ABSTRACT
The ism-ideologies' respective claims to pertinence hang in part on the adequacy of their views of human nature. This chapter suggests that assumptions about human nature permeate and undergird all inquiry in political economy, the ism-ideologists' psychological creeds are of special significance. The ism-ideologists' psychological creed of orthodoxy, as viewed by Harry Girvetz, consists of four tenets or articles: egoism, intellectualism, quietism, and atomism. The capitalist psychological creed is archaic and of doubtful pertinence for inquiry. The Marxist theory of human nature contains an implicit normative principle which clearly elevates the role, labor, and class of the proletariat as superior to that of the bourgeoisie. The measures or tests for determining who remains "King of the Mountain" vary some among ideologists of fascism. People acquire personality traits as submissiveness or aggressiveness, empathy or disdain, indifference or ambition, acquisitiveness or generosity, cooperativeness or competitiveness, in the socialization processes in which they are involved.
