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On Aggression

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This is the best known book by the Nobel Prize winning researcher Konrad Lorenz. Although some of his ideas may have become superceded by the Richard Dawkin's school of Ethology/SocioBiology (Dawkins wrote the excellent "The Selfish Gene", "The Extended Phenotype", "The Blind Watchmaker", and "River Out Of Eden" among others), they both collaborated with the renowned Nobel Prize winner, Niko(laas) Tinbergen. Essential reading for understanding species behavior and interaction.

Lorenz became active in the Green Party as an environmental advocate. For those interested primarily with his views on human ecology and civilization, a good follow up book to this is "Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins"(1974).

Is TV to blame for human violence? Some people believe so. But in the countries with censored violence-free media the crime rate is even worse. According to the author aggression is innate, it evolved because environment made it necessary for the survival of the species. Aggression is also responsible for the development of personal relationships: one has to know whom not to kill. If there was no aggression there would be no biological need for friendship. The author proves his explanation of human behavior using numerous observations on various animal species, including the species that exhibit aggression and the ones that don't.

Very in depth and detailed book. You can tell two things from reading this.

1. That Konrad Lorenz loved what he did and did it with a passion unlikely to be exceeded by anyone.

2. That he didn't miss much of anything.

This is not my field so keep in mind this review is for the amateur like me. The book bogs down a little in places due to the detail the author emphasizes. This attention to detail is, of course, also what makes the book so good. It is the little details and observing every little movement and action then using the information gathered through those thousands of hours of close scrutiny to form conclusions as to why animals behave the way they do that makes this work a time tested masterpiece. My warning would be to be ready for this level of detail and you will be rewarded with a deeper understanding of the world around you and our own nature. The difficulty of the book is far exceeded by the rewards gained.

Lorenz's theories simply and logically explained. Very thought provoking material. Don't be afraid that it's out of date.

As much as this book has diminished in scientific importance of the many years since it was first published, it has gained as much, if not more, importance as a historical work. Even though this field has passed up the originator his work still stands as monument of scientific achievement.

The strange aspect of science is the fact that many times the most important scientists in any given field are those that failed. It is these men and women who have done the laborious field work plus the countless hours sifting through and analyzing data to come up with sound conclusions. Well I don't think with Konrad Lorenz's achievements anyone would call him a failure, but even though many of his conclusions have become antiquated it was his work that created the foundation for all those who have come after this giant. His work advanced this his field by decades.

So in the end, don't read Konrad Lorenz to understand the world and ethology as it stands today, but instead to understand how we came to this point of achievement now. Read this book to understand the history of this field of science and research, and to understand where and how it came about. This man was a pioneer, and without his tireless effort and devotion our understanding of our environment and ourselves would years behind. This is an important work that still needs to be read.

Why do we kill in each other? Why are humans so irrational when it comes to dealing with issues in a nonviolent way? In his book, On Aggression, Konrad Lorenz has attempted to answer that question. Lorenz has diagnosed the human condition and reasoned humans are the most violent species in the world because of our intelligence and lack of reason. As a reader of Lorenz, I have come to the conclusion that Lorenz is a modern day classical thinker approaching an issue that has haunted mankind for all times.
Lorenz sees mass society as an inherent component to war, violence, and aggression. He depicts mankind's situation as a spectator from Mars would view it and diagnoses how aggression is caused by "human nature" but also how humans feed off each other's aggression. Lorenz proceeds to explain how man is susceptible to a type of frenzy due to what he labels as militant enthusiasm. In mass society, aggression is an extremely contagious component and is inherent in harnessing the destructive side of the human potential.
Here Lorenz shows an approach much akin to Einstein's view on war. However, where Einstein failed to reason out that man is destructive by nature, Lorenz makes no attempt to hide mankind's irrationality. Freud also approached this issue in his book Civilization and Its Discontents, but Freud saw violence as impossible to cure whereas Lorenz sees a possible treatment to this aggressive side in the development of human understanding of mankind's situation and through the enlightening of reason.

Upon reading Lorenz I have come to the conclusion that the man is a modern day classical philosopher educated in anthropology. He refers constantly to Greco-Roman themes.
"Know thyself."
This quote was said to have been engraved over the shrine of Apollo at Delphi. Lorenz quotes from it as a means of seeing the need for enlightening man. Lorenz believes that the more aware man is of his dilemma with violence, the less likely his is to act irrationally. This principle was a focal point of Hellenistic thinking and I believe that Lorenz sees this theme as viable in answering many of mankind's major problems.
Romantics believe in the power of the Ubermensch: a type of superman who is somewhat invincible. Napoleon, Alexander, and Hitler are all examples of this type of person- a dominating figure capable of conquering the world. However, Lorenz sees this as a source of mass aggression and almost chastises Heinrich Heine for his glorification of the Ubermensch. This further illustrates Lorenz's classical view of moderation which places more importance on the philosopher than the conqueror.
The greatest classical view I saw was Lorenz's answer to mankind's situation. In the Iliad, Homer sees fate as an indomitable force which mankind cannot stand against alone. Through Achilles and Priam, Homer shows that mankind needs to bond together in a type of brotherhood against this malevolent force. Lorenz's follows the same theme except instead of fate it is human aggression which is the malicious force which mankind must overcome.
In many ways Lorenz's thinking is a result of the progression of humanity. He is able to take themes from the ancients and apply them to the problems which plague us today. How much I would like to believe that there is hope in mankind against the horrors of human nature. But history has shown that mankind has no hope of overcoming the destructive nature of man. How much I would like to hope in man being able to solve his own inherent evil. But mankind is not capable of doing so, if it were possible; we would not need a Savior. I give credit to the Greeks and Lorenz for attempting to solve this issue with rational thinking. Unfortunately man is not a rational animal able to be saved by such thinking.

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.

offers insight into studies done on the subject matter. Very interesting and applicable in day to day life. Glad I purchased.

On Aggression (Routledge Classics)
The book gives you an interesting and convincing explanation of the origin of aggression in humans. The same as Darwin's theory of human origin, it is not flattering. Therefore it was not taken well initially. As far as I know there is no other constructive explanation.
Understanding animal behavior can help understanding humans because some of the basic rules of operation still apply. Author illustrates his hypothesis with multiple very interesting examples of animal and human behavior. If you want to find a way of understanding and accepting us the way we are or simply looking for fun reading or for a hope for humanity, it is a good place to start the quest.

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.