The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Paperback
Author: Visit Amazon's Steven Pinker Page - ISBN: 0143122010 - Language: English - Format: PDF, EPUB
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Review
"My favorite book of the last decade is [Steven] Pinker's Better Angels of Our Nature. It is a long but profound look at the reduction in violence and discrimination over time."--Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft
"For anyone interested in human nature, the material is engrossing, and when the going gets heavy, Pinker knows how to lighten it with ironic comments and a touch of humor. . . . A supremely important book. To have command of so much research, spread across so many different fields, is a masterly achievement."
(The New York Times Book Review)"An extraordinary range of research . . . a masterly effort."
(The Wall Street Journal)"Better Angels is a monumental achievement. His book should make it much harder for pessimists to cling to their gloomy vision of the future. Whether war is an ancient adaptation or a pernicious cultural infection, we are learning how to overcome it."
(Slate)Praise for THE STUFF OF THOUGHT
“The majesty of Pinker’s theories is only one side of the story. The other side is the modesty of how he built them. It all makes sense, when you look at it the right way.”
(The New York Times Book Review)“The majesty of Pinker’s theories is only one side of the story. The other side is the modesty of how he built them. It all makes sense, when you look at it the right way.”
“Packed with information, clear, witty, attractively written …”
(The New York Review of Books)“Engaging and witty …Everyone with an interest in language and how it gets to be how it is—that is, everyone interested in how we get to be human and do our human business—should read THE STUFF OF THOUGHT.”
(Science)Praise for THE BLANK SLATE
“An extremely good book—clear, well argued, fair, learned, tough, witty, humane, stimulating.”
(Colin McGinn, The Washington Post)“An extremely good book—clear, well argued, fair, learned, tough, witty, humane, stimulating.”
“Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read…also highly persuasive.”
(Time) About the Author
Steven Pinker is one of the world's leading authorities on language and the mind. His popular and highly praised books include Words and Rules, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct. The recipient of several major awards for his teaching and scientific research, Pinker is Peter de Florez professor of psychology in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
DETAILS
- Paperback: 832 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (September 25, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143122010
- ISBN-13: 978-0143122012
- Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Violence in Society
- #32 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Personality
- #32 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Social Psychology & Interactions
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The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker on Amazon com FREE shipping on qualifying offers A provocative history of violence Paperback Hardcover The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined MP3 287 Reviews The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined Download it once and read it on your Kindle device Paperback 11 30 The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined By Steven Pinker Penguin Books Paperback 9780143122012 Pinker 39 s Better Angels of Our Nature 8 Reviews The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle Learn more Buy The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined book Language as a Window into Human Nature by Steven Pinker Paperback Audible Download The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined is a 2011 book by Steven Pinker Pinker debates why violence has declined with Economist Download as The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined Steven Pinker Format Paperback Price 20 00 Additional Formats ePub Paperback Better Angels of The Better Angels of Our Nature Tags Steven Pinker Why Violence Has Declined get eSkeptic Download the free PDF 93 Reviews The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined Paperback Audible Download Audio Books
This is a huge book, but as Pinker says, it is a huge subject. He organizes himself by lists. First, there are six significant trends which have led to a decrease in violence.
1. Our evolution from hunter gatherers into settled civilizations, which he calls the Pacification Process.
2. The consolidation of small kingdoms and duchies into large kingdoms with centralized authority and commerce, which he calls the Civilizing Process.
3. The emergence of Enlightenment philosophy, and it's respect for the individual through what he calls the Humanitarian Revolution.
4. Since World War II, violence has been suppressed, first by the overwhelming force of the two parties in the Cold War, and more recently by the American hegemony. Pinker calls this the Long Peace.
5. The general trend, even apart from the Cold War, of wars to be more infrequent, and less violent, however autocratic and anti-democratic the governments may be. Call this the New Peace.
6. Lastly, the growth of peace and domestic societies, and with it the diminishing level of violence through small things like schoolyard fights, bullying, and picking on gays and minorities. He titles this the Rights Revolution.
Pinker then goes on to examine the traditional explanations of violence, the traditional explanations of human nature which account for violence. There is practical violence, which you might call necessary violence. Then there are dominance, revenge, sadism, and ideologically driven violence. Opposing these are what he calls the better angels of human nature, empathy, self-control, our moral sense, and reason. Many of these characteristics are shared with our primate brethren, the chimpanzees on down, but some of them are uniquely human.
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