War, Peace, and Human Nature
The Convergence of Evolutionary and Cultural Views
Published on 19. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
584 pages
978-0-19-023246-7 (ISBN)
Description
Have humans always waged war? Is warring an ancient evolutionary adaptation or a relatively recent behavior--and what does that tell us about human nature? In War, Peace, and Human Nature, editor Douglas P. Fry brings together leading experts in such fields as evolutionary biology, archaeology, anthropology, and primatology to answer fundamental questions about peace, conflict, and human nature in an evolutionary context. The chapters in this book demonstrate that humans clearly have the capacity to make war, but since war is absent in some cultures, it cannot be viewed as a human universal. And counter to frequent presumption the actual archaeological record reveals the recent emergence of war. It does not typify the ancestral type of human society, the nomadic forager band, and contrary to widespread assumptions, there is little support for the idea that war is ancient or an evolved adaptation. Views of human nature as inherently warlike stem not from the facts but from cultural views embedded in Western thinking.
Drawing upon evolutionary and ecological models; the archaeological record of the origins of war; nomadic forager societies past and present; the value and limitations of primate analogies; and the evolution of agonism, including restraint; the chapters in this interdisciplinary volume refute many popular generalizations and effectively bring scientific objectivity to the culturally and historically controversial subjects of war, peace, and human nature.
Drawing upon evolutionary and ecological models; the archaeological record of the origins of war; nomadic forager societies past and present; the value and limitations of primate analogies; and the evolution of agonism, including restraint; the chapters in this interdisciplinary volume refute many popular generalizations and effectively bring scientific objectivity to the culturally and historically controversial subjects of war, peace, and human nature.
Reviews / Votes
There can hardly be a more urgent task than to understand 'the causes of war and the potential for peace,' the guiding theme of this illuminating collection, drawing from a rich and varied array of sources. These deeply researched studies provide thoughtful and provocative insights into how we might at last be able achieve the promise of the UN Charter, 'to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,' a recent innovation in human history, and not an ineradicable curse."-Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology This encyclopedic collection of excellent, wide-ranging, and myth-busting essays by renowned scholars should be required reading for anyone interested in how we came to be who we are and the future of humankind. A much-needed paradigm shift is in the making because of the increased recognition that we are not inherently destructive and competitive beings. This remarkable book will facilitate this transition as we expand our compassion footprint and give peace the chance it deserves. Cooperation, empathy, and peace will prevail if we allow them to."-Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons for Expanding Our Compassion Footprint Douglas Fry has produced another pioneering book of the highest quality and relevance. A distinguished international and interdisciplinary group of authors address the elusive concept of human nature in relation to war and peace rigorously marshalling clear reason and hard data. Together they systematically and effectively critique the Western cultural myth of the natural inevitability of war while also demonstrating that peace rather than war is ubiquitous. Moreover, practical ways are revealed for creating a more secure and peaceful world."-Leslie E. Sponsel, author of Spiritual Ecology: A Quiet RevolutionMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
8 b/w line; 19 b/w halftone
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
982 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-023246-7 (9780190232467)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
04/2013
Oxford University Press Inc
€177.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
03/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€82.99
Available for download
Person
Douglas P. Fry, Ph.D., is Director of Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research at Abo Akademi University in Vasa, Finland and an adjunct research scientist in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona. Fry is author of Beyond War (2007, Oxford) and The Human Potential for Peace (2006, Oxford).
Content
Foreword ; Frans B. M. de Waal ; Acknowledgments ; List of Contributors ; 1 War, Peace, and Human Nature: The Challenge of Scientific Objectivity ; Douglas P. Fry ; Section I: Ecological and Evolutionary Models ; 2 Evolution and Peace: A Janus Connection ; David P. Barash ; 3 Conflict and Restraint in Animal Species: Implications for War and Peace ; Hanna Kokko ; 4 An Ethological Perspective on War and Peace ; Peter Verbeek ; 5 Cooperation, Conflict, and Niche Construction in the genus Homo ; Agustin Fuentes ; Section II: Lessons from Prehistory: War and Peace in the Past ; 6 Why the Legend of the Killer Ape Never Dies: The Enduring Power of Cultural ; Beliefs to Distort Our View of Human Nature ; Robert W. Sussman ; 7 Pinker's List: Exaggerating Prehistoric War Mortality ; R. Brian Ferguson ; 8 Trends in Cooperation and Conflict in Native Eastern North America ; David H. Dye ; 9 From the Peaceful to the Warlike: Ethnographic and Archaeological Insights into ; Hunter-Gatherer Warfare and Homicide ; Robert Kelly ; 10 The Prehistory of Warfare: Misled by Ethnography ; Jonathan Haas & Matthew Piscitelli ; 11 The Prehistory of War and Peace in Europe and the Near East ; R. Brian Ferguson ; Section III: Nomadic Foragers: Insights about Human Nature ; 12 Peaceful Foragers: The Significance of the Batek and Moriori for the Question of ; Innate Human Violence ; Kirk Endicott ; 13 Social Control and Conflict Management among Australian Aboriginal Desert ; People Before and After the Advent of Alcohol ; Robert Tonkinson ; 14 Aggression and Conflict Resolution among the Nomadic Hadza of Tanzania as ; Compared with their Pastoralist Neighbors ; Marina L. Butovskaya ; 15 South Indian Foragers' Conflict Management in Comparative Perspective ; Peter M. Gardner ; 16 The Biocultural Evolution of Conflict Resolution between Groups ; Christopher Boehm ; 17 The 99%-Development and Socialization within an Evolutionary Context: ; Growing Up to Become a "Good and Useful Human Being" ; Darcia Narvaez ; Section IV: The Primatological Context of Human Nature ; 18 Chimpanzees, Warfare and the Invention of Peace ; Michael L. Wilson ; 19 Evolution of Primate Peace ; Frances J. White, Michel T. Waller, & Klaree J. Boose ; 20 Conflicts in Cooperative Social Interactions in Non-Human Primates ; Sarah F. Brosnan ; 21 Rousseau with a Tail: Maintaining a Tradition of Peace among Baboons ; Robert M. Sapolsky ; 22 Conflict Resolution in Non-Human Primates and Human Children ; Maaike Kempes, E. H. M. Sterck, & B. Orobio de Castro ; Section V: Taking Restraint against Killing Seriously ; 23 The Evolution of Agonism: The Triumph of Restraint in Nonhuman and Human Primates ; Douglas P. Fry & Anna Szala ; 24 Social Signaling, Conflict Management, and the Construction of Peace ; Paul ("Jim") Roscoe ; 25 The Challenge of Getting Men to Kill: A View from Military Science ; Richard J. Hughbank & Dave Grossman ; 26 Man the Singer: Song Duels as an Aggression Restraint Mechanism for ; Nonkilling Conflict Management ; Joam Evans Pim ; Section VI: Conclusions ; 27 Cooperation for Survival: Creating a Global Peace System ; Douglas P. Fry ; Index