We are all born in the bosom of our world and live in it all our lives. Accordingly, the universal immateriality of nature in all its concrete manifestations directly penetrates into the souls of people and is deposited in them.

By virtue of such natural predestination, the soul of each person has:

a) natural qualities as such,

b) a change in natural states,

c) the ability to feel.

Natural qualities as such

§541. Natural qualities precede all that rich content that the soul of each person acquires independently in the process of his whole life.

The first group consists of those natural qualities that are deposited in the soul under the influence of the cosmic and meteorological process of the planet and therefore have a universal character:

change of seasons,

Alternating parts of the day

Weather changes.

The second group consists of those natural qualities that are due to the division of the entire mass of humanity into special parts:

religious,

national,

Zodiacal.

The third group of natural qualities has a single character:

The innate inclinations of a person

Temperament,

Character.

§542. General qualities. Plants and animals are in direct unity with the cosmic and meteorological life of the planet. One might therefore say that they are closer to it, but this expression is meaningless, since plants and animals are themselves part of nature. People also have a direct connection with the cosmic and meteorological life of the planet, but to a lesser extent. The more people are educated and separated from nature by the benefits of civilization, the less they are dependent on the processes taking place in it.

Change of seasons. Plants are entirely dependent on the change of seasons. In the spring they come to life and bloom, in the summer they grow and form fruits, in the fall they bear fruit, and in winter they have a suspension of development. The behavior of animals also directly depends on the change of seasons, according to which they have mating periods, migration seasons, hibernation, etc.

In humans, the change of seasons manifests itself in the form of a change in the dispositions of the soul. The conditions of winter dispose us to self-deepening, to learning, to concentrating our forces on creativity and home life. Spring enhances the feeling of natural unity of the individual with the family, which, on the one hand, is expressed in an increase in attraction to the opposite sex, and on the other, in an aggravated sense of loneliness. It is in the spring that both the mass flowering of love feelings and largest number suicides. Summer is a hectic time, when a person feels that he has escaped (or pushed) out of the usual rhythm of everyday work to freedom. It is conducive to active recreation, to rapprochement with nature, to travel. In autumn, there is a growing predisposition to restore the rhythm of work and life, to consolidate the results achieved, to switch a person's attention to creativity, to creation.

And every autumn I bloom again.

Russian cold is good for my health.

Desires boil - I'm happy again, young,

I am full of life again...

The change of seasons does not cause in a person any manifestations beyond the control of his consciousness. And if, for example, many religious holidays are tied to one or another period of the year, then this was done not by natural instinct, but by quite conscious calculation.

The alternation of the time of day causes a change in the mood of the soul. In the morning, the soul is still in a state of immersion in itself, in the essential world of man. Therefore, in the morning we are dominated by a mood of concentration and seriousness in relation to the upcoming affairs. During the day, the soul indulges in work, during which it intensively perceives the diverse material of the reality around us. In the evening, the soul is in a state of dispersal. She is tuned in to abstract thoughts and entertainment. At night, the soul of a person passes from the tiring state of daytime bustle to a state of solitude in itself. In a dream, all the diversity of daytime impressions plunges into its depths and is sensually experienced by it.

Weather change. Plants and animals foresee a change in the weather for a long time, which is clearly reflected in their behavior. Changes in the weather also affect people's well-being. If the temperature per day changes by 15-20 degrees and, accordingly, changes Atmosphere pressure, it affects the condition of all people. Less abrupt weather changes are felt by weather-sensitive people. But unlike the change of seasons and the alternation of parts of the day, which are subject to a certain pattern, weather changes are less predictable. But, again, the influence of weather on the state of the soul is only procedural in nature and does not affect the very essence of human activity.

§543. special natural qualities. Anthropological differences human races(Negroid, Caucasoid, Mongoloid) are associated with the geographical features of those territories of the planet where they were formed. But by themselves they do not affect the natural qualities of human souls. It doesn’t matter what race a person belongs to, what matters is the environment in which he grew up, what upbringing and education he received. The special natural qualities of our souls are determined by the following factors:

Religious

national,

Zodiacal.

§544. Religions. Being a basic element of the culture of peoples, religion leaves its mark on the spiritual warehouse of the people who profess it. The first difference here is between representatives of world religions: Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Further differences are already observed within the religions themselves. The Christian world is divided into Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and other confessions. The Islamic world is against Sunnis and Shiites. In Buddhism - Mahayana, Lamaism, Tantrism.

All the differences contained in them are reflected in the qualities inherent in human souls, but with varying degrees intensity, which depends on the conditions of upbringing, the level of education, the ideology of society in relation to the church. In some people they may manifest more, in others less, but if we take the whole people as a whole, then these differences appear very clearly: Christian Europe, the Muslim Middle East and middle Asia, Buddhist China and Southeast Asia.

§545. Nations. The special qualities of the soul receive further specification through the national spirit, or the national character of the people to which the person belongs. In the formation of national qualities, the influence geographical features the territories of the people's residence: the sea, the steppe, the forest-steppe, the tundra, the mountains. We single out the character of the mountain peoples, the character of the steppe peoples, the character of the northern peoples. The territory of residence of great peoples includes, as a rule, a diverse relief: forests, and steppes, and mountains, and the sea, which is also reflected in their national character.

