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The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by [Pinker, Steven]
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The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined Kindle Edition

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4.3 out of 5 stars 536 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • File Size: 10471 KB
  • Print Length: 844 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1846140935
  • Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (October 4, 2011)
  • Publication Date: October 4, 2011
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0052REUW0
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,937 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA tour de force, covering a huge topic quite well
By Graham H. Seibert TOP 1000 REVIEWER on October 5, 2011
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This is a huge book, but as Pinker says, it is a huge subject. He organizes himself by lists. First, there are six significant trends which have led to a decrease in violence.
1. Our evolution from hunter gatherers into settled civilizations, which he calls the Pacification Process.
2. The consolidation of small kingdoms and duchies into large kingdoms with centralized authority and commerce, which he calls the Civilizing Process.
3. The emergence of Enlightenment philosophy, and it's respect for the individual through what he calls the Humanitarian Revolution.
4. Since World War II, violence has been suppressed, first by the overwhelming force of the two parties in the Cold War, and more recently by the American hegemony. Pinker calls this the Long Peace.
5. The general trend, even apart from the Cold War, of wars to be more infrequent, and less violent, however autocratic and anti-democratic the governments may be. Call this the New Peace.
6. Lastly, the growth of peace and domestic societies, and with it the diminishing level of violence through small things like schoolyard fights, bullying, and picking on gays and minorities. He titles this the Rights Revolution.

Pinker then goes on to examine the traditional explanations of violence, the traditional explanations of human nature which account for violence. There is practical violence, which you might call necessary violence. Then there are dominance, revenge, sadism, and ideologically driven violence. Opposing these are what he calls the better angels of human nature, empathy, self-control, our moral sense, and reason. Many of these characteristics are shared with our primate brethren, the chimpanzees on down, but some of them are uniquely human.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsUneven; 3.5 Stars
By R. Albin TOP 1000 REVIEWER on March 10, 2012
Format: Hardcover
This very ambitious and sprawling book is a serious effort to argue for and explain the progressive decline in interpersonal violence in human societies. The book is divided into 2 parts. The first part is an effort to describe a broad sweep of human history from prehistoric societies to the present, arguing for a progressive though intermittant decline in violence in human societies. The second part is an effort to understand the underpinings of the decline in violence in terms of human psychological processes.

Pinker's sequence of the decline in violence is based on synthesis of a large volume of literature generated by archaeologists, ethnologists, historians, sociologists, political scientists, and psychologists. Pre-state societies, while low in absolute population and absolute number of violent acts, had very high per capita levels of violence. The emergence of states resulted in some decline in violence and the gradual strengthening of the state resulted in a progressive decline in interpersonal violence, even as states became more capable of waging war. This is best documented in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present. Pinker highlights a number of important parallel processes. The "Civilizing Process" described by the great historical sociologist Norbert Elias of the increasing importance of self-control, manners, and social amity from the Renaissance onwards is prominently featured as a key feature in the decline of violence. Similarly, Pinker emphasizes the humanitarianism of the Enlightenment and subsequent reform movements. In the 20th century, the "Rights Revolution" that has brought widespread acceptance of religious and ethnic minorities, women, and homosexuals, is also discussed as improving our societies.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsAn analytical, methodical juggernaut of guarded optimism
By David Everling on October 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover
In his lauded but controversial best-seller "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature", Steven Pinker set out to quash a romanticized nostalgia for the lifestyle of people in pre-state societies: the myth of the "noble savage". Now, in his new book "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined", Steven Pinker extends this rectification of prevailing but misguided opinion to grand scale, presenting a strong case for our ennobled present; we are living in the most peaceful era humanity has ever known.

Pinker blows the reader away (forgive the violent metaphor) with sheer weight of analytical shot. At 700 pages of text interspersed with graphs and heaps of reference data, "Better Angels" is thorough-going and methodical because it has to be; contradicting common folk theories (like the noble savage), overriding an often overwhelming sense of unceasing or imminent violence from media coverage (see compassion fatigue), and compensating for a general lack of statistical thinking and probabilistic understanding in the lay public is no easy task. People are right to be skeptical of controversial theories, and knowing this Pinker has patiently lain it all out for us to see for ourselves that violence truly has declined with clear and unambiguously downward direction.

"Better Angels" is structured around an inventory of six Trends, five Inner Demons with four Better Angels, and five Historical Forces (Pinker can't help but enumerate).Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsHighest Recommendation.

An important book. A necessary book. I wish everyone would read it. Too many people see the past through rose-colored glasses. Read more

Published 8 days ago by S. Arch
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is one of the most important books I had ...

This is one of the most important books I had never heard of - until now. It's not a page-turner - it's an exhaustive history. It's powerful, important, timely, and optimistic... Read more

Published 14 days ago by Jim
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Incredibly well written book; it's only fault is that it's too long in making its case.

Published 1 month ago by A. Donaszi
3.0 out of 5 starsToo long for its merit.

Pinker tries to write a balanced book, but all of us have our biases. For one thing, he seems to subconsciously want to minimize the importance of inter-ethnic conflict, but I... Read more

Published 1 month ago by A Critic
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Bit of Optimism Amongst the Gloom

This is a tightly reasoned, carefully documented case argued by one of the most brilliant intellects of our time. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsFor Better or Worse, The Story of Violence

I've struggled a bit to write this review because I have mixed feelings about The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker. Read more

Published 1 month ago by T. L. Cooper
1.0 out of 5 starsDecline of violence in HISTORY but perhaps not reality?

A good read for those who wish to consider the premise at a macro level using a limited definition of violence. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Keepit Simple
5.0 out of 5 starsOutstanding analysis and writing.

Pinker has synthesized a history of humanity combined with science and psychology in a very convincing and well argued presentation. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Robert Judson
5.0 out of 5 starsBest book I've read in years

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK. Best book I've read in years.

Published 2 months ago by Ryan Hagerman
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Fantastic

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer

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