Man and aggression.
By: Contributors: S. A. Barnett [and others]
Edition: 2d ed.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1973
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 278
Subjects: Ardrey, Robert., Territorial imperative; Lorenz, Konrad, 1903- , Sogenannte Böse; Aggressiveness (Psychology)
Description: Man and Aggression was first published in 1968 as a direct challenge to the concept of man's instinctual "aggressive drive"--a concept advanced in the newly developing science of ethology (the study of the behavior of different species) by the eminent ethologist Konrad Lorenz, and popularized in books by Robert Ardrey. The appearance of subsequent critiques of the Lorenz thesis led the editor to enlarge and revise his original collection. This second edition contains eight additional essays, strengthening the book's sustained and reasoned criticism of the still fashionable contention that ethologists can understand human behavior by observing that of lower animals. The nineteen authorities represented in this volume offer a fine dissection of this Hobbesian view of man. They note, among other phenomena, the proclivities of many kinds of mammals to live together harmoniously; they discuss the evidence for spontaneous aggression, and distinguish between defensive and predatory killing; they probe the possible cultural sources of human aggression. Also, included for the first time is an exploration of the ritual origin of cannibalism, and an examination of the writings of Desmond Morris and Anthony Storr. The book's purpose remains, in the words of the editor, "to put the record straight, to correct what threatens to become an epidemic error concerning the causes of man's aggression, and to redirect attention to a consideration of the real causes of such behavior."--Adapted from book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.

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