In addition to external factors, in the formation of the national spirit of peoples, their reflection in relation to each other plays a significant role. Each nation, striving to realize itself in its national identity, develops in itself those special qualities that are less developed in others. In other words, the traits of the national character developed according to the principle "what one likes, another is not good for." As a result, today, at the mention of such words as Englishman, Frenchman, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, etc., a very definite image of a person arises in our mind, which differs from all others in a set of its national qualities.

§546. Zodiac signs. In addition to religious and national qualities, people also differ in the zodiacal features of their mental makeup. These differences are described according to two schemes: according to the European one, where the year is divided into 12 periods, and according to the eastern one, where the division is carried out according to the years of the 12-year cycle.

Differences psychological types people born under different signs The zodiac are so obvious and, moreover, so thoroughly studied that it is impossible not to take them into account. Another question: how are they defined? Three factors can be pointed out here.

1. By the influence of periodically changing combinations of stars, on which astrologers themselves insist.

2. The difference in the seasons during which the period of intrauterine development of a person took place. If spring crops differ from winter crops, then it must be assumed that the souls of people born in different periods of the year can also differ from each other in some way.

3. Between the universal qualities of people, which among individual peoples appear in the form of national traits of their character, and the individual qualities of each individual person, there must be a feature connecting them. So, like this natural feature may be just the zodiac differences in the mental types of people. In other words, the division of the entire mass of people into several zodiac types is necessary for the harmonization of the life of society itself. Thanks to them, the necessary richness of the special spiritual qualities of the individuals that make up the fabric of society is ensured.

These are the three factors that can be considered as the reasons for the existence of zodiacal differences. As for a more detailed description of these differences, one should refer to the relevant literature on this issue.

§547. Religious, national and zodiac differences make up the special natural qualities of people. They appear through appearance people, their way of life, their predisposition to certain types of activities, professions, etc. However, highlighting these qualities, we need to remember that they all refer only to the stage of the natural definitions of the soul and do not affect the very essence of the human spirit. The consciousness of people is free in relation to the natural qualities of their souls and does not depend on them. And this means that segregation theorists of all stripes - racists, nationalists and religious fundamentalists - should understand that all arguments about the spiritual superiority of representatives of one race, nation or religion over others do not contain any truth. The main thing in a person is his mind, for which there are no restrictions associated with the natural qualities of the soul.

§548. Single natural qualities. Universal and special qualities receive their actual manifestation only through the souls of specific people. The soul of each person contains a certain measure of all the qualities discussed above. They are joined by his individual natural qualities, which are:

a) natural inclinations,

b) temperament

c) character.

§549. Natural inclinations should be understood as the totality of those qualities of a person that are given to him from birth, in contrast to all the knowledge and skills that he acquires in the course of his life. Talent and genius belong to natural inclinations. Both words express a certain predisposition that the soul of a person receives from nature, but genius is wider than talent.

Genius generates something new in the sphere of the universal, while talent generates something new only in the sphere of the special. In other words, genius generates a new principle, while talent operates within an already discovered principle. For example, Wilhelm Hegel himself possessed genius, since he first developed in his encyclopedia the principle of logical systematization of the entire arsenal of definitions of our mind. All subsequent commentators on his teachings are at best mere talents.

But the inclinations of nature in themselves, without the will of man to put them into practice, are worth little. In order for talent and genius to be developed and embodied in real deeds corresponding to their measure, a person must work hard. In the words of the born inventor Thomas Edison: "I'm 1% genius and 99% sweat." In religion, this thought is expressed differently: "To whom much is given, much will be required."

In addition to great work, talent and genius also imply the need for a person to master all the achievements that mankind has already accumulated in the relevant field of activity. Without this, the natural inclinations of a person are doomed either to perish or to degenerate into empty originality.

§550. If talent and genius are manifested through one or another type of human activity, then temperament, on the contrary, has no direct connection with various types of human activity. It is impossible, for example, to say that all musicians are sanguine, and all librarians are phlegmatic.

It is difficult to determine what exactly is meant by temperament. It does not refer to the content of actions, nor to the abilities of a person, nor to the passion of his attitude to the matter. The main difference between the generally accepted types of temperament - sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholic, is, apparently, in how the subjective world of a person is integrated into objective processes.

One person easily tunes in to work and immediately begins to perform it. Another, on the contrary, needs some time to internally prepare for it, to focus on its implementation. Some football players warm up before the game. Others, on the contrary, sit on the grass in a relaxed state. One person needs a measured way of life, where everything goes “according to the schedule”, according to which he methodically moves from one thing to another and at the same time does not forget about anything and has time for everything. The other person is more impulsive. It is easier to change from one job to another, but for this very reason it is less predictable and reliable.

It can be assumed that sanguine and choleric people are more easily involved in work, while melancholic and phlegmatic people are more dependent on their subjectivity, they need more time to tune in to it. On the other hand, sanguine and choleric people are more mobile and more easily move from one thing to another, while phlegmatic and melancholic people, on the contrary, go deeper into the essence of the work and get out of it more difficult.

Temperament is an unstable quality that changes depending on both the age of a person and the change in the external circumstances of his life. The more civilized our life becomes, the less those manners of human behavior that are dictated by their natural (animal) nature are manifested. The contrast of different types of temperament in antiquity and in the Middle Ages appeared in the behavior of people more sharply and directly than at the present time. In today's urbanized and technological society, this distinction is losing its former meaning. The parameters of human behavior are already set mainly by society - education and the norms in force in it.

§551. Unlike temperament, a person's character is what distinguishes him from all other people. Only through character does a person acquire his stable certainty, his individuality. Character is the procedural side of a person’s activity, during which, without letting himself be led astray, he pursues his goals and interests, maintaining agreement with himself in all actions. A person with character impresses other people, because they know who they are dealing with in his face. Every man should be required to show character.

We are all born in the bosom of our world and live our lives in it. Accordingly, the universal immateriality of nature in all its concrete manifestations directly penetrates into our souls and is deposited in them. By virtue of such natural predestination, the soul of each person has:

Natural qualities as such;

natural states;

The ability to feel.

Natural qualities as such

The first group consists universal natural qualities. Plants and animals are in direct unity with the cosmic and meteorological life of the planet. People also have a direct connection with nature, but to a lesser extent. The more people are educated and separated from it by the benefits of civilization, the less they are dependent on the processes taking place in it.

Change of seasons. In humans, the change of seasons manifests itself in the form of a change predispositions souls. Conditions winters dispose to self-deepening, to learning, to focusing our forces on creativity and home life. Spring enhances the feeling of the natural unity of the individual with the family, which, on the one hand, is expressed in an increase in attraction to the opposite sex, and on the other, in a growing sense of loneliness. It is in the spring that both the mass flowering of love feelings and the largest number of suicides occur. Summer- a fussy time when a person feels that he has escaped (or pushed) out of the usual rhythm of everyday work to freedom. It is conducive to active recreation, to rapprochement with nature, to travel. autumn there is a growing predisposition to restore the rhythm of work and life, to consolidate the results achieved, to switch a person's attention to creativity, to creation.

And every autumn I bloom again.

Russian cold is good for my health.

Desires boil - I'm happy again, young,

I am full of life again...

Alternating time of day causes change mood souls. In the morning the soul is still in a state of immersion in itself, in the essential world of man. Therefore, in the morning we are dominated by a mood of concentration and seriousness in relation to the upcoming affairs. Afternoon the soul indulges in work, in the process of which it intensively perceives the diverse material of the reality surrounding us. In the evening the soul is in a state of dispersal. She is tuned in to abstract thoughts and entertainment. At night the human soul passes from the tiring state of daily bustle to the state of solitude in itself. In a dream, all the diversity of daytime impressions plunges into the depths of the soul and is sensually experienced by it.

weather change. Plants and animals foresee a change in the weather for a long time, which is clearly reflected in their behavior. Changes in the weather also affect well-being of people. If the temperature changes by 15-20 degrees per day and, accordingly, atmospheric pressure changes, then this affects the condition of all people. Less sudden weather changes are felt weather sensitive people. But unlike the change of seasons and the alternation of parts of the day, which are subject to a certain pattern, weather changes are less predictable.

The second group consists special natural qualities which are determined by the following factors:

Religious;

National;

Family (generic);

Zodiacal.

Religions. Being a basic element of the culture of peoples, religion leaves its mark on the spiritual warehouse of the people who profess it. The first difference is between representatives of world religions: Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Further differences are already observed within the religions themselves. The Christian world is divided into Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and other confessions. The Islamic world is against Sunnis and Shiites. In Buddhism - Mahayana, Lamaism, Tantrism.

All the differences contained in them are reflected in the qualities inherent in human souls, but with varying degrees of intensity, which depends on the conditions of upbringing, the level of education, the ideology of society in relation to the church. For some people, they may appear more, for others less, but if we take as a whole the whole people professing one or another religion, then these differences appear very clearly: Christian Europe, Muslim Middle East and Central Asia, Buddhist China and Southeast Asia. Asia.

nations. The special qualities of the soul are further specified through national spirit , or national character the people to which the person belongs. In the formation of national qualities, the influence of the geographical features of the territory where the people lived affected: the sea, the steppe, the forest-steppe, the tundra, the mountains. We highlight character mountain peoples, character steppe peoples, character northern peoples. Territory of residence great Peoples includes, as a rule, a diverse relief: forests, steppes, mountains, sea, which is also reflected in their national character.

In addition to external factors, in the formation of the national spirit of peoples, their reflection in relation to each other plays a significant role. Each nation, striving to realize itself in its national identity, develops in itself those special qualities that are less developed in others. In other words, the traits of the national character developed according to the principle "what one likes, another is not good for." As a result, today at the mention of such words as a Englishman, Frenchman, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese etc., in our mind, a quite definite image of a person appears, which differs from all the others in a set of its national spiritual qualities.

Family (generic) qualities. They also have a place to be and be inherited. They say, for example: "Everyone in our family sings well." Or: "They have a whole family obsessed with cats."

Zodiac types. In addition to religious, national and family qualities, people also differ in the zodiacal features of their mental makeup. These qualities are described according to two schemes: European, where the year is divided into 12 periods, and Eastern, where the division is carried out according to the years of the 12-year cycle.

Religious, national, tribal and zodiac differences make up the special natural qualities of people. They manifest themselves through their appearance, lifestyle, their predisposition to certain types of activities, professions, etc. However, highlighting these qualities, it is important to remember that they all refer only to steps natural definitions souls and do not affect the very essence of the human spirit. The consciousness of people is free in relation to the natural qualities of souls and does not depend on them. And this means that segregation theorists of all stripes - racists, nationalists and religious fundamentalists - should understand that all arguments about the spiritual superiority of one race, nation or religion over others do not contain any truth! The main thing in a person is the mind, for which there are no restrictions associated with the natural qualities of the soul.

The third group is formed single natural qualities, which include:

a) natural inclinations: talent and genius;

b) temperament;

c) character.

Under naturalmakings one should understand the totality of those qualities of a person that are given to him from birth, in contrast to all the knowledge and skills that he acquires in the course of his life. To the natural inclinations belong talent and genius. Both words express a certain predisposition that a person receives from nature, but genius wider talent.

Genius creates something new in the field universal, whereas talent generates something new only in the sphere special. In other words, genius creates (develops) a new principle, while talent operates within an already discovered principle.

If talent and genius are manifested through one or another type of human activity, then temperament , on the contrary, has no direct connection with various types of human activities. It cannot be said that all musicians are sanguine and librarians are phlegmatic. The main difference between the generally accepted types of temperament is sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric and melancholy - lies in how subjective world human is integrated into objective processes .

One person easily tunes in to work and immediately begins to perform it. Another, on the contrary, needs some time to internally prepare for it, to focus on its implementation. Some football players warm up before the game. Others, on the contrary, sit on the grass in a relaxed state. One person needs a measured way of life, where everything goes “according to the schedule”, according to which he methodically moves from one thing to another and at the same time does not forget about anything and has time for everything. The other person is more impulsive. It is easier to change from one job to another, but for this very reason it is less predictable and reliable.

The contrast of different types of temperament in antiquity and in the Middle Ages appeared in the behavior of people more sharply and directly than at the present time. In today's urbanized and technological society, this distinction is losing its former meaning. The parameters of human behavior are already set mainly by society - education and the moral norms operating in it.

Unlike temperament. character a person is what distinguishes him from all other people. Only through character does a person acquire his stable certainty, his individuality. Character is the procedural side of a person’s activity, during which, without letting himself be led astray, he pursues his goals and interests, maintaining agreement with himself in all actions. A person with character impresses other people, because they know who they are dealing with in his face. Every man should be required to show character.

If a makings and temperament human beings are of natural origin, character, as they say, it will come with time. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that character also has a certain natural basis, that some people are already from birth predisposed to possessing a stronger character than others. Therefore, we consider character here, in the doctrine of the natural qualities of the soul.

More unique qualities of human souls include idiosyncrasies : fear of heights, a tendency to steal, the ability to move your ears, the ability to easily sit on a twine, multiply large numbers in your mind, feel sympathy for some words and names and dislike for others, etc. These properties are of a single, random nature and therefore cannot have a universal value.

Benedict Spinoza

What is a person? What is a person? Why was man created? What is the true nature of man, which determines his essence? In part, human psychology, as well as other human sciences, gives us answers to these and many other questions about ourselves. But these answers are clearly not enough for us to fully understand ourselves and other people, so we are still in search of an answer to the question: “who are we and why are we here?”. The nature of man, which will be discussed in this article, has not yet been fully studied, but what we already know about it is quite enough for us to understand many of the most important points in human behavior. And this understanding of the causes of people's behavior will allow us to find the “key” to every person without exception, including ourselves. Let's figure out who we are, people, after all, and why we were created.

We can call human nature all those innate, genetically determined qualities and behaviors that are inherent in all people. Human nature is everything that has always been in us, from the moment of our appearance, and that makes us human. Human nature is that which is characteristic of man as a species. Human nature is what determines our eternal and unchanging aspirations and desires. Human nature is our ability to specifically respond to external stimuli and perceive in a certain way the world. Human nature is our ability to shape the world for ourselves. And finally, the nature of man is his ability to survive. The last definition, in my opinion, best of all explains the nature of a person, as a biopsychic construction necessary for him, as for a species. Therefore, let's focus on this definition and discuss it in more detail. After all, philosophical disputes about human nature have a long history, and there can be many opinions about what it is - human nature. We need to understand the obvious in this matter, which we can verify, if necessary, by elementary observations of ourselves and other people. And more obvious to us, in my opinion, is not the definition of what human nature is, but what is its meaning and what it is intended for. After all, if we humans cannot or do not want to determine the structure of human nature, then we need to study its functions in order to then link them to various elements of the structure and thus understand it. It's both easier and more interesting. After all, what is more important for us - to know who we are, or what we are capable of? In my opinion, the best way to study human nature is from the standpoint of our needs, desires, goals and capabilities. So let's do just that.

So, in order to better understand human nature, it is necessary to understand the meaning of its purpose, which is quite simple to understand, if you do not go into details - human nature is designed for the survival of man and mankind. By nature, we are what we must be in order to survive in this world, therefore, when studying and explaining human behavior, one should always proceed primarily from this basic need. This need gives rise to other needs, which in turn induce a person to certain actions necessary to satisfy these needs.

