Discussion Questions
Directions: Brainstorm your answers to the following questions in the space provided. Be prepared to
share your original ideas in a class discussion.
1. Do you think humans are fundamentally good, fundamentally bad, or perhaps a mixture of
both? Discuss.
2. Is there something intrinsically special about human beings? What is it?
3. It seems evident from history and everyday experience that human beings have both a
capacity for great thought, virtue and creation, as well as ignorance, vice and destruction.
Discuss this tension.
4. In general, it seems that the modern west, along with most of the world, has come to a
consensus about certain basic human rights. What is a right? Do we really have them? If so,
how and why? Discuss the connection between human rights and the question of whether
or not man is basically good or evil.
5. Look at your answer to question 3. Do you think we make more progress in life by
assuming the best or the worst about people? Explain.
6. In the American justice system, the idea of motive plays a huge part in determining how we
judge a particular action (like murder). How do motives play into our judgment of what is
right or wrong? Explain using specific examples.
7. Can an action be both selfish and selfless at the same time? How would Hume likely answer
this question?
