БИОСОЦИАЛЬНАЯ ПРИРОДА ЧЕЛОВЕКА И ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ЭТИЧЕСКИХ ЦЕННОСТЕЙ

УДК 101.1:316

Abstract

Human nature consists of a unity of both biological and social components. These two directions are the main factors determining human behavior, personality structure and value system. The biosocial nature of humans reflects the inseparable interaction between biological characteristics and social influences in shaping human behavior, consciousness, and moral development. Ethical values, which guide individual and collective actions, emerge through a complex process involving both innate biological predispositions and socially constructed norms. This manuscript examines the role of biological evolution, cognitive development, cultural traditions, education, and social institutions in the formation of ethical values. It explores how empathy, cooperation, altruism, and moral reasoning have evolutionary foundations while simultaneously being refined and transformed through socialization and cultural experience. The study highlights the dynamic relationship between human biological needs and the ethical frameworks developed within societies to regulate behavior, maintain social cohesion, and promote collective well-being. Understanding the biosocial basis of ethical value formation provides important insights into contemporary moral challenges and contributes to interdisciplinary discussions in ethics, sociology, psychology, and human biology. The findings emphasize that ethical values are neither exclusively innate nor solely socially imposed, but rather the result of continuous interaction between biological and social factors throughout human development.

Аннотация  

Человеческая природа представляет собой единство биологических и социальных компонентов. Эти два направления являются основными факторами, определяющими поведение человека, структуру личности и систему ценностей. Биосоциальная природа человека отражает неразрывное взаимодействие биологических характеристик и социальных влияний в формировании поведения, сознания и нравственного развития человека. Этические ценности, которые направляют индивидуальные и коллективные действия, формируются в результате сложного процесса, включающего как врожденные биологические предрасположенности, так и социально сконструированные нормы.

В данной работе рассматривается роль биологической эволюции, когнитивного развития, культурных традиций, образования и социальных институтов в формировании этических ценностей. Исследуется, как эмпатия, сотрудничество, альтруизм и моральное рассуждение имеют эволюционные основы, одновременно совершенствуясь и трансформируясь в процессе социализации и культурного опыта.

Keywords: biosocial,  nature, biological factors, social environment, behaviour,  evolution, morality, socialization , ethics, value system.

Ключевые слова: биосоциальное существо, биологические факторы, социальная среда, поведение, эволюция, моральные ценности, общение, этика, система ценностей.

Introductıon

As living organisms began to struggle together against the conditions of life in nature, society developed, and the evolution of sociality led to the emergence of morality. Possessing moral values is a result of social nature. Just as life arose, morality also arose from the same laws of biological development. We can see traces of these basic moral laws in all social beings, as well as in humans. In addition, there are secondary moral laws that can change from group to group, formed by cultural transformations. These have developed faster than biological evolution and, unlike other living beings, have reached a higher level in humans.

We can understand the evolution of morality and human socialization in more detail by first considering biological evolution. After learning how the body structures and characteristics of living things arise through fundamental evolutionary principles, it is possible to understand the emergence of individual behaviors and characters, as well as the evolution of socialization, in more depth. For this reason, it is of great importance to pay attention to the fact that evolution forms the basis of sciences such as psychology and sociology, and to give more space to evolution in the education provided in these fields.

The biosocial nature of human confirms that he is formed depending on both biological and social factors. The formation of ethical values, on the other hand, arises as a result of the interaction of biological potential with the social environment as a result of the socialization process. Both biological characteristics and the value system of society affect a person's moral choices, rules of behavior and worldview. Therefore, it is a more correct methodological approach to evaluate a person not only as a biological or only as a social being, but as a biosocial complex [4]. As a result, ethics is a crucial concept for scientists, because it is interested in facts and truths. The methodology of science also requires this. The path and language of science are truth. An ideal society should be able to find the truth without falling victim to facts.

Since the beginning of our planet's history, human has interfered with nature, created various tools to sustain his existence and make life easier, thereby laying the foundation for modern technology. From the most primitive tools of ancient human history to today's computers and artificial intelligence systems, countless inventions have been made and technological progress has been witnessed. Thus, today, through advanced genetic technologies, it has become possible for people to develop physically and mentally. Now, leaving behind issues such as the prevention and treatment of diseases in order to ensure a healthier and more prosperous life, it has become a search for immortality and the desire for eternal life on Earth. 