To understand what people are inherently capable of, let's look at human nature through the prism of biblical commandments that show us what negative qualities a person has and how they manifest themselves in him. With your permission, I will cite only some of them, namely, the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth commandments. It is faster and easier for me to explain them, so I will show you, using their example, what is natural for people. So these commandments are: Thou shalt not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness and do not covet what your neighbor has. That is, do not do what, attention - you want, you can, and in some situations you are forced and inclined to do. Do you understand what these commandments tell us? They tell us that all these actions and desires are characteristic of a person - he tends to kill, commit adultery, steal, lie, desire what others have, but what he does not have, and this, as you understand, is only a small part of those actions and desires to which we are inclined from birth, which are inherent in us by nature itself, or, if you like, given to us by God. Here, too, a logical question arises - if God does not like certain qualities of a person, then why did he endow him with them? To then punish a person for his natural behavior? What for? Okay, we will discuss these issues some other time, now we are not interested in religion, it has its own purpose, we are interested in human nature, which we need to understand well in order to understand ourselves and other people and live in accordance with this understanding, then is, in harmony with its nature.

So, as we see, a person is characterized by everything that God forbids him to do with the help of his commandments, and much more that society forbids him to do with the help of his laws. It is also characteristic of man that what we call good, kind deeds. This, in turn, means that a person by nature is not good and not evil, not bad and not good, he is simply the way he is, the way he should be, so that not even he himself, but his kind, could survive in this harsh world. If we are inclined to kill, steal, deceive, commit adultery, and also to other, both bad and good deeds, then we need to perform them in certain life situations, to survive. Therefore, we should not evaluate our actions as good or bad, since they are all inherent in our nature, we need to understand their necessity for us in certain situations. We cannot completely change our nature, and probably should not, but we can supplement it, complicate it, improve it, develop it, and we can control it. But most importantly, we must subordinate our nature to ourselves, so that it does not rule us, but we do it. Then our behavior will be as rational, prudent, practical and adequate as possible, and therefore reasonable.

So as you can see, friends, our behavior can tell us who we are by showing us why we are. Our actions tell us about our capabilities, and our capabilities indicate our needs, for the satisfaction of which we perform these actions. And our needs are determined by the need to maintain life. Therefore, a person most often does something not because he wants to do it, but because he must and, most importantly, can do it. In some situations, we, due to our personal qualities, can be evil and cruel, in others, kind and sympathetic, ready to help our neighbor. We react to external stimuli and act according to our nature and our capabilities. And depending on who we have become in the course of our lives, our capabilities and abilities can vary greatly, and usually do. This means that we can behave differently in the same situations. We are different, friends, despite our nature, which is the same for all of us, and we have always been and will be different. A person is formed as a personality under the influence of natural and social factors, so we are relatively easy to adapt and adapt to almost any conditions. But someone does it better, someone worse. We also tend to adapt the world for ourselves, creating a human situation, that is, an environment that suits us, in which we are comfortable and safe to live. We have, or rather may have, both the desire and the possibilities for this. And again, depending on the level of development that determines a person’s capabilities, he either wakes up with a desire to change everything around him, or not. The more primitive the creature, the weaker it is, and the weaker it is, the more often it is forced to adapt to external conditions, rather than change them. Therefore, a person adapts to everything that he cannot change. That is, it's not about desire, it's about opportunities. The ability to adapt makes us more tenacious, and the ability to adapt speaks of great strength and high levels of human development. This is how human nature can manifest itself in different ways, the basis of which is unchanged, but one or another personal qualities a person in himself develops himself in the process of life, or life develops them in him, with the help of various life scenarios. Also, in the process of life, a person, if he is constantly engaged in self-development and self-improvement, discovers in himself more and more new opportunities inherent in his nature. That is why it is so difficult to say what it is - human nature in its holistic form, because there is no limit to human perfection, which means that we will always learn something new about ourselves and our capabilities.

From the need to survive in our world, which is very unfriendly to humans, our basic instinctive needs also follow, which are the same for all of us. Our worldview and understanding of the world may be different, but the basic, or rather, primary needs are the same for everyone, and every person on this planet strives to satisfy them. This is the need for food, water, security, sexual satisfaction, in general, everything that a person needs for survival and procreation. This is followed by more sublime, secondary needs that a person begins to experience as he meets his basic needs [physiological needs and the need for security, that is, to guarantee the satisfaction of physiological needs]. Familiarize yourself with the pyramid of needs of Abraham Maslow, in my opinion, it perfectly demonstrates not only what needs may be due to the specific behavior of a particular person, but also what level of development this or that person or group of people is at, depending on their aspirations and capabilities meet one or another of their needs. The hierarchy of needs shows us what the nature of a person as a whole [known to us] is and how it manifests itself in different people, depending on their development, lifestyle, environment, opportunities. It is easier for a more developed person to satisfy his needs, especially the lower ones, so he is more calm and less aggressive. It should also be said that the higher the intelligence of a person, the more veiled and thoughtful will be his desire to satisfy his needs, and therefore more successful.

In general, our whole life comes down to satisfying our needs, and can differ only in what needs at one time or another of our lives each of us strives to satisfy. From this point of view, we are not much different from animals, except that only as we develop we awaken in ourselves new, higher needs and, thanks to our intellect, we can find more opportunities to satisfy them. In this sense, we, as I have already said, have unlimited potential for expanding our capabilities. So it is still unknown how much we can change the world, but that we will strive for this is beyond doubt. After all, in addition to needs, a person also has desires that have gone far ahead of his capabilities, and they pull a person up to that stage of development, being at which he can fulfill these desires. In this sense human nature unique - we may want something that is not there, but what we guess about, what we dream about. So dreams like more highest form needs also motivate us to take action. Curiosity and the desire to change the world, and at the same time oneself, is an integral feature of human nature. And this is not surprising. After all, the energy potential of a person is very high, so it is natural for him to strive for maximum action, after which, depending on the capabilities of each individual person, the world can change dramatically, both for the better and for the worse.

