The essence of human being as living creature can be seen from other aspects, such as human being as social and economic creature. Learn this lesson in order you can understand the two of human's role.
Human being as Social Creatures Who have Moral
You must often watch these occasions.
a. A group of children is playing game.
b. Citizen of a village is working together to build a town hall.
c. Mothers are cooking to prepare meal for people who have meeting at village chief's office.
These occasions show that actually every human being likes to associate and cooperate with other humans. Human being likes to get together and to make a group. Human like the live in community on other word, human being is social creature.
It is not only happens in modern society, but also in primitive society. Ancient men live to group and live together in caves.
Tendency to make group has been developing since human born. A baby, who has just been born, has not grown yet. It cannot do something to fulfill its need. The fulfilling of its needs depends on other human, particularly to its mother. Thus, family is the first group met by the newborn baby, there are mother, father, sister, and other family member.
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| As social creature, human being needs other people |
The more a child grows and adapt the wider in association become he/she associates with his/her friend in the same age, neighbor, and school friend. Entering to adolescence and adult, association become wider, associating with the school friend organization friendly, and college.
Human beings need education and adaptation in every association development. Human as individual in society has two kind of these processes such as socialization and enculturation.
a. Socialization is integrity process (inhibition) with the society, especially adjustment of attitude and habit. By socialization, individual become the part of society.
b. Enculturation is adjustment process value, norm, and culture of individual in society.
Socialization and enculturation represent one of way of to preserve the society. By socialization and enculturation, culture is descended from one generation to next generation.
Family, school, society, and religious institute play important role in socialization and enculturation. Socialization also takes place by film, radio, television, newspaper, magazine, and reading book.
After passing socialization and enculturation, human becomes part of society in completely. In society, he/she needs help from other society member and helps other society member. Therefore, human as individual has essence as social creature or form a group creature. As social creature or society creature, human cannot do anything, he/she want to be. According the socialization and enculturation process, human has had, every human must behave as according to value, norm, and culture in his/her society. Moreover, every human always tries to keep moral not being disgrace in their relationship on society.
As social creature, human has characteristics as follows.
a. Try to Do Self Control (Inhibition)
Socialization and enculturation expect that human act and behave according to value and norm prevailed in society. To avoid breaking role and norm in society, there is social control and social pressure. The benefit is to take place in family, school, and society. Everyone who breaks society norm will get punishment.
As there are social control and social pressure, everyone tries to do inhibition.
Example:
To avoid mother anger, as she does not like her child wears dress carelessly, a child always wear dress neatly. Then, the child is use to wearing dress neatly. Finally, wearing dress neatly is part of child character as social creature that has moral.
Social control is done not only in negative way, but also in positive way, for example in giving compliment or gift.
Example:
A student gets the charter or reward, because of gaining achievement that makes his/her school's name become famous.
b. Society Members Like Having Cooperation and Helping Each Other
As social creature, man needs cooperation and helping each other. It has been going on since prehistory age. Ancient man use to have cooperation or work together. Cooperation and giving mutual aid ancient society was called hospitality.
In modern society, cooperation and helping each other are increasing.
Example:
To keep environmental clean, to build village street, and to make floods controlling project, people work together.
Human being is Economics Creature who has Moral
Observe the act or attitude of human being in his/her daily activity. especially the economic activities.
a. Little child whimpers for candy.
b. Farmer work hard to get harvest as many as possible.
c. Passenger of a train manages to get seat.
d. In staple foods are rare, people will line up for gaining the staples foods.
What do you feel when you see such phenomenon? The act of little child, farmer and passenger of train, and people are conducted to fulfill the self-interest. They do the activity as much as possible by making sacrifice as little as possible.
The desire to pursuit satisfaction as much as possible by making sacrifice as little as possible is one of human characteristic in doing economic activity. In economic it's called a principle of economic. Activity that support human being to fulfill the necessity of economics is called motive of economic. Principle and motive of economic will be discussed more detail in next chapter.
The truth, the act of human being is supported by self-interest, has been suggested by economic expert since a long time ago. According to history of economic philosophy, in economics matter there are some sects. Adam Smith is classical sect of economist who was born on Scotland and the professor in Edinburgh University, English in 18th century. The well known of classical theorist areas are as follows.
In every step of his life, human being behaves as homo economicus. Its means every thing he does, human being always struggle for his self-interest. Human being will compete freely without border to take care of his/her self-interest. In the competition, human being attempt to beat rivals (economic creature).
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| Human being have role as economic and social creature via mave.wordpress.com |
In real life, human behavior is not only oriented to the principle of economics, but supported by motive of economics. Human behavior belongs to the act of economics to fulfill the necessity, and it is influenced by other factors such as humanity, ethics, and religion. In other words, in real life Human is economics creature who has moral. Besides, in his/her behavior to meet the necessity, human needs cooperation with the others.
Example:
a. People can get food from the result of other people such as rice and fish. Farmer produces rice and anglers produce fish.
b. Company that produces the necessity of human being can carry the business, because there is cooperation between the company, employees, and trader who sell the product.
Therefore as economics creature morally, human has characteristic as follows.
a. Try to do action to fulfill the necessity.
b. In his action to meet the necessity, human concerns to the moral factor.
c. In his effort to fulfill the necessity, human being needs cooperation with others.
Concerning to those characteristics, there are relationship between function of human being as social and economic creature.
Example:
a. Businessman does not merely pursuit of benefit, (the function of economic creature), but he/she also concern the prosperity of his/her employees (the function of social creature).
b. The committee of co-operation do activity to improve the co-operation (the function of economic creature) and keep Business Revenue Remnants (SHU) for the social charity fund (the function of social creature).
Can you give example about your roles as part of social and economic creature? In other words, what do you do as social and economic creature?