UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE of the human being lies in being a living and willing being, and all other aspects—whether social, civil, or otherwise—emerge from this essence through different forms of relation. To say that “the human being is a civil or social being” is, in other words, to say that the comprehensive idea through which we can understand the various aspects of the human being is his being civilized. As a natural result of this interpretation, all aspects of human existence would be derived from the social aspect and regarded as its components. This interpretation would imply that all other aspects of the human being are included only because his social nature requires them. For example, being a social being would require that the human being exist in the form of body and soul; therefore, he possesses a body and a soul. It would require that human beings have politics; therefore, they develop a political structure. It would require that they explain their relationship with the universe; therefore, a philosophy comes into existence, and so on. In this view, all of human life seems to be included, making it seem like a complete explanation of human being. However, upon reflection, it becomes clear that it contains several errors. 1. According to this interpretation, the social or civil