Key Idea: Topic 1.5 asks whether there's one nature all humans share from birth — or whether we're blank slates our world can write anything on. Human nature is one of the strongest issues to reach for in Paper 1 Section A, the 25-mark essay on what it is to be human. This whole topic feeds it.
🧠 The five big questions, one card each
Topic 1.5 at a glance
- 1.5.1 · What is human nature? — The traits, if any, all humans share simply by being human. Aristotle's function argument: our special job is reason, so we're the 'rational animal'. Watch the hidden slide from 'what we do' to 'what we're FOR'.
- 1.5.2 · Nature vs nurture — Born this way, or made this way? Locke: the mind starts as a tabula rasa (blank slate). Skinner's behaviourism: you're shaped by rewards and punishments. Most now say it's both, interacting.
- 1.5.3 · Emotion vs reason — Head or heart? Descartes: let reason rule the passions. Hume: reason alone never moves you — 'reason is the slave of the passions'; only a feeling makes you act. So feeling may be the driver, not the servant.
- 1.5.4 · Human universals — Are some traits found in EVERY culture (language, kinship, some morality)? The case for universals points to a shared nature; the case for variation points to how differently cultures live. Likely: universal frames, varied content.
- 1.5.5 · Blank slate vs fixed nature — The whole clash in one line. Is reason really what sets us apart, when animals plan and machines out-think us? Confucian debate: Mencius (born good) vs Xunzi (born selfish, made good by culture).
The whole topic is one clash: fixed nature vs blank slate. Fixed nature = you're born with a shape (Aristotle's reason, an inborn character). Blank slate = you're born with nothing written, and your world writes it all (Locke, Skinner). Almost every argument here is really about how much of you is given versus made.
✍️ Bring it together — a Section A question
Stimulus — Two teachers argue over a difficult class. "They were born like this," says one, "some kids just have it in them and some don't." "No child is born anything," says the other. "Give me their world for a year and I'll give you a different child." With explicit reference to the stimulus and your own knowledge, explore a philosophical issue related to what it is to be human.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Describing views instead of arguing them. Don't just say 'Aristotle thinks X, Locke thinks Y.' Give each view a reason, test it with an objection, then decide. A name earns nothing without its argument — and a top answer always reaches a reasoned conclusion, never 'it's just opinion'.
✅ Check yourself
If you can answer these six, you have the spine of the whole topic.
What is human nature? The traits, if any, all humans share simply by being human — the same in everyone, everywhere, not from country or family.
Aristotle's function argument? Everything has a special job; the job only humans do is reason, so a good human lives by reason — the 'rational animal'.
What is a tabula rasa (Locke)? 'Blank slate' — the newborn mind with nothing written on it; all ideas come later from experience, not from birth.
Hume on reason and feeling? Reason alone never moves you to act; it serves the feelings. 'Reason is the slave of the passions' — a feeling supplies the goal.
The universals debate? Some traits (language, kinship, some morality) appear in every culture, arguing for a shared nature; wide variation argues for nurture.
Mencius vs Xunzi? Mencius: human nature is basically good (the toddler-at-the-well pity). Xunzi: born self-interested, made good by culture and effort.
Exam tips
- Section A is a 25-mark essay on the core theme — human nature is a strong issue, and this whole topic feeds it.
- Turn the stimulus into a question about a shared human nature, then explore → evaluate → conclude.
- Name a thinker ONLY with their argument — a name on its own earns no marks.
- Always weigh at least two views and end on a reasoned conclusion, not a list.