The works of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Aristotle, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, David Hume, James Madison, and John Stuart Mill, to name just some, all begin with some view of the essential qualities that define all of us as human.
Many theorists locate the possibility of progress on the possibility for human development.
Defenses of democracy depend on assumptions of the capacity for rationality and justice in the people. On the other hand, defenses of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes center on the capacity for enlightened leadership among the chosen, the few, and on the incapacity for decision-making by the people, the many. Clearly many of our presumptions about human nature demand careful examination. Among the events of our times are world depression, world war, the holocaust, the emergence of totalitarian societies, and their demise, continued prejudice and violence both within and between nations. Clearly, many of these sad and destructive events result from our own initiatives, from the actions of human beings acting alone and in concert.