Page 1 of 6
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 7
Publication Date: July 25, 2024
DOI:10.14738/assrj.117.17137.
Pezzani, F. (2024). History’s Legacy: Human Nature Is Unchanging. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7). 01-06.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
History’s Legacy: Human Nature Is Unchanging
Fabrizio Pezzani
ABSTRACT
Today we ought to be in a completely different situation from that of Plato and
Raphael during " italian renaisance ", thanks to the progress and power of technical
knowledge. A knowledge which has become an end in itself for the modern world,
one that should have provided answers to satisfy our primary needs, releasing us
from our “shackles”, reducing inequalities, freeing us, at least in part, from a life of
fatigue and suffering in physical terms. Scientific knowledge should have helped to
create a situation in which our free, inventive mind could once again be the driving
force of life, leading us to that dimension of spiritual joy we admire in splendid
works of art. This is what Keynes thought would happen. In his essay Economic
Possibilities for our Grandchildren written in 1930 he said: ‘Thus for the first time
since his creation man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem – how to
use his freedom from pressing economic cares, which science and compound
interest will have won for him [...]. The love of money as a possession – as
distinguished from the love of money as a means to the enjoyments and realities of
life – will be recognised for what it is, a somewhat disgusting morbidity, one of those
semi-criminal, semi-pathological propensities which one hands over with a
shudder to the specialists in mental disease’.
Keyword: anthropological crisis, history repeat itself, economy is an mean not an end,
economy is social science not rational science.
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL CRISIS NOT ECONOMIC
Analyses of history by great European scholars and philosophers, who never ignored the
humanistic culture and always tried to use this when interpreting the evolution of history, show
common lines of investigation and development despite personal differences in terms of their
times, origins and experiences.
So, historians, philosophers, sociologists, theologists, and those who study psychology and the
human mind identify certain common points that must be examined in order to interpret the
becoming of history. Points that can be summarized as follows.
• Human nature is unchanging and swings continually between a drive to assert a genetic
aggressiveness and an evolution towards behaviour more oriented towards mutual
acceptance by developing a sense of “societas”.
• The primary drive is seen in aggressiveness – death – because human beings are not
naturally good, otherwise religions would not need to state “love thy neighbour as
thyself” as the first commandment. But when a society favouring an individualistic and
egoistic approach asserts itself this leads to clashes and consequent suffering. To escape
from this humanity is then forced to search for a loving relationship – “Eros” – and values
more oriented towards the spiritual sphere, which lead to reconciliatory phases in
history after conflict and wars.
Page 2 of 6
2
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 7, July-2024
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
• After wars, periods of peace in different societies create a momentum towards a form of
composition of interests, especially if these are threatened by a danger from outside. But
once the danger has passed challenges and struggles start up again, leading to a
weakening of the opposing parties and exposing them to the risk of foreign domination.
For instance, the Greek polis failed to find a form of union but then were forced to unite
when faced with the threat of the semi-barbarian Macedonians. Later, Venice, Florence
and Milan met with the same fate when they also failed to unite and found themselves
subjugated.
• The alternating of these periods can be observed when history is reviewed over longer
time-spans. Good and evil times follow each other but the former, one hopes, will
manage to prevail in the long run thanks to a fuller maturity of the sense of society. The
challenge to good is continually re-proposed so that God can continue His work of
creation and achieve a final victory over evil. This is how the struggle is presented by
famous literary figures, for instance, in Goethe’s Faust God accepts Mephistopheles’
provocation who in the end loses but then later makes a comeback in a different manner
to continue the struggle between good and evil.
• Historical phases in which one of the two tendencies – aggression and socialization –
prevails more clearly seem to be punctuated by a period marked by greater social
harmony. There is a growth of creative and humanistic thought in which the encounter
between different sciences in the absence of dogmas and preclusions favours cross- fertilization, as in classical Greece and the Italian Renaissance. A representation of this
harmony is depicted splendidly in Raphael’s fresco The School of Athens in which Plato
points skywards – symbolizing the world of ideas – while Aristotle points downwards –
therefore to the need to remain grounded in the real world. But being unstable the
human soul moves continuously like a pendulum between the two extremes, although
the hope is that future evolution of societies can contribute to reducing the degree of
these swings.
• Social equilibrium – we can define it as a trend towards democracy – achieved after a
great deal of effort and clashes can be compromised by the rise to power of minorities
that become dominant and aim to reinforce their position and egoistical interests over
the others, who become, in turn, the majority in numerical terms. At that point the
system will tend more and more towards a marked form of oligarchy.
• The dominant oligarchy, the minority, detaches itself from the rest of society, whereas
the majority, which becomes instrumental and ends up no longer pursuing the common
good, overcome by a desire to achieve its own opportunistic interests. This leads to a
kind of social monopoly that seeks to maximize personal gain by means of what people
hope is everlasting “rentier capitalism”.
• At this point the risk of a change in the dominant class’ privileged situation is threatened
and so it resorts to exercising power also by means of a kind of cultural immobility in
society. It reduces the creative drive and turnover of ideas and of people who had
initially legitimated it to govern. In this way the dominant minority loses touch with an
ever-changing reality and attempts to freeze the social order so as to stabilize its
privileged position by repelling the spiritual trend and social values that can reawaken
consciences. This attracts people to power of a lower cultural and moral level, and lastly
promotes the dominance of material and sensate values. These become widespread until
such time as the entire system starts to collapse. But history moves on and questions
Page 3 of 6
3
Pezzani, F. (2024). History’s Legacy: Human Nature Is Unchanging. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7). 01-06.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.117.17137
this ossified model, which marks the moment when the pendulum of society starts to
swing back in search of a new equilibrium.
• The appearance and assertion of scientific knowledge as being the decisive and, indeed,
sole truth to observe in decisions concerning the development of society becomes an
accelerator for change because evolutionary processes between one model and the next
become faster and more consequential. Technical knowledge has illuded people that its
growth automatically coincides with a better and more equal society. The hubris that
brought about the downfall of Adam and Eve is reminiscent of a form of omnipotence
and dominion over nature in general, but especially the idea of being able to ask science
to provide unlimited answers as regards the suffering of life. Technical-rational
knowledge applied in an absolute manner to a social science like economics ends up by
making it a moral value.
• So technical-rational knowledge becomes the detonator for change in society, always
hovering between one phase of values and another, depending on an increase in
awareness of the need for democracy and greater equality. The tendency is therefore to
delegate technological development as being the science capable of providing an overall
improvement of humanity’s wellbeing and standard of living.
• Technical knowledge coupled with and extended to include economic sciences ends up
by playing the leading role in government policies and social orientation: the
“financialization” of the real economy represents the extreme evolution of this cultural
model and marks its failure.
In fact, illusions are unmasked not only because society fails to improve its standard of living
but also because it generates a growing inequality in terms of income redistribution. At this
point the dream of technical knowledge as being the panacea for all ills is forced to face a reality
that clearly highlights all of its limits.
Sorokin believed that the existence of some very rich individuals within a highly privileged
minority becomes the cause of bitter resentment among the majority and even if the standard
of living in a material sense increases the latter will still feel the need for social justice. And
while in the past the unequal distribution of the world’s goods between a privileged minority
and an underprivileged majority was considered to be inevitable, technological progress in the
Western world has now made it an intolerable injustice.
The cycle indicated in the previous pages is clearly borne out by facts and shows how economic
science as it has been devised and studied doesn’t take into account human nature, which has
reinforced the development of society moving in the wrong direction. Economics has taken on
a moral value – an unquestionable truth – betraying its original role as a tool to respond to
people’s needs. It is now an end in itself and tool for cultural domination that has led society to
face the dilemma of it becoming. And once again after having thrown human nature out of the
door it has forced its way back in through the window. The aggressiveness and greed of this
economic model have grown enormously but without ever managing to be satisfied. The idea
of justice as represented by a society of equals has been ignored and replaced by a society of
unequals, with a concentration of wealth in this “democracy” that is unparalleled in world
history. Once more history shows that the tool in itself is neither good nor bad, but always
depends on the use made of it based on prevailing values of the times.
Page 4 of 6
4
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 7, July-2024
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Economics has taken on an unjustified role in our society by becoming an end. The construction
of the “new science of economics” that began with the exclusive use of the positive disciplines
back in the 1960s was based on an unfounded hypothesis ‒ it assumed that human beings,
studied in a mechanistic way, don’t have an emotional life, contradicting all the evidence
provided by history. Our age and its economic model seem to have failed in their mission to free
us from concerns to satisfy primary needs and provide people, in general everywhere, with a
higher standard of living. While in past centuries it seemed that the standard of living improved
for everyone, it is also true that the starting point was very low in the various levels of the social
scale. Today the situation is different because as we have seen important scientific discoveries
have created the illusion that it is possible to reduce inequalities faster and respond in a more
adequate manner to real needs. The orientation of the current economic model has discarded
a long-term view of the real economy and replaced it by the short or extremely short-term view
of the financial economy. One that favours the achievement of immediate, utilitarian profit in a
manner that increasingly ignores ethical principles. The time has come for us to draw on our
wisdom and redesign our age.
The book of Ecclesiastes starts with the verse ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of
vanities; all is vanity’, and says that there is a time for all things: ‘To every thing there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under heaven’. Ecclesiastes indicates the variety of human
vicissitudes and changes of scenario in history in which we must, using wisdom, identify the
time for everything. Saint Ambrose often cited this text and in his writings on Tobias wrote
‘Seeds open in their season, animals give birth in their season’. In fact, ‘there is a time for giving
birth and a time for dying [...]. There is a time for gaining and a time for repaying, a time for
preserving and a time for casting away’. To rethink the meaning of our age and human life, to
once more make it the focal point of our interests with a less precarious respect and
equilibrium. But this cannot be achieved without a profound rethinking of the role and methods
of study of economics in our life. Today, finally, our age is again faced with the enigma of life
with a crisis that begs the question of which path to follow in the future. We need to rethink the
values underlying current problems. An inability to see the roots of these leads to thinking they
can still and always will be resolved by means of technical measures because the assumption is
they are caused by malfunctioning markets. The real underlying cause is a society that is no
longer able to respond to the real problems facing humanity and that by depriving human
beings of their conscience has transformed them into tools that no longer know how to find the
meaning of life. The real challenge facing us in this phase in history is to regain an awareness
of the meaning of life seen from a more human standpoint of our being.
As regards Italy, what is needed is to restore moral fibre and again find the courage of great
politicians, like De Gasperi, who contributed to reconstructing Italy in the postwar period. De
Gasperi, speaking before the allied powers, had this to say about the role Italy could play in the
world’s future: ‘The most substantial reparation that Italy can offer is its contribution in terms
of efforts and culture towards building a new world [...]. Cultural accomplishments in terms of
sobriety and industriousness, a centuries-old tradition of Christian morality and sense of justice
can still make this country a safe bridge for Western civilization’. (M. R. De Gasperi, De Gasperi).
CONCLUSION
Technical-instrumental knowledge has become moral knowledge, an indisputable truth and so
in no way open to discussion. It dictates the rules for everyday life to the point that humanity
Page 5 of 6
5
Pezzani, F. (2024). History’s Legacy: Human Nature Is Unchanging. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(7). 01-06.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.117.17137
itself has become its instrument. The technical culture of modern times has failed to achieve
the aim that was hoped for. However, it is not the culture that is at fault but the improvidence
of homo sapiens. We have failed to redistribute wealth; inequalities, famine and poverty have
increased; we have not resolved major health problems afflicting a majority of the world’s
population. Technical knowledge has separated us from our souls, made us sterile and
impersonal, incapable of true human relations and the profound sentiments of love and joy.
Unless, that is, these are linked to the sole satisfaction of material and fleeting pleasures. We
have imprisoned thought, disintegrated family bonds and forced youngsters to roam the streets
without hope. All of us have made this mistake, given that responsibilities are always personal,
even if at different levels. This modern age needs rethinking if we are not to find ourselves once
more facing chaos.
References
1. Hannah A (1963) Eichman in Jerusalem: a Report on the Banality of evil.
2. Hannah A (1969) The Human Condition, Macmillan N.Y.
3. Aristotele (2000) Etica Nicomachea [Nicomachean Ethics]. J Bywater (ed.), Milan.
4. Urs von BH, Creatusest H (2010) Jaca Book. Milan.
5. Zygmunt B (2005) Liquid Life.
6. Zygmunt B (2009) Parasitic Capitalism. Rome-Bari.
7. Ernst B (1994) The Principle of Hope.
8. Noam C (2006) Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy.
9. Albert E (2007) The World as I See It.
10. Sigmund F (1971) The Discomforts of Civilization. Turin.
11. Sigmund F (1971) The Future of Illusion. Turin.
12. Sigmund F (1991) L’interpretazione dei sogni [The Interpretation of Dreams].
13. Romano G (1957) The End of the Modern World.
14. Romano G (2004) Europa. Compito e destino [Europe. Task and Destiny].
15. Jurgen H (2014) The Divided West.
16. Immanuel K (2007) Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch.
17. Maynard KJ (1991) Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren.
18. Paul K (2012) End This Depression Now.
19. Thomas KS (1996) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
20. Blaise P (1994) Thoughts. Milan.
Page 6 of 6
6
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 7, July-2024
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
21. Fabrizio P (2011) Cooperative Competition. Milan.
22. Fabrizio P (2013) E’ tutta un’altra Storia: Ritornare all'uomo e all'economia reale [Totally another History].
23. Fabrizio P (2016) Society, the Foundation of the Economy. Scholars’ Press.
24. Richard P (2010) The Crisis of Capitalist Democracy.
25. Ilya P (1996) La Fin des certitudes. Temps, chaos et les lois de la nature
26. Robert P (2004) Social Capital and Individualism.
27. Reich RB (2008) Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life
28. Martin R (2003) Our Final Century? Will the Human Race Survive the Twenty-First Century?
29. Jean-Jaques R (2009) Origin of Inequality. Milan.
30. Bertrand R (2009) The Scientific Outlook.
31. Amartya S (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press
32. Amartya S (2010) The Theory of Moral Sentiment.
33. Richard S (2008) The Craftsman. Yale University Press.
34. Richard S (2007) The Culture of New Capitalism. Yale University Press.
35. Emanuele S (2002) Techne. The Roots of Violence. Milano.
36. Pitirim SA (1975) Social and Cultural Dynamics.
37. Pitirim SA (1941) The Crisis of Our Age.
38. Michael S (2011) The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World.
39. Joseph S (2012) The price of inequality: How today’s divided society endangers our future.
40. Raymond T (2003) The Hand: A Philosophical Inquiry in Human being. Edinburg University Press.
41. Arnold TJ (1949) Civilization on Trial.
42. Arnold TJ (1984) Mankind and Mother Earth: A Narrative History of the World.
43. Giambattista V (1722) La Scienza Nuova The New Science.
44. Richard W, Kate P (2010) The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger.
Citation: Pezzani F (2017) The Banality of Evil. Bus Eco J 8: 295. DOI: 10.4172/2151-6219.1000295
Page 2 of 2 Bus Eco