“Philosophy of Human Nature in Mark Twain’s What is Man?”
Bildiriler > Özet Bildiri · 2023
Yazarlar: Firuze GÜZEL
SASA Twenty-Fourth Annual Conference, İskoçya, Glasgow, Uluslararası, Sözlü Sunum, Özet Bildiri, 2023-2023, cilt -, ss ---
Özet
<p><strong>Philosophy of Human Nature in Mark Twain’s What is Man? </strong></p><p>Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910), one of the most significant American authors of all times, is usually known for his most famous books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). This presentation, however, focuses on a philosophical work that belongs to a different strand of his writings. In What is Man? (1906), Twain writes Socratic dialogues between an old and a young man and portrays a candid account of human nature. The old man claims that human beings are merely machines and they, most of the time, act unconsciously on their benefits, have no control over their thought mechanism, and have no free will. The old man’s propositions about determinism, free will, and choice as well as the moral and intellectual status of human beings strike the young men along with the readers and incite new lines of thought even today. Considering Twain was an anti-imperialist (later in his life), he was critical of organized religion, and most importantly he unwaveringly objected to slavery, this text indeed sheds light on Twain’s own perception of humanity. In this context, this presentation aims to illuminate ethical, religious, and idealistic aspects regarding Twain’s philosophy of human nature in his brief yet influential work What is Man?.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Mark Twain, What is Man?, human nature, determinism, free will, ethics, idealism</p>