On Aggression (Routledge Classics)
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'Packed with entrancing detail, profound wisdom and deft humour... the book is a masterpiece.' - The Guardian
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This work has had significant impact on the social and biological sciences and is now a classic point of reference for investigations of behavioral patterns. Lorenz presents his findings on the mechanism of aggression and how animals control destructive drives in the interest of the species. Translated by Marjorie Kerr Wilson. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
For K. Lorenz, `conflict is the father of all things', and aggression is one of the four big conflicting drives in living beings, together with hunger, sex (love) and flight (fear, escape).
Like everything else in life, aggression was molded by natural selection and mutation. It is the fighting instinct which is directed against members of one's own species (`like avoids like'). Its essential function is the preservation of the species as a whole. It provides for a balanced distribution of living beings of the same species over the available environment, selection of the strongest by rival fights and defense of the young. It is always favorable for the species if the strongest take possession of, mark (by song, scent, sound, color) and defend a territory and conquer the desired females.
Aggression is a dangerous, because spontaneous, instinct and can become very harmful. Therefore evolution provided for innate behavior - the interaction of all drives - canalization in personal bonds (recognition, friendship, love), in communication (rites, appeasement gestures), in prohibitions (taboos). One example: when a female chimpanzee entered a new room, she presented her behind to every ... chair.
And what about man? Why do reasonable beings behave so unreasonably? Because we are still subject to all the laws of instinctive behavior. Our pride, arrogance and overestimation prohibit us to learn from animals. We are worse than rats. Explosive population rise stops automatically in rat colonies and after a wholesale slaughter enough individual rats survive to propagate the species. This would not be the case for the human race if the H-bomb is used.
But there is a glimmer of hope: we should consider ourselves as the missing link between animals and the real human beings to come. Education, science and peace should provide for a `human' transition.
This is by any standard a very important and actual book. A picture of all the animals considered would, however, have been helpful.
Like the works of R. Dawkins, this book a must read for all those wanting to understand human behavior.
Like everything else in life, aggression was molded by natural selection and mutation. It is the fighting instinct which is directed against members of one's own species (`like avoids like'). Its essential function is the preservation of the species as a whole. It provides for a balanced distribution of living beings of the same species over the available environment, selection of the strongest by rival fights and defense of the young. It is always favorable for the species if the strongest take possession of, mark (by song, scent, sound, color) and defend a territory and conquer the desired females.
Aggression is a dangerous, because spontaneous, instinct and can become very harmful. Therefore evolution provided for innate behavior - the interaction of all drives - canalization in personal bonds (recognition, friendship, love), in communication (rites, appeasement gestures), in prohibitions (taboos). One example: when a female chimpanzee entered a new room, she presented her behind to every ... chair.
And what about man? Why do reasonable beings behave so unreasonably? Because we are still subject to all the laws of instinctive behavior. Our pride, arrogance and overestimation prohibit us to learn from animals. We are worse than rats. Explosive population rise stops automatically in rat colonies and after a wholesale slaughter enough individual rats survive to propagate the species. This would not be the case for the human race if the H-bomb is used.
But there is a glimmer of hope: we should consider ourselves as the missing link between animals and the real human beings to come. Education, science and peace should provide for a `human' transition.
This is by any standard a very important and actual book. A picture of all the animals considered would, however, have been helpful.
Like the works of R. Dawkins, this book a must read for all those wanting to understand human behavior.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Konrad Lorenz proposed in "On Aggression" the theory that the violence is always something good and necessary for all the animals. Lorenz thought that the only reason that animals developed this type of behavior is the self-defense of the species. Unfortunately, Lorenz had a big knowledge about animals, but he didn't have the same wisdom about human behavior. Erich Fromm, in his great book "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness", made a total critique of the theories that Lorenz proposed in "On Aggression". And, no doubt, From was right and Lorenz was wrong.
Fromm realized that Lorenz didn't see that in the humans there are two different types of aggression, no only one. The first type has, like in the animals, the objective of the auto-defense. But, the second type has the objective of the destruction. The violence of a serial-killer is not defensive; is destructive, egomaniac and evildoer. Lorenz only was conscious of the first type, but never saw the second, evil, type. The human violence is more complicated than Lorenz thought. It is impossible understand this theme only studying ducks and rats. To understand the human behavior it's necessary study history, psychology and religion, as Fromm did.
If you are interested in the human violence you must read two great books of Erich Fromm: "Escape from Freedom" and "Anatomy of Human Destructiveness".
Richard Dawkins is another writer who, in his book "The Selfish Gene", has made critics to Lorenz's positive vision of violence postulated in "On Aggression".
Fromm realized that Lorenz didn't see that in the humans there are two different types of aggression, no only one. The first type has, like in the animals, the objective of the auto-defense. But, the second type has the objective of the destruction. The violence of a serial-killer is not defensive; is destructive, egomaniac and evildoer. Lorenz only was conscious of the first type, but never saw the second, evil, type. The human violence is more complicated than Lorenz thought. It is impossible understand this theme only studying ducks and rats. To understand the human behavior it's necessary study history, psychology and religion, as Fromm did.
If you are interested in the human violence you must read two great books of Erich Fromm: "Escape from Freedom" and "Anatomy of Human Destructiveness".
Richard Dawkins is another writer who, in his book "The Selfish Gene", has made critics to Lorenz's positive vision of violence postulated in "On Aggression".
Format:Paperback
A lifetime of thinking, research, and observation clearly went into creating this marvelous book. I like it when someone clearly cares about what he's doing, engrosses himself in his work, possibly to the point of obsession. This may well describe Lorenz and this classic book, who defends Darwin and to some degree Freud, among others. Not just about his first hand observations of animals and his interpretation of their behavior, the book extends its scope to include philosophy and history, especially the evolutionary underpinnings of human history. It is rich in detail and very well written. A must read for anyone who cares about the past and future of living things on this planet. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.
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