The ease of intervention through gene-editing techniques that similar human DNA has raised complex and multifaceted issues that require consideration from ethical, philosophical, legal, and even religious perspectives. This study specifically focuses on the development of the genetic code and aims to assess the issue from a legal perspective. First, the ethical debates surrounding the issue are addressed, and then a legal perspective is formulated.

The formation of biosocial and ethical values ​​occurs as a result of the interaction of biological (evolutionary, genetic) and social (cultural, ecological) factors. Factors such as the personal moral characteristics of the individual, the social environment, the institution in which he works influence this process, and moral rules act as biological mechanisms that ensure the existence of the group. This interaction combines both the basic moral principles that emerged through evolution and the cultural rules that society later acquired [2].

The biological nature of a person determines his initial behavioral reactions, temperamental characteristics and instinctive needs. Genetic factors determine the speed of a person's emotional reaction, temperament type, and some social behavioral tendencies. However, the influence of the social environment is decisive for the full formation of a person. Family, education, culture, religious beliefs, social norms and social institutions play an important role in creating a person's ethical value system (Turner, 2020). Ethical values ​​are not purely a product of biological mechanisms, but of social interactions and the level of development of society. The formation of a person's moral and ethical consciousness is an integral part of the socialization process [1]. The behavioral norms and moral principles adopted by the social environment become the individual's value system over time. In this regard, the biosocial essence of a person indicates that ethical values ​​have both natural and social foundations. Although its scope and definition are quite broad and relative, morality has the same meaning for all human societies [9].

Methodology

This study adopts an interdisciplinary qualitative research design, integrating perspectives from biology, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and moral philosophy. Given that the biosocial nature of humans involves both biological determinants (e.g., evolutionary predispositions, neurobiological processes) and social influences (e.g., culture, institutions, socialization), a mixed theoretical–empirical framework is applied. The methodology combines: Conceptual and theoretical analysis; Comparative analysis; Empirical qualitative inquiry (document analysis). The study is grounded in three core theoretical domains:

1) Evolutionary and Biological Foundations

2) Social and Cultural Theory

3) Ethical and Moral Development Theory

These perspectives are synthesized to construct a biosocial model explaining how biological predispositions interact with social environments in shaping ethical values.

Results

Conseptual framework

Although the origin of ethical thought is not precisely known, it is known that the concept of morality has existed in many different societies around the world since ancient times. Religious history, philosophy, anthropological and archaeological findings confirm this. Socrates' ethical thought is one of the first examples of ethical thought based on knowledge [5]. 

Plato solved ethical issues in the context of the state and society; he focused on social ethics rather than individual ethics. Like most Greek philosophers, Plato's ethical concept was also aimed at the nobility and free citizens who were not slaves. In his opinion, the majority of society did not have the ability to be moral and achieve virtue. Therefore, it is difficult to say that there is a moral connection between this social ethic and classes. Aristotle's ethical concept was also the first step towards accepting the social nature of "human" existence [6]. 

In Epicurus' atheistic ethics, the goal of humanity is to enjoy. Although this is often mistaken for another concept, his concept of pleasure is not physical pleasure, but the absence of pain. Happiness is a state in which a person is free from pain, suffering, unhappiness, and suffering. The recommended lifestyle to escape suffering is a solitary, simple lifestyle, away from social life. According to Epicurus, people are not social beings and their social relationships are not formed depending on their nature. 

After antiquity, with the rise of Christianity in the West, the ethical concept based on eternal and divine roots was on the rise. One of the most important ethical concepts of this period was the concept of T. Aquinas. This concept, the concept of rational ethics, also examined the issue of will. There is free will based on reason, rational positive behavior is possible, and individuals have the opportunity to achieve happiness by choosing what is good [12]. 

The famous philosopher Spinoza also proposed an ethical approach that had elements similar to the concept of virtue and morality in Eastern philosophies. In this approach, although man is naturally a slave to his passions, he can escape this slavery with the help of reason. Therefore, acting rationally and acting morally are essentially the same (Sen, 1996). Another famous philosopher who adopted an ethical approach that emphasized knowledge was John Locke. Based on his empirical philosophy, he demonstrated that moral facts are also the product of experience. Today's biotechnological and genetic advances are causing numerous debates about the future of human nature [3]. 

Habermas has touched upon the philosophical, ethical and political consequences of these events. One of the most striking questions he raises is what the consequences will be for the self-awareness of man, not for the supreme being, since man is the engineer of humanity. He also opposes the instrumentalization of human nature, exposes the impotence of the biotechnologically designed model of human life, and questions the philosophical and ethical foundations on which the “possibility of being oneself” appropriate to our time should rest. 

To remind us that social relations are formed in a unidirectional and vertical manner and emerge in the context of intergenerational movements, Habermas, drawing on Gadamer’s thought, said: “While the action story of cultural traditions and formation processes unfolds in a question-and-answer environment, genetic programs will eliminate the ability of newborn babies to respond. Our familiarity with biotechnological decisions made on the basis of certain priorities regarding human life will also affect the norm of our self-awareness” [6]. Habermas invites us to make an existential effort to imagine the future of human nature, to belong to a moral society. In his view, our obligation to behave morally is based on morality itself (deontologically). 

Immanuel Kant defines ethics not in terms of behavior, action, and passion, but in terms of events. In his Grounds for the Metaphysics of Morals, one of Kant's two major works published before the Critique of Morals, along with the Critique of Practical Reason, he sets out the possible conditions for morality based on our relationship with ourselves as we act in everyday life. For Kant, morality is the freedom of our desires in our relationships with others from any kind of personal interest. We are moral only when we act by seeing ourselves and others as ends, not as means to such interests. 

In our world, where the belief that nothing can be done without personal interests prevails, and in the face of actions arising from personal and group interests, Kant makes a powerful impact in this book on the essential condition for living a virtuous life - the condition of seeing others as an end in itself. 

Kant’s reasoning on morality is indispensable for those who study ethics. Kant viewed people as independent beings and, as a result of this freedom, valued them as individuals with the ability to determine their own rules of behavior. When we look at the history of ethics, we see that from antiquity to Kant in the modern era, the dominant problem in ethics remains the problem of the “highest good” and attempts to solve it follow a eudomonic line. From hedonism, Epicureanism and Stoicism to all the utilitarian, pragmatist doctrines of the modern era, the highest good is accepted as “happiness”, and this happiness is defined in various ways as physical pleasure, a state of constant satisfaction, harmony with nature, rational utility, social utility, harmony with nature. Kant expressed it this way: “Two things fill my soul with ever new, ever increasing admiration and profound respect: the starry sky above my head and the moral law in my conscience” [8]. The moral law is in a person’s conscience. Our moral instincts are the judges of the court of conscience that is built within us. 

Feuerbach, on the other hand, presents a materialist understanding of ethics. In this understanding, which also carries humanistic overtones, individuals must interact with other individuals in order to survive and progress, and this social relationship creates morality. Where social relationships exist, morality exists. Feuerbach's philosophical definition of egoism adds a different perspective to this ethical thought; he rejects the individual's pursuit of happiness as egoism and defines general love as ensuring the harmony of the interests of the individual and the collective. 

Schopenhauer, on the other hand, adopted a more pessimistic view of ethics. He argued that existence and living are nothing but suffering; man is a slave to his own will. This ethical view bears significant similarities to various Eastern philosophies and ethical perspectives. A very different and revolutionary ethical approach to this approach is that of Nietzsche. In his philosophical understanding of ethics, which is based on the concept of power, many behaviors that are considered virtuous in most ethical perspectives are characterized as powerless and therefore negative. Nietzsche's superior man cannot be morally defined in many ethical respects. The morality and virtue that Nietzsche presents transcends traditional moral norms, transcending good and evil. Goodness empowers man, while evil weakens him. In short, Nietzsche's ethical understanding is based on the concept of power that he presents.

Dıscussıon

If we consider the foundations of ethical values, we can include universal ethical principles such as fundamental principles - honesty, respect for human dignity, justice, freedom, responsibility and ecological awareness. The norms and rules that regulate social life, formed on the basis of these principles, regulate how individuals should behave in both their personal and social lives. In addition to all this, Bernard Mandeville, known for his unconventional thoughts on morality, also examined the selfish, self-interested, hypocritical, unscrupulous and excessive consumer aspects of human nature, referring to the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, and argued that these qualities inherent in all people are also the driving force of progress, and thanks to this, the paradoxical relationship between morality and materialism is revealed. B.Mandeville, in his work “Human Nature and the Artificiality of Morality: The Tale of the Bees”, indicated that all actions stem from personal interests. In his works, he often emphasized that human actions are based on feelings such as self-love and arrogance, which constantly seek satisfaction. He argued that the basic principles of morality were established by "skilled people" who sought to be obedient and mutually beneficial to humanity. According to Mandeville, people who are innately inclined to good deeds learn to act for the benefit of society through the efforts of legislators and long processes. Although people cannot give up their inherent selfishness, they follow their own desires. This study is a different approach to Mandeville's views on human nature and the moral concepts created by society.

All societies have rules for living together, provided that the basic principles remain the same. Individuals become aware of these rules through social interaction. Morality is the unwritten principles that exist for the order of society. Moral behavior is understood as the sacrifice of individuals' interests within a society in order to benefit society. It defines the obligations of individuals to society. Although following moral rules may seem burdensome to individuals, they are obliged to comply with this secret contract because the benefit of society is their primary concern. In fact, individuals find satisfaction in performing tasks that benefit society and may seem difficult and demanding from the outside [9]. The basic principles of morality derive from moral laws. Research shows that humans are innately capable of making moral judgments. This ability allows us to interpret basic moral laws. Through moral judgment, we can distinguish between right and wrong and easily understand the consequences of society's moral values. Even without any legal training, we have the ability to evaluate right and wrong in our minds. Research in psychology suggests that conscious thought is not the source of moral decisions. The field of moral psychology has long argued that moral judgment is based on reasoning. However, recent evidence suggests that moral judgment is more a matter of emotion and emotional intuition than of reasoning. Although the factors that determine human behavior are shaped by genetics, it cannot be assumed that behavior emerges entirely in this way. Without a doubt, learning, observation, the influence of other group members, as well as the customs, traditions, and culture of the society in which we are born play an important role among the factors that determine the acquisition of behavior. These data indicate that moral behavior can be influenced by both genetic and developmental factors.

Moral values in a society are the values held by the majority. Moral norms can change under the influence of dominant cultures, leaders, religious or political forces. The main factor in maintaining morality is the reaction of society to behavior. The morality of a society determines the morality of individuals. The majority, having common moral values, adheres to the moral values of the society. Regardless of the level of innate empathy or moral judgment, everyone is obliged to adhere to the moral laws of the society. This is controlled by social control mechanisms. Individuals are obliged to adhere to social norms. Although some individuals have extreme moral values, the morality of the society is determined by the majority within the framework of fundamental, genetically acquired moral principles. Morality is not inherited as a template, but we are genetically programmed to adhere to morality. Basic moral values ​​are formed on the basis of genetic makeup. Heredity plays an important role in the ability to adopt ethical behavior and acquire ethical principles. While moral values ​​are embedded in our minds and formed by social instincts, we learn secondary moral principles. This is similar to our language skills. We are all born with the ability to learn a language. We learn the language of our culture. This type of regulation has been included in the state administration system in the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On the Rules of Ethical Behavior of Civil Servants”. These Rules reflect the ethical principles that state officials must adhere to. In this sense, the role of ethical values ​​in the activities of young people, who are our future, is undeniable [7].

Conclusıon

The conducted research shows that the formation of ethical values ​​is a multifaceted process that depends on the biosocial nature of a person, the historical-cultural development path and the functioning of existing social institutions. Although biological foundations determine the initial inclinations of a person such as empathy, mutual assistance and a sense of justice, the content of ethical values ​​​​and their acceptance as a norm of behavior are given meaning in the social environment. The influence of the family, the education system, religious and philosophical views, public institutions and mass communication plays a decisive role in the development of ethical consciousness. In modern societies, globalization, the acceleration of the flow of information and the strengthening of individualism lead to both the enrichment of ethical values and the emergence of certain contradictions. Nevertheless, the protection of ethical principles - values such as justice, responsibility, respect, commitment to human rights and social solidarity - remains the main condition for the stable development of society. The results of the research show that ethical culture not only regulates the behavior of the individual, but also strengthens the legitimacy of social institutions, public trust and the provision of social justice.

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