In general, friends, the nature and essence of a person is known through careful observation of different people, the study of their culture and history, traditions and laws, as well as through self-observation, because some part of human nature is manifested in each of us. Those qualities that a person has and which are manifested in him in certain situations are an integral part of his nature, and the more primitive a person is, the easier it is to understand his innate, unchanging essence, which changes the more the more actively a person develops, improves, and consequently complicates its behavior and habits. The very tendency of a person to change his life and complicate his behavior is also his natural quality. Therefore, what we call the human mind is undoubtedly present in it, but it requires development, since the higher the rationality of a person, the more adequate existing reality he behaves. And as you and I know, a person is not always adequate in his behavior, which in turn means that human nature is unreasonable, but it is in our power to make ourselves sufficiently reasonable beings, taking advantage of the potential inherent in us.

The most interesting and, perhaps, important thing in human nature is that it, this nature, can be adapted to almost any lifestyle. Man is a suggestible being, you can suggest anything to him, thereby creating in him the so-called “second nature”. The second nature is the first nature modified, or better to say, supplemented by man. That is, the second nature is a set of sensory, cognitive, and operational traits acquired in addition to basic personality. It can be said even more simply - the permanent qualities of the personality that are acquired are the second nature of man. A person, as a rule, considers the qualities he has acquired as a natural part of his personality, like everything that is given to him genetically. Thus, a person, thanks to suggestion and self-suggestion, can consider as part of his nature such moments in his behavior, and such his desires and needs that are not characteristic of him by nature, according to his “first nature”, but which he acquired and developed during life. For example, the "second nature" of a person is his cultural education, as well as his professional skills and demeanor, which he has developed in himself. The second nature of a person is expressed in such situations, for example, when a person begins to associate himself with his activities, with his cultural and mental merits, as well as with his hobbies and achievements. As for suggestions, it is possible, for example, to inspire a person with the idea that sex is a sin and it is a sin to engage in it, and therefore it is not necessary. And a person who believes in this will not have sex, thus going against his own nature, that is, against his first nature. You can also inspire a person with the idea that he is a certain person who has certain qualities, for example, you can inspire him that he is a slave, born to serve his master. And this role accepted by a person will become his second nature, and he will behave accordingly to this role. So, friends, a lot depends on what other people inspire us and what we inspire ourselves in our life, maybe even everything. Each of us will be in this life what other people or ourselves make us. Human nature is quite flexible and even to some extent unpredictable, because we still don’t know much about what a person can be if we create certain conditions for him or subject him to certain tests, or if we inspire him with something like that, which will completely change his personality and behavior. Therefore, it is very important to pay serious attention to everything that enters our head in order not to allow thoughts, emotions, opinions, actions, values ​​and goals that are abnormal for us to become normal.

So far, we know about human nature only what people have been able to learn about it throughout their history and what we ourselves can see by observing human behavior. But we still do not know much about ourselves, since man is not fully known, and it is not known whether he will ever be fully known at all, especially by himself. However, we can conclude that human nature is fundamentally unchanged, our basic needs and primitive ways of satisfying them have not changed throughout our history. This, in turn, means that every newly born person is like a blank slate on which you can draw anything, regardless of who his ancestors were. By nature, all people are almost the same, they all have the same instincts that control them and determine their needs. Any qualities inherent in one person, under certain circumstances, can be inherent in another person. Whatever one person can do, other people can, if they make the necessary efforts. From this we can draw a very simple, but very useful conclusion for us - by ourselves we can partially know other people, just as well as how well we know ourselves, and by other people we can understand what a person can be like, what qualities are inherent in him by nature, what abilities he has and therefore, we can understand what kind of person we are capable of becoming. That is, everything that is in other people is in each of us, in an active or passive state. And everything that is in us is also in other people. A completely logical conclusion follows from this - do not judge, so that you will not be judged, for what is inherent in others is inherent in you, and under certain circumstances you can behave the way those whom you condemn behave.

And that's what I want to tell you in the end, dear friends. Regardless of our nature, we can become whoever we want to be in this life. Man invents himself, according to his own desire. His, this desire, you only need to have. And even if human nature is unchanged, nevertheless, firstly, it is not fully understood and therefore we do not know what else we can be capable of, in addition to what we already know and what we know about ourselves, and secondly, it in no way prevents us from changing ourselves and our behavior, both as necessary and depending on our desires. Remember, you will be who you choose to be in this life. So do not deprive yourself of the opportunity to determine your own destiny.

The state of nature as a state of war is characterized by another feature: there are no concepts of just and unjust - "where there is no common power, there is no law, and where there is no law, there is no injustice." Justice is not a natural quality of a person, it is a virtue that is affirmed by people themselves in the process of their self-organization. Laws and conventions are the real basis ("reason," as Hobbes says in places) for the distinction between justice and injustice. In the state of nature, there is generally "nothing obligatory, and everyone can do what he personally considers good." In this state, people act according to the principle of like or dislike, like or dislike; and their personal inclinations turn out to be the real measure of good and evil.

