Table Of Content

HUMAN NATURE IN POLITICS NOMOS XVII N O M O S Lieber-Atherton, Publishers I Authority 1958 (reissue in preparation) II Community 1959 (reissue in preparation) III Responsibility 1960 (reissue in preparation) IV Liberty 1962 (reissue in preparation) V The Public Interest 1962 (reissue in preparation) VI Justice 1963, reissued 1974 VII Rational Decision 1964 VIII Revolution 1966 (reissue in preparation) IX Equality 1967 (reissue in preparation) X Representation 1968 XI Voluntary Associations 1969 XII Political and Legal Obligation 1970 XIII Privacy 1971 XIV Coercion 1972 XV The Limits of Law 1974 XVI Participation in Politics 1975 New York University Press XVII Human Nature in Politics 1976 XVIII Due Process 1977 XIX Anarchism (in preparation) XX Constitutionalism (in preparation) NOMOS XVII Yearbook of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy HUMAN NATURE IN POLITICS Edited by J. ROLAND PENNOCK Swarthmore College and JOHN W. CHAPMAN University of Pittsburgh New York*. New York University Press, 1977 Human Nature in Politics: Nomos XVII J. Roland Pennock and John W. Chapman, editors Copyright © 1977 by New York University LCC: 76-23506 ISBN: 0-8147-6568-8 Serial Publication Number: US-ISSN-0078-0979 Manufactured in the United States of America PREFACE The meetings of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy held in September 1972 in conjunction with the meetings of the American Political Science Association were de¬ voted to the subject of “Human Nature and Politics.” As ancient, and some not so ancient, theorists proposed cyclical theories of the forms of government, so, it might be suggested, the topics that are of especial interest in any particular discipline at a given time exhibit a somewhat cyclical pattern. Arthur O. Lovejoy’s Reflections on Human Nature, originally delivered as lectures in 1941, was largely a study of the thought of the eighteenth century. In recent times the subject has been out of fashion—until the very most recent times, that is. Today, it appears to be staging a comeback. As is generally and properly the case, in such instances, the present approach is quite different from that of earlier times. Psychology and genetics have supplied us with mountains of new information bearing on the subject. The armchair philosopher must give way to the speculative theorist who is armed with sci¬ entific information. While customarily Nomos volumes comprise the revised papers and comments presented at the annual meetings, supplemented by other papers volunteered by members of the Society or solicit¬ ed by the editors, this year the shoe is on the other foot. Only one chapter of this book, that by Richard Brandt, was presented viii Preface at the annual meetings, while two others, those by Bernard Gert and Felix Oppenheim, were prompted by it. A fourth author, James C. Davies, participated in the meetings as a commentator, but accepted the editors’ encouragement to elaborate his own theory for the volume rather than to confine himself to the com¬ ments on Brandt’s paper that he presented at the meetings. The other major papers, and with them the comments based upon them, for various reasons fell by the wayside. One of them, for instance, while in the process of being revised and “condensed,” grew to book length! To these authors, to the others who have contributed to the volume, and doubly to George Armstrong Kelly, who both served as program chairman for the meetings and contributed a chapter to the volume, the editors express their gratitude. This year, as every year since the present editors took over, Eleanor Greitzer has performed invaluable service as editorial assistant. We are deeply indebted to her for her combination of overall comprehension with sharp-eyed attention to detail. Members of the Society and other regular readers of Nomos will note that Charles Lieber, who has for twelve years provided a com¬ fortable publishing home for these volumes, has now relinquished that responsibility. His friendly help and counsel have been a con¬ stant source of pleasure and satisfaction to the editors. Happily, the series will henceforth appear under the imprint of New York University Press. J.R.P. J.W.C. CONTENTS Preface vii Contributors xi 1 Introduction 1 J. ROLAND PENNOCK PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN NATURE 17 2 Human Nature Redivivus 19 PETER A. CORNING 3 Human Nature, Nature, and Political Thought 69 ROGER D. MASTERS 4 Politics, Violence, and Human Nature 111 GEORGE ARMSTRONG KELLY 5 The Political Animal 142 LISA H. NEWTON Contents X 6 The Priority of Human Needs and the Stages of Political Development I57 JAMES CHOWNING DAVIES HUMAN NATURE AND RADICAL POLITICAL THOUGHT 197 7 “To Make All Things New”—The Counterculture Vision of Man and Politics 199 DONALD W. KEIM 8 Human Nature and History 225 MARVIN ZETTERBAUM 9 Human Nature and the Radical Vision 250 LYMAN TOWER SARGENT RATIONALITY AND HUMAN NATURE 263 10 The Concept of Rationality in Ethical and Political Theory 265 RICHARD BRANDT 11 Rationality and Egalitarianism 280 FELIX E. OPPENHEIM 12 Irrational Desires 286 BERNARD GERT 13 Toward a General Theory of Human Nature and Dynamics 292 JOHN W. CHAPMAN Bibliography 320 JOHN W. CHAPMAN Index 343