Dr. David Livingstone Smith is the author of "Why We Lie" and "The Most Dangerous Animal." He is professor of philosophy and cofounder and director of the Institute for Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Studies at the University of New England. He and his wife live in Portland, Maine.
Smith's compelling study and his argument that the study of
dehumanization be made a global priority to prevent future Rwandas
or Hiroshimas is well-made and important. "Publishers Weekly" Smith
offers an impressively thorough survey of 'dehumanization'.
"Barbara Ehrenreich, Los Angeles Review of Books" Books like
Smith's should be required reading for all with a social
conscience, and his ideas ought to find their way into every school
curriculum. "Valerie Curtis, Ph.D., Journal of Evolutionary
Psychology" In this powerful and original work ranging widely and
with impressive interdisciplinary scope over different epochs and
cultures while remaining compellingly readable David Livingstone
Smith demonstrates that our practice of representing our
fellow-humans as subhuman is both inhuman and all too human. He
forces us to recognize that monstrous atrocities are routinely
carried out not by monsters but, alas, by ourselves. Charles W.
Mills, Ph.D. author of The Racial Contract, John Evans Professor of
Moral and Intellectual Philosophy David Livingstone Smith produces
a clear and illuminating vision of why human beings are the way we
are and how we got this way. The scholarship is broad, the insight
is deep and the prose is compelling. "Less Than Human" will change
the way you think about things that matter profoundly. This is
dazzling stuff. "Steven E. Landsburg, Ph.D., author of The Big
Questions" Warning: This book will challenge you! Not that it's
hard to understand -- in fact, it's wonderfully accessible -- but
it raises some terrible realities. For this reason, it is all the
more important that you read "Less that Human." It is brilliantly
written, carefully researched, and a wonderful and much-needed
opportunity for us to explore what it might mean to be truly
human'. "David P. Barash, author of Payback: Why We Retaliate, Seek
Revenge and Redirect Our Aggression" This is a beautiful book on an
ugly topic. David Livingstone Smith uses the newest research in
cognitive science to address the problems of racism, genocide, and
atrocity, presenting a provocative theory as to why we come to see
others as less than human. There are deep and important ideas here,
and this engaging book should be read by anyone interested in the
worst aspects of human nature -- and how we can come to transcend
them. "Paul Bloom, author of How Pleasure Works: The New Science of
Why We Like What We Like and professor of psychology, Yale
University" One part detective story, one part horror story, one
part evolutionary philosophy, "Less Than Human" is actually a book
about what it means to be human. As such, there are few of us who
can afford to miss it. "Peter Swirski, Ph.D., author of American
Utopia and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and
Political History, Professor of American literature and culture at
the Department of English, University of Missouri, and Research
Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies"
Dehumanization is a thoroughly human behavior. It is a tool we have
used for millennia to bolster our self-esteem, to justify slavery
and exploitation, to get ourselves to kill and exterminate. Yet,
despite its terrible significance, surprisingly little scholarly
attention has been trained on the phenomenon -- on its origins, how
it works, and how we might avoid its dreadful toll. Bringing
enviably acute skills as a philosopher to bear on the subject,
David Livingstone Smith draws on an impressive range of sources to
argue that dehumanization emerges from the very core of our
humanity, our ability to reflect upon our own thoughts. Writing in
an engaging and accessible style, he uses an incisive logic to pare
away the layers of his subject to reveal this troubling conclusion.
This is an important book for anthropologists, who are interested
in ethnocentrism, and for any human concerned about our capacity to
harm one another. "Paul Roscoe, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology,
University of Maine.""
"Smith's compelling study and his argument that the study of
dehumanization be made a global priority to prevent future Rwandas
or Hiroshimas is well-made and important." -- "Publishers Weekly"""
"Smith offers an impressively thorough survey of "dehumanization.""
-- Barbara Ehrenreich, "Los Angeles Review of Books"
"Books like Smith's should be required reading for all with a
social conscience, and his ideas ought to find their way into every
school curriculum." - Valerie Curtis, Ph.D., "Journal of
Evolutionary Psychology"
"In this powerful and original work--ranging widely and with
impressive interdisciplinary scope over different epochs and
cultures while remaining compellingly readable--David Livingstone
Smith demonstrates that our practice of representing our
fellow-humans as subhuman is both inhuman and all too human. He
forces us to recognize that monstrous atrocities are routinely
carried out not by monsters but, alas, by ourselves." -Charles W.
Mills, Ph.D. author of "The Racial Contract, " John Evans Professor
of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy"David Livingstone Smith
produces a clear and illuminating vision of why human beings are
the way we are and how we got this way. The scholarship is broad,
the insight is deep and the prose is compelling. "Less Than Human"
will change the way you think about things that matter profoundly.
This is dazzling stuff."-- Steven E. Landsburg, Ph.D., author of"
The Big Questions""Warning: This book will challenge you! Not that
it's hard to understand -- in fact, it's wonderfully accessible --
but it raises some terrible realities. For this reason, it is all
the more important that you read "Less that Human." It is
brilliantly written, carefully researched, and a wonderful and
much-needed opportunity for us to explore what it might mean to be
'truly human'." -- David P. Barash, author of "Payback: Why We
Retaliate, Seek Revenge and Redirect Our Aggression""This is a
beautiful book on an ugly topic. David Livingstone Smith uses the
newest research in cognitive science to address the problems of
racism, genocide, and atrocity, presenting a provocative theory as
to why we come to see others as less than human. There are deep and
important ideas here, and this engaging book should be read by
anyone interested in the worst aspects of human nature -- and how
we can come to transcend them." -- Paul Bloom, author of "How
Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like "and
professor of psychology, Yale University
"One part detective story, one part horror story, one part
evolutionary philosophy, "Less Than Human" is actually a book about
what it means to be human. As such, there are few of us who can
afford to miss it."--Peter Swirski, Ph.D., author of "American
Utopia and Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and
Political History," Professor of American literature and culture at
the Department of English, University of Missouri, and Research
Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
"Dehumanization is a thoroughly human behavior. It is a tool we
have used for millennia to bolster our self-esteem, to justify
slavery and exploitation, to get ourselves to kill and exterminate.
Yet, despite its terrible significance, surprisingly little
scholarly attention has been trained on the phenomenon -- on its
origins, how it works, and how we might avoid its dreadful toll.
Bringing enviably acute skills as a philosopher to bear on the
subject, David Livingstone Smith draws on an impressive range of
sources to argue that dehumanization emerges from the very core of
our humanity, our ability to reflect upon our own thoughts. Writing
in an engaging and accessible style, he uses an incisive logic to
pare away the layers of his subject to reveal this troubling
conclusion. This is an important book for anthropologists, who are
interested in ethnocentrism, and for any human concerned about our
capacity to harm one another."--Paul Roscoe, Ph.D., Professor of
Anthropology, University of Maine.""
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