Bregman opposes Hobbes' belief in humans' inherent selfishness or savagery and aligns himself with Rousseau instead. He argues that negative or undesirable circumstances are the result of civilizational progress stemming from the post-agricultural era. In support of this argument, he contrasts pre-agricultural and post-agricultural societies, portraying the nomadic lifestyle as an "unspoiled paradise" while depicting the discovery of agriculture as a regrettable event. This portrayal enhances his assertion that humans are fundamentally good, but societal progress can lead them to selfishness. Option A is the correct choice.
Option B: The environment is not the primary focus of the discussion, so this option can also be discarded.
Option C: This option veers off into discussing the impact of settled farming on population growth, which is not directly relevant to the main argument. Therefore, it can be eliminated.
Option D: Complexity is not the central focus of the discussion, so this option can be dismissed.
So, the correct answer is (A): bolster his argument that people are basically decent, but progress as we know it can make them selfish.
Option A: The author characterizes the perspectives of Hobbes and Rousseau as diametrically opposed ("Hobbes and Rousseau are seen as the two poles of the human nature argument") and does not present a similarity, especially any comment suggesting "both believed in the need for a strong state." Hence, we can discard this option.
Option B: No such viewpoint is presented in the passage.
Option C: The author's assessment of Frans de Waal's "veneer theory" is not explicitly highlighted. Therefore, we can eliminate this option.
Option D: The opening lines of the passage help us infer this viewpoint: "....Although one of the most contested concepts in political philosophy, human nature is something on which most people seem to agree. By and large, according to Rutger Bregman in his new book Humankind, we have a rather pessimistic view - not of ourselves exactly, but of everyone else. We see other people as selfish, untrustworthy and dangerous and therefore we behave towards them with defensiveness and suspicion..."
So, the correct answer is (D): most people agree with Hobbes’ pessimistic view of human nature as being intrinsically untrustworthy and selfish.
Bregman regards the aftermath of a collapse of civilization as a time that permits specific changes or modifications within society {..."Civilisation has become synonymous with peace and progress and wilderness with war and decline," writes Bregman. "In reality, for most of human existence, it was the other way around." Whereas traditional history depicts the collapse of civilisations as "dark ages" in which everything gets worse, modern scholars, he claims, see them more as a reprieve, in which the enslaved gain their freedom and culture flourishes... }.
Option B correctly captures this point. Options A, C and D are either not stated or distorted interpretations.
The correct answer is (B): a time that enables changes in societies and cultures.
At the conclusion of the passage, the author expresses the following sentiment: {... There's a great deal of reassuring human decency to be taken from this bold and thought-provoking book and a wealth of evidence in support of the contention that the sense of who we are as a species has been deleteriously distorted. But it seems equally misleading to offer the false choice of Rousseau and Hobbes when, clearly, humanity encompasses both...}. Therefore, the author does not fully endorse Bregman's depiction of civilized society. Option D accurately reflects this dissent.
The correct answer is (D): a civilised society being coercive and unjust.
“Why do they pull down and do away with crooked streets, I wonder, which are my delight, and hurt no man living? Every day the wealthier nations are pulling down one or another in their capitals and their great towns: they do not know why they do it; neither do I. It ought to be enough, surely, to drive the great broad ways which commerce needs and which are the life-channels of a modern city, without destroying all history and all the humanity in between: the islands of the past.” (From Hilaire Belloc’s “The Crooked Streets”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?