The Origins of Violence: Approaches to the Study of Conflict

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Transaction Publishers, 31 дек. 1994 г. - Всего страниц: 620

In this fundamental analysis, Rapoport asks: Why do we have wars? Doesn't humanity always seem on the verge of self-annihilation? Is there something in human genetic structure that makes people want to kill each other? Perhaps this impulse is a matter of good versus evil, or just plain human nature. Rapoport moves beyond clichés by claiming that the sources of modern violence reside in the imbalance between a lag in the system of values inherited from the past and the structure of science and technology that awaits no revision of values to move ahead.

As a result, Rapoport argues that the study of war and peace should be considered a science, just like biology or, for that matter, political science. The same rules of empirical engagement and experimentation should apply. Before we can have a theory of peace, we need a methodology of conflict. Using the writings of thinkers who have made significant contributions to the predominant ideas and ideals of our society, Rapoport weaves together the strands of independent thought and research into a single, thought-provoking work.

After investigating the whys of violence, using ideological, psychological, strategic, and systemic perspective, Rapoport moves to an in-depth analysis of possible varieties of conflict resolution. He explores such mechanisms as mediation, education, and applying the results of scientific research. He documents the impact of ideologies countervailing dominant ones that place obstacles in the way of peacemaking. Rapoport argues that conciliation and game theories can be utilized to replace the concept of winner take all or total victory. The Origins of Violence is a needed contribution to our understanding of warfare, and provides a forward-looking perspective that can be of wide use to each of the policy sciences, starting with military strategy and ending with international development.

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On SoCalled Aggression
3
The Evolutionary Perspective
14
The Behavioral Perspective
33
The Attitudinal Perspective We and They
53
Uses and Limitations of the Psychological Approach
73
Ideology The Substrate of Thought
97
The Ideal of Individual Freedom and the Cult of Property
116
The Ideal of Collective Freedom and the Cