Are we defined by nature or society or self-defined?

Answer 1

My favorite answer to this question is that you are what you do.

You are not what you think or what you were raised to be. You are not even what you used to do.

You are what you are doing right now.

Of course all those other factors influence you, but the final product is the manifestation of you that is in your actions and the consequences of your actions.

So if you murder you are a murderer. If you glut yourself, you are a glutton.

What if you committed murder years ago but today you are living a life of peace and service to others?

Between you and the ultimate truth of the universe, you are now a man of peace, but the consequences of your past actions are, at least in this case, permanent. This being true, you as the new man of peace may still be sought after for that past violence.

Answer 2

As we can note by observing behaviors of older generations, the environment conditions the self..

As such, both nature (surroundings) and society will have a major effect on the definition of the self..

Based on biological individualities, we may react with more or less amplitude in particular situations, but, except for clinical cases, this tends to be a secondary defining trait..

:-)

Answer 3

I think the answer is more over-arching. There is a duality between the two nature and society; society from nature and then society not existing on its own. We are not defined, saying we were defined would be inaccurate, as if definitions existed outside culture.

Answer 4

Yes.

So far as our survival instincts go, we're defined by nature.

(Touch a hot plate and jump back... or turn a corner in a woodland hike and stare at a black bear that's staring at you, ten feet away, and "flight or fight" becomes a very important question, eh?)

So far as survival and our prospects in society go, we're defined by society.

(That is, we must first master how to get along in society, before we can succeed in it.)

So far as survival, status and happiness go, we're self-defined, too.

(In the long run, anyway, if we don't stick up for ourselves, who will?)

...

Each level has implications for each more "primitive" level before it. As I see it, no necessity exists to name one of these factors the supreme reason underlying human nature.

Answer 5

Considering *all* that we are, about 70% nature (genes), 25% nurture (society), 5% self (will, reason, desire).

Religious answer: about 95% God, 5% self (free will).

Answer 6

i think we are self-defined. you are what you choose to be. society can't force you and neither can nature.

Answer 7

first ur defined by nature ,then society and finally by urself.

Answer 8

Mostly society, I think, and that's a scary thought. And to think the government can make or break a society... yikes!

Answer 9

ithink we are products of society.we do what we must to survive. nature seperates us by looks and fingerprints for example. we define ourselves by refining ourselves.we try to look our best. we try constantly to improve our disposition..
so i would say my answer is all of the above.

Answer 10

i think we are self-defined, for better or for worse