Natural law. In the state of nature, the so-called natural law (right of nature, jus naturale) operates. Hobbes insists on separating the concepts of "right", which means only the freedom of choice, and "law", which means the need to act in a certain established way. The law thus points to an obligation; freedom is on the other side of obligation. Obviously, this is not a liberal understanding of freedom, rights and obligations. Natural law, according to Hobbes, is expressed in "the freedom of each person to use his own forces at his own discretion to preserve his own nature, i.e. his own life." According to natural law, everyone acts in accordance with his desires and everyone decides for himself what is right and what is wrong. "Nature has given everyone the right to everything."

1 Leviathan // Decree. op. S. 97.

2 Ibid[XLVI].S. 511.

3 Ibid. S. 98.

4 Hobbes T. About the citizen // Hobbes T. Op. T. 1. S. 290.

Although war is a consequence of the natural aspirations of a person concerned only with his own good, and in the state of nature there are prerequisites that can keep a person from constant war and incline towards peace. These premises are embodied in the same natural passions of man; but these are special passions - "the fear of death, the desire for things necessary for a good life and the hope of acquiring them with one's diligence." These are the passions of the same egoistic natural individual, but among them one carries an anti-egoistic beginning - this is the hope of ensuring one's own well-being through one's own work. Diligence is at least unselfish, if by egoism we mean the attitude to satisfy one's own needs and interests at the expense of the needs and interests of others. The development of labor leads to the need for cooperation. Work in itself thus contains the potential for solidarity.

But how does this potential open up to a person? A person initially carries this knowledge in himself, and it is revealed to him thanks to the mind given by God. God has imprinted his supreme covenant in the hearts of people. Endowed with reason, a person opens in his heart the path leading to the prevention of war. This is the way of natural laws.

natural laws. Reason initially contains a certain prescription, or general rule: "Every man must strive for peace, if he has any hope of achieving it." There may be no such hope, and then nature again begins to speak: protect yourself as best you can. This is the establishment of natural law. The said general rule is the first natural law. If the law says what you can do, then the law says what you should do.

From the first natural law follows the second: "In the case of the consent of others, a person must agree to renounce the right to all things to the extent necessary in the interests of peace and self-defense, and be content with such a degree of freedom in relation to other people that he I would allow other people in relation to myself. As you can see, the second law turns out to be a restriction of individual rights: Hobbes says directly that it deprives a person of freedom (although it would be more accurate to say: self-will), making the possibility of exercising the right by one person dependent on

Environmental quality standards are established to assess the state of the environment in order to preserve natural ecological systems, the genetic fund of plants, animals and other organisms.

A person in the course of his activity spends up to 80% of his time indoors and about 20% - on outdoors. Therefore, environmental assessment should be carried out according to criteria characterizing the state of both the external environment and the internal one (premises of industrial and civil buildings). There is no doubt that there is a close connection between these media (Fig. 1.3).

Environmental quality assessment natural environment carried out in accordance with established standards. The lower the threshold value of the standards, the higher the quality of the natural environment. However, more high quality requires correspondingly high costs, efficient technologies and highly sensitive controls. Therefore, as the level of society rises, the standards for the quality of the natural environment tend to become tougher.

Compliance with established environmental quality standards ensures:

• environmental safety population;
• preservation of the genetic fund of humans, plants, animals;
• rational use and reproduction natural conditions sustainable development of economic activity.

Rice. 1.3.

The quality standards are based on three indicators (Fig. 1.4):

• 1) medical - sanitary and hygienic purpose (threshold level of threat to human health, its genetic program);
• 2) technological - environmental purpose (the ability to technically and economically ensure the implementation of established standards);
• 3) scientific and technical - auxiliary purpose (availability and possibilities of means for monitoring the values ​​established by the norms).

Medical indicator normalizes limit allowed values parameters that negatively affect a person and his environment. First of all, this includes the maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances and the maximum permissible level of harmful physical effects. As already mentioned, the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) is the amount of a harmful substance in the environment, which, with constant or temporary contact over a certain period of time, practically does not affect the health of a person and his offspring. AT recent times when determining MPC, not only the impact on humans, but also on the biota as a whole is taken into account. MPCs are not once and for all established norms: as society develops, their number increases, the values ​​are refined.

Rice. 1.4.

The toxicological characteristics of technological processes are based on recommendations for changing production processes to reduce or eliminate the amount of harmful emissions, sanitary and technical requirements for the layout of production facilities, technological equipment, including treatment equipment, and, if necessary, personal protective equipment. These requirements and recommendations are based on the concept of the maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances in various environments.

Air environment:

MPC p1 - maximum allowable concentration of a substance in the air of the working area, mg/m 3 . This is such a concentration that during daily (except weekends) work within 8 hours during the entire working experience should not cause diseases or detectable modern methods studies of deviations in the state of health of the present and subsequent generations (a working area is a space up to 2 m above the floor level or a platform on which there are places of permanent or temporary stay of workers);

MPC ss - maximum allowable average daily concentration of a toxic substance in the air of populated areas, mg / m 3 - concentration that does not have a direct or indirect adverse effect on present or future generations, does not reduce a person's performance, does not worsen his well-being with unlimited long (years) inhalation.

