Nature And Nurture: Good and Evil

Robert Louis Stevenson's, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, illustrates the concept of good and evil in human nature. This brings up the question as to how someone would become purely "good" or viciously "evil". Are they born with it? Have they picked the trait up form those around them? John Locke, an English philosopher during the Enlightenment, came up with a theory for how someone would become themselves. So, in this case, could Locke's theory also apply here? I believe yes. Locke's theory, 'The Tabula Rasa' or 'The Blank Slate', states that people are not born with previous knowledge. All knowledge and personality comes from experience or perception throughout life. Therefore, I say someone cannot be born good or bad. They can certainly become this way through tough upbringing, abusive childhoods, or some life experience that could influence such bad behaviors. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll contemplates that his dark side has always been there, but by supernaturally separating his good from evil and allowing these events to occur, he is supporting the claim that evil could be made worse form occurrences happening throughout ones life. On the other hand though, Dr. Jekyll does imply that his evil has always been inside him, it was just well hidden for most of his life. Whether or not he means by birth, I am not sure. Nonetheless, the issue is addressed throughout the story. In fact, I think Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde effectively demonstrates the debate of Locke's Tabula Rasa. In society today, this debate is still a hot topic of discussion, especially in the field of modern science and psychology. An article in Psychology Today, Nature vs nurture: the debate rages on, states that recently, there has been more research on the brain indicating that sociopathy could be biologically based. The author, Samantha Smithstein Psy.D, believes "It remains difficult to stomach the idea that kids are sometimes born with biological factors that cause them to turn out a certain way". In this example, Smithstein supports the nature debate. I found the article very interesting and noticed similarities between Stevenson's underlying themes, and Smithsteins claims. This debate doesn't plan on stopping soon, whether Locke or Smithstein are correct. Until more research is completed, the world might never really know if good and evil is created through nature or nurture.