This article discusses the concern with the improvement or perfectibility of human nature in eighteenth-century English society and the necessity of its encouragement considering the prevalence of human degeneration at different levels: intellectual, moral, social, political or cultural. After a brief presentation of the philosophical and literary background of the perfectibility debates, we look into Daniel Defoe's literary representation of human improvement and degeneration in his Mere Nature Delineated: or, a Body without a Soul (1726). Defoe's pamphlet had its roots in a real case of human imperfection or degradation, namely in Peter the Wild Boy's story, which gave him the opportunity to criticize his contemporaries' vices and failures.
feral child; noble savage; the fool; perfectibility; improvement; culture; nature; political satire
[2] Defoe, Daniel (1726)
Mere Nature Delineated: or, a Body without a Soul. Being Observations upon the Young Forester Lately Brought to Town from Germany. With Suitable Applications. Also, a Brief Dissertation upon the Usefulness and Necessity of Fools, whether Political or Natural. Printed for T. Warner, at the Black Boy, available at
http://archive.org/details/merenaturedeline-00defo, accessed April 2, 2012.
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[12] Willey, Basil (1986) The Eighteenth Century Background. Studies in the Idea of Nature in the Thought of the Period. London and New York: Ark Paperbacks.