This anthology brings together 45 selections by a wide range of philosophers and other thinkers, and provides a representative sampling of the approaches to the study of human nature that have been taken within the western tradition.The selections range in time from the ancient Greeks to the 1990s, and in political orientation from the conservative individualism of Ayn Rand to the liberalism of John Rawls. Classic writings from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries are here (Descartes, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, and so on), but so are a wide range of twentieth-century writings, including a number of feminist voices, the biological theory of Edward O. Wilson, and the cultural materialist theory of Marvin Harris. A substantial selection of Christian views of human nature is a central part of the anthology.The anthology is as notable for its depth as it is for its breadth; an important editorial principle has been to include a variety of substantial selections, thus allowing the reader to engage more readily with some of the complexities of each approach.

Peter Loptson's profile page

Peter Loptson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph and also the author of Reality: Fundamental Topics in Metaphysics (University of Toronto Press, 2001).

"The readings are skillfully selected. [...] Although there is a decided emphasis on the moral, social and political dimensions of human nature, yet another nice feature is the inclusion of scientific approaches. On the whole this is a commendable anthology, [...]expansive and engaging, filled with an instructive assortment of classical and contemporary readings, with just enough little-known, off-the-beaten-path selections to pique the interest of most any veteran instructor or beginning students."

Philosophy in Review

"I look forward to using the readings in my class on human nature--the selections are balanced, sensible, and promise to engage the reader. Loptson has done a fine job."

Frederick Kaufman

"I cannot think of a better book to which to refer someone who wants to understand in a short compass what Aristotle, liberalism, Rousseau, Marx or feminism are all about. And Loptson makes a genuinely novel contribution to scholarship."

Julian Young