The Nature of the Human Being
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The nature of the human being is characterized by the struggle between freedom and destiny. In his book titled Freedom and Destiny, Rollo May discusses the dialectical relationship between the two concepts. Basically, he argues that freedom and destiny are opposing concepts that need each other for either to exist. However, their opposition is what causes the fundamental dilemma that characterizes the human being: who are we and who are we supposed to be? This paper discusses the theories of three psychologists who have addressed this question. For purposes of coherence, the first under discussion is Erich Fromm who argues that human existence is characterized by fundamental contradictions that originate from man's attempt to overcome feelings of isolation. The second is Rollo May, discussed above. And the third is Karen Horney, who argues for the moral responsibility that may cause the development of neuroses during the search for one's destiny. In his study titled The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, Erich Fromm maintains that most thinkers since the Greek philosophers believed it to be self-evident that there existed something called "human nature," something that constituted the essence of man (1973, p. 219). He notes that there were various views about what precisely such human nature was, but he observes that there was general agreement that such an essence existed. That is, that there was something
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ge. Whatever the given, however, man's creativity in defining his condition emerges when he confronts these limits. We cannot cancel our destiny and we cannot erase it or substitute something else in its place (May, 1981, p. 89). Rather, we must choose how we will respond to it; how we shall live out our talents which confront us. Destiny is a term that describes our condition prior to sociological and moral judgments; "[i]t is the design of the universe speaking through the design of one of us" (May, 1981, pp. 89-90).
May quotes Ortega y Gasset's definition of our destiny as our "vital design" (1981, p. 93). He argues that this definition puts the accent on destiny as destination, or the significant direction or conflict of directions each one of us sense within himself. This is where May begins to approach Fromm's argument that the nature of human beings is characterized by conflict. Ortega states that "[o]ur will is free to realize or not to realize this vital design which we ultimately are, but we cannot . . . change it, abbreviate it, or substitute anything for it" (May, 1981, p. 93). "Life," continues Ortega, "means the inexorable necessity of realizing the design for an existence which each one of us is . . . Th
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Approximate Word count = 2682
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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