MPC mr - maximum permissible single concentration of substances, mg / m 3 - concentration that does not cause reflex reactions in the human body when inhaled for 20-30 minutes (despite the fact that the occurrence of such reactions depends not only on the content of the substance in the air, but also on the duration of inhalation).

Currently, the maximum permissible concentrations in the atmospheric air for more than 500 substances have been determined. The values ​​of MPC mr and MPC ss for the most common impurities in the atmospheric air are given in Table. 1.4. The rightmost column of the table shows the hazard classes of substances: class 1 - extremely dangerous, class 2 - highly dangerous, class 3 - moderately dangerous and class 4 - low hazard. These classes are designed for continuous inhalation of substances without changing their concentration over time. In real conditions, significant increases in the concentrations of impurities are possible, which can lead to a sharp deterioration in the human condition in a short period of time.

Table 1.4. Maximum allowable concentrations (MPC) in the atmospheric air of populated areas

Water environment:

MPC in - maximum allowable concentration of a substance in the water of a reservoir for drinking and domestic water use, mg/l. This concentration should not have a direct or indirect effect on human organs throughout his life, as well as on the health of subsequent generations, and should not worsen the hygienic conditions of water use;

MPC^ - the maximum allowable concentration of a substance in the water of a reservoir used for fishery purposes. This is the limiting level of pollution for the water of water bodies of fishery importance mg/l.

In addition, the following integral indicators for water in reservoirs have been established:

BOD - biochemical oxygen demand- the amount of oxygen used in biochemical oxidation processes organic matter(excluding nitrification processes) for a certain time of sample incubation (2, 5, 20, 120 days), mg/l of water (BOD^ - for 20 days, BOD$ - for 5 days);

COD - chemical oxygen demand, determined by the bichromate method, that is, the amount of oxygen for the oxidation of all reducing agents contained in water, mg/l.

In relation to BOD/COD, the efficiency of biochemical oxidation of substances is judged.

MPC p - maximum allowable concentration of a substance in the topsoil, mg/kg. This concentration should not cause a negative direct and indirect effect on human health, as well as on the self-cleaning capacity of the soil;

MPC pr (DOK) - maximum allowable concentration(permissible residual amount) substances in food, mg/kg.

If the MPC value in various environments is not established, then the temporary hygienic standard VDC (OBUV) is in effect - the temporarily permissible concentration (approximately safe level of exposure) of the substance. The temporary standard is set for a period of not more than 2-3 years. For toxic substances, a safe concentration can be determined in fractions of a unit:

where with - the actual concentration of a substance in the environment, with MPC - the maximum allowable concentration.

Different substances can have similar adverse (unidirectional) effects on a person or his environment. For example, there is a summation effect for nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde, phenol and acetone, ethanol and a whole group of organic substances. In this case, the degree of influence of several substances S is defined like this:

where s, s pdyu. - respectively, the actual and maximum allowable concentration of the i-th substance.

If a S> 1, then the total pollution exceeds the permissible limits.

Example: Let's say that the concentration of phenol in the air is with.\u003d 0.345 mg / m 3, acetone with ac \u003d 0.009 mg / m 3, and c ^. \u003d 0.35 mg / m 3, with MPC \u003d 0.01 mg / m 3. Thus, for each of the substances, the indicated ratio is less than 1:

but since these substances have a summation effect, the total pollution of phenol and acetone will exceed the maximum allowable, since

V I "44" 1SHMC

There may be cases when sources of emissions and discharges do not exceed the standards and MPCs of individual, non-unidirectional pollutants in the environment, but in general, the environmental situation is assessed as critical. This occurs in the case of an increase in the effect of toxicity of exposure during the interaction various substances. Such an effect is called synergy. The issues of synergy have not yet been studied, although the need for this knowledge to protect the natural environment is obvious.

Technological indicator determines the environmental friendliness of the technologies used, the raw materials used and the finished products. Its impact on environment determine the standards for the permissible anthropogenic load on the environment (NDAN). These standards are established in accordance with the value of the allowable cumulative impact of all sources on the environment or on its individual components, and if they are observed, the sustainable functioning of natural ecological systems is ensured.

The standards for the permissible anthropogenic load on the environment and the environmental quality standards determine the standards maximum allowable emissions(MPE) for air and discharge limits(PDS) for water bodies. MPE and MPD are established by calculation taking into account technological standards and background environmental pollution.

In exceptional cases, when for objective reasons it is impossible to establish MPE or MPD (development of new types of production at existing enterprises, reconstruction of enterprises, etc.) > introduce temporary limits on emissions - temporarily agreed emission (TSV), and discharges - temporarily agreed discharge (VSS) harmful substances and microorganisms. Limits are set for the period of gradual achievement of maximum allowable emissions and maximum allowable discharges, subject to compliance with technological standards and the existence of an approved plan to reduce emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Technological standard- the standard for permissible emissions and discharges of substances and microorganisms, which is established for stationary, mobile and other sources, technological processes, equipment and reflects the permissible mass of emissions and discharges of substances and microorganisms into the environment per unit of output.

The technological indicator is closely related to urban planning standards and, above all, to sanitary territorial gaps. The technological indicator can be summarized as a diagram of interconnected and mutually subordinate relationships (Fig. 1.5).

Rice. 1.5.

The third group of standards - scientific and technical indicator(see Fig. 1.4) constitute auxiliary activities, including terminology standards, organizational and legal standards.