Are Humans Naturally Selfish? A Stoic Exploration

Practical Stoicism

Evergreen Podcasts

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Tanner answers a listener question from Wyatt Bennett: “What does Stoicism say about human nature? Are humans naturally selfish?” Exploring this through the Stoic concept of Oikeiôsis and the Circles of Concern, Tanner explains how our understanding of responsibilities expands as we mature. Starting from self-concern in infancy, we grow to care for family, friends, community, humanity, and even the planet. Tanner challenges Thomas Hobbes’ pessimistic view of human nature, offering a Stoic perspective that emphasizes the dynamic and evolving nature of human rationality and moral growth. TAKEAWAYS Stoicism sees human nature as dynamic, with our rational and moral concerns expanding over time. Self-concern in early life is natural but not permanent; growth involves widening our circles of responsibility. Nature’s alignment isn’t always pleasurable for individuals but serves a greater universal purpose. LINKS Go ad-free: https://stoicismpod.com/members Join the Discord Community: https://stoicismpod.com/discord Follow the print publication: https://stoicismpod.com/print Take my free courses: https://stoicismpod.com/courses Order my book: https://stoicismpod.com/book Source Text: https://stoicismpod.com/far Follow me on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tannerocampbell.bsky.social Follow me on YouTube: https://stoicismpod.com/youtube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:59.3	T's and Cs apply.
1:20.1	Welcome to the United States and Cs apply. Welcome back for Capton. I hope you're well. In today's episode, we're going to take a slight detour.
1:25.7	We're actually not going to cover a meditation. Instead, we're going to answer a question from a listener.
1:28.8	That listener is Wyatt Bennett. And that question will be shared in a moment. First, housekeeping. If you've not yet heard the news,
1:34.7	which seems impossible at this point, and this is probably the last time I'll say it, this podcast
1:38.9	is now also a video cast on YouTube. And you can check it out by going to Stoicismpod.com forward slash
1:45.8	YouTube. I imagine most of you won't since you already listen here to the audio only version,
1:50.8	but perhaps listening on YouTube is easier and you'll enjoy that experience more. Who knows?
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