An Analysis of Friedrich August Hayek’s and Edmond Nathaniel Cahn’s Thoughts on Human Nature

Abstract

Although the immense technological and scientific advancements of our time have made human life easier, human nature, or the question of what it means to be human, has always remained a problem. It has been observed that in the works of the most prominent philosophers in the history of thought, they have in some way engaged in a reflection with human nature. In fact, it has been understood that this reflection has never ended, will never end, and continues to maintain its relevance with each passing day. This article examines the ongoing reflections, evaluations, and critiques of human nature by Friedrich August Hayek and Edmond Nathaniel Cahn. Although both philosophers are modern thinkers, and even though there was no specific conception of human nature in their time – or even in their own explicit views – it is still possible to say that a certain understanding of human nature is present in their works or is implicitly expressed through their ideas. These philosophers seek to prevent the reduction of the human being to fixed measures or rigid frameworks by emphasizing the value of human life. The philosophers argue that every theory constructed in the name of human nature implies absoluteness and perfection, and they maintain that human nature cannot be understood through such a perspective. Because both thinkers believe that the unpredictable or unknowable nature of human reality drives social action, and that the notion of human nature produced by modern culture is misunderstood, they oppose absolute and perfect definitions. Every evaluation made about human nature must first acknowledge the insoluble ignorance of the human being, an ignorance that has the potential to affect the entire structure of society, and the fact that even the path to overcoming this ignorance is itself problematic. Indeed, the structure of society, being open to change, prevents any claim to absoluteness in human knowledge, confronting the individual with millions of facts and events on the path to truth.

Citation: Binici, Sedat (2026). “ An Analysis of Friedrich August Hayek’s and Edmond Nathaniel Cahn’s Thoughts on Human Nature”, Erdem, June, Issue:90, pp. 49-66.

This study is based on the master’s titled ‘‘Friedrich August Von Hayek’s İdea of Spontaneous Order’’, completed at the Department of Philosophy, Institute of Social Sciences, Atatürk University, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Dr. M. Hanifi Macit on March 3, 2017 and doctoral thesis titled ‘‘Justifying the Perception of İnjustice in the Realization of Justice According to Edmond Nathaniel Cahn’’, completed at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Sciences, Institute of Social Sciences, Atatürk University, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Osman Elmalı on February 14, 2025.

No artificial intelligence-based tools or applications were used in the preparation of this study. All content has been produced by myself in accordance with scientific research methods and academic ethical principles.

The study does not require ethics committee approval, and the data used were obtained through a literature review / published sources. It is declared that scientific and ethical principles were followed during the preparation of the study and that ali referenced works are listed in the bibliography.

erdemdergisi@akmb.gov.tr

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC).

There is no potential conflict of interest in this study.