Aggression: The Myth of the Beast Within - Hardcover

Klama, John

9780470207901: Aggression: The Myth of the Beast Within

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470207906 ISBN 13: 9780470207901

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 1988

Clears up popular misconceptions about aggression, traces the development of aggression in animals, and offers suggestions on taking advantage of our natural potential for cooperation

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From Publishers Weekly:

From Darwin down to Freud and Lorenz, scientists have projected a gloomy message that humans are driven, aggressive creatures. The notion that people are basically competitive and combative has gained additional support from sociobiology. This levelheaded book deals a devastating blow to the myth that we are naturally aggressive and to the "nature versus nurture" controversy. Its authors ("John Klama" is a joint pseudonym for biologist John Durant, zoologist Peter Klopfer, psychologist Susan Oyama and other contributors) argue that the nature/nurture dispute wrongly assumes a biological core of fixed traits and a cultural overlay of flexible traits. Aggression, in their opinion, is a catch-all term that lumps together many different behaviors. By showing that aggressiveness is not contained in specific genes, hormones or brain centers, the authors present a much more optimistic view of human behavior than the prevalent belief in a "beast within," which makes war and conflict seem inevitable.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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