All Partial Evil, Universal Good: A Multi-dimensional Exploration On The Nature And Paradoxes Of Acquisitiveness

Bribery, corruption, war, alternations of dynasties, crimes, ruthless competitions of all kinds for resources or markets as well as for power and control, can all be said to be related to an essential human nature or attribute--- acquisitiveness. So are the prosperity of economy, progress in science, technology and knowledge, innovations in many a field, improvement of life standard, and discoveries of new land. It is believed that acquisitiveness has contributed much to making what we are and what our society is and has remained a myth ever since. In view of this, this research sets out to investigate, both conceptually and empirically, the myth of acquisitiveness and explore the dimensions and depth of its meanings, concerning its nature, manifest, functions and consequences, and especially the paradoxes it produces.There are six chapters in this thesis. Chapter 1 introduces the issue and rationale for this research. Chapter 2 begins with a definition of acquisitiveness in the hope of providing a lexical base for this discussion, and proceeds with a conceptual review of its nature in terms of philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, biology, and religion. A finding from this chapter is that conceptual researches of such a rich phenomenon tend to lead to disagreement of viewpoints and should be complemented with empirical ones. Accordingly, Chapter 3 continues the exploration of the nature of acquisitiveness with illustrations both of its positive and negative aspects via Russell's explanations, Steinbeck's descriptions, and examples of adventurers in geographic discovery, science and technology inventions, and business enterprises. As a result, the complexity of acquisitiveness is confirmed and calls for further investigation. In Chapter 4, discussion is focused on the paradoxical aspects of acquisitiveness, concerning its relation with human values, its paradoxical effects, part-whole relationship, and control of capitalism. It is found that as a design feature and underlying force for humanity, acquisitiveness cannot be simply defined in terms of gains or losses; it reflects the paradoxical nature of our existence and the complexity of the environment in which we lead our life. Thus, discussion turns to the issues of alienated existence in modern society at large and ways out in Chapter 5, in which Marx's insight into this issue is introduced and interpreted in relation with strategies for coping with acquisitiveness, and a well-known dialectical principle is reasserted:The realm of freedom stands for the state in which people's mastery of the social and historical inevitability and laws enables people to become the master of the nature and society so as to be liberated from the domination and slavery of the blind forces in the nature and social spheres.As an enlightenment of this research, the discussion is concluded with a dialectical review of some paradoxical events in our society and reassertion of the guiding role of dialectics in our judgment of social phenomena, including social development. It is true that "Partial evil can be universal good." Is it also possible that universal good can be partial evil? Dialectically, it is possible:while the positive effect develops to its limits, the negative effect shall have accumulated to the point at which it claims it turn of play. It is understood that all achievements and enjoyment have their cost; in order to reduce the cost, overplay should be avoided. This wisdom is passed down from our ancestors, but it has been reasserted in each generation because we often forget it. The same is also applicable in the case of acquisitiveness.