One of the most commonly debated issues concerning morality is the concept of nature versus nurture. Which is more integral to one's behavior: the inborn qualities or the influences of life on the individual? Mark Twain, in his essay entitled "What Is Man?" describes humankind this way:
Man the machine--man the impersonal engine. Whatsoever a man is, is due to his MAKE, and to the INFLUENCES brought to bear upon it by his heredities, his habitat, his associations. He is moved, directed, COMMANDED, by EXTERIOR influences--SOLELY. (What Is Man?, Mark Twain, http://underthesun.cc/Classics/Twain/whatman/Whatisman.htm)
There is some scientific basis for this claim. Studies have shown that both a person's genetic structure and the circumstances to which he or she is subjected have bearing on how a person thinks, feels and acts. Considering this, the actions of the character Macbeth must be evaluated by his personal motivations and the external causes that may have led to......
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