ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes an answer to the question whether we are competitive by nature and its implications for the way we organise societal institutions. It starts by presenting two opposing views of human competitiveness: the Naturalistic View and the Socio-Historical View. The former holds that competition is part of our evolutionary and biological make-up and (therefore) an inevitable and driving force in society. The latter view holds that competitiveness is socially constructed; our ‘human nature’ and society mutually constitute each other in a continual process, where competitiveness could even be avoided under the right societal conditions. After teasing out the characteristics of both opposites, the author develops her own account of human competitiveness by means of Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality (originally published in 1755). She argues that our competitiveness is essentially grounded in the distinctly human drive for recognition and esteem (i.e. amour-propre). This drive is inevitable, yet malleable, and institutions play a crucial role in shaping our amour-propre in a healthy manner and preventing it from becoming inflamed.
