalism may involve finding no more than a historical accident: In view of the tremendous confusion of interdependent influences between the material basis, the forms of social and political organization, and the ideas current in the time of the reformation, we can only proceed by investigating whether and at what points certain correlations between forms of religious belief and practical ethics can be worked out (Weber 91). Weber is not denying that the religious impulse, which may be a need in human nature, and capitalism are related, but he is saying finding and proving such a link may not be possible. What is evident is that there
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Approximate Word count = 1565
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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