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  • Pinker CH 10.2011

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    MichelleTong
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    Pinker Ch 10.2011

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    26 vues27 pages

    Pinker CH 10.2011

    Transféré par

    MichelleTong

    Droits d'auteur :

    © All Rights Reserved
    Téléchargez comme PDF ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
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    THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE WHY VIOLENCE HAS DECLINED STEVEN PINKER VIKING 2O\ ON ANGELS’ WINGS ‘Asian advancesinchvilzaton and mal tribes are unite nto lrg comm rites the simplest reason would tell each individual hat he ong fo extend hi Social inetints and sympathies tall the members of the sae nation, thoagh 1d. persona sntcnown to hs. The pots being eat Ue ly ate | {ical barrler to prevent his sympathies extending to the menof all ations and | Char Daewin The Denon book grew out of an anawerto the question “What are you optimistic bout” end I hope thatthe numbers Ihave marehaled have lifted your scstrment ofthe este ofthe world fom the gubrious conventional wim. But having documented dezens of declines and aboltions and zeoey my ‘mood is one not so much o optimism as of gratitude, Optimism requires a | touch of arrogance, because it extrapolates the past to an uncertain ature. [Thougs lam confident thathuman scree, chattel slavery, breaking onthe wheel nd wars between democracies will not make a comeback sie oon, to predic thatthe erent levels of rime, evil war, or terri wil endure isto sally into territary where angels fet o treed. What wet fel sure abouts that many kincs of vislencehve declined upto the presen, and we en try to understand why that has happened. Asa scents must be skeptical of any mystical fae or cosmic destiny that carries us ever upward, (ies es en ene the condtlons persist viclence wil remain low or decline even further; if they dont, wont Inthis final chapter wllnt try tomake predictions nr will ofr avice to politician, police chief or peacemakers, which given my qualiftions woud bea form of malpractice, What I wil ty todo is identify the broad forces thathave pished violence downward. My quazry willbe developments that epeately turned up nthe Historical chapters 2 through 7) and that ‘engage the faculties of mind that were explored the psychological chapters (Band 9). That 1 wil look for common threads in the Pacfiation Process, a 7a nerrex aces oF Out NATURE ‘the Civilzing Procesy the Humanitarian Revolution, he Lang Pee, the New "Peacsand the Rights Revolutions. Bach dhould represent sway in which re dation dominance, revenge, sais, or delogy bas been overpowered ty self-control empathy, momlity or reton, Weshould not expect these forces ofall out of grand unlfied theory. The eclines we seek to explain unfold over vastly different sales of ine and damage: the taming of chrone riding and feuding, te reduction of viens ‘sports and dueling, the eroding of political murder and despot the recent decline of wars, pogroms, ae genocides, the reduction ofvoleee against ‘women, the decriminaliztion of homosexual the protection of chilree ane ‘animals, The only thing these superseded practices have in common is hat ‘hey physically hurt a vitin, and ao it ia only from a generic vcts _Perspective—whic, as wi at, is also the perspective ofthe morait—that ‘We could even dream ofa final theory. rom the sient’ perspective the ‘motivesof the perptriors may bemotey end oil the explanations forthe ‘forces tat pushed aguinet those motives, ‘Atte same time, all these developments undeniably point inthe same rection. ts. good time inhistory tobe a potential victim. One can imagine ‘historical narative in which diffrent practices went in diferent directions ‘slavery stayed abolished, for eample, bt parents decided to bring back aay. age baling oftheir children or states became increasingly humane otis citizens but more key to wage war on ane another That hast happened, ‘Most practices have moved inthe less violent direction too mary thes coin. idence ‘Tobe ure some developments went the other way: the destructiveness of ‘Buropean wars through World War (overshadowing the decrease in tir frequency until bot fel in tandem) the heyday of genocidal dictators in the ‘dale decades ofthe ath century thers of crime the 19603 andthe bulge ‘of eivil wars inthe developing word following decolonization, Yetevery one ‘ofthese developments has ben systematically reversed, an from where we siton the timeline mos trends point peace, We may not be ented toa ‘theory of everything, but we do need theory tht explains why so many somethings plat the came way. IMPORTANT BUT INCONSISTENT. Let me begin by noting afew forces that ane might have thought would be {important the processes, peaes and revolutions of chapters 7.butasbest ean elltumed outnot tobe Its ot that these ores ate by any means minor, ‘taut that hey have nt consistently worked toredace violence | | ONANCELS WINGS Oy | sveaponry and Disarmament Writes whoare engrossed vslenceand those | whoare repelled by ithave one thing in common: thy are rated on weap ‘onry. Military histories, written by and for guys, byes orerlongbows sr ‘ips, atilry, and tanks. Many’ movement for nenvclence have been isacnament movements: the demanization of merchant of wer teat ‘clear demonstration, the campaign for gun contro. And then theres he contrary thoogh equally wesponcentr presrption cording o wich the Invention of unhinkably structive weapons yma, olson gn rca? bombs) would make war unthinkable, The technology of weapenzy has obviously changed the course of history mary timesby determining winners snd inser making detersane cred, sed maliplying the destructive power of cersin antagonist, Noone woud go for example that the prolferation of automatic weapons inthe deve ping word hasbeen good fo pene. eta to fin any coralation over history between the destructive tal of t pe, ‘ious deposits of nickel but what would be the point, when italrety enjoys their beets through trade? Affence. Over the millennia the wold has become more prospercus anit ‘ns also become less violent. Do societies become more peaceful a they get riche? Pehap the daly pains ana frstations of poverty make people seve ‘omery and give thems more o fight over and the bounty ofan afin socery ‘ives ther more reasons to value their Hives ane by extension the Hive ot others. "Nonetheless tight correlation between affuence and nonviolenceare hard ‘ofind, and some cortelatons go the other way. Among pre-stte prope i ‘soften the sedentary trbes living in temperte regions sh with eh and sme, such asthe Pacific Northwest, thet had slaves cates, da warrior culture, wile the materially modest San and Semai ar atthe peace end ‘ofthe distbutin (chapter 2), And i was the glorious ancient emyizes tht ‘had slaves crucifixion, gladiators, uthleas conquest, and hzmanseriSce (Chapter. ‘The ets behind democracy ad other humanitarian reforms blasomed ‘nthe ith century, but upourge in material wellbeing came cnsideably later (chapter 4) Wealth in the West began to wzge only with the feast Revolution ofthe agthcentury, and heath and longevity took off with the Public heath revolution at the end ofthe 3th Small-scale tations in Prosperity so appear tobe out of syne with a concern for human right, ‘Though thasbeen suggested that iynchinga inthe American South went up ‘when cotton pices went down, the overwhelming historical trend vas 4 ‘exponenta. decay oflynchings inthe fit half ofthe ath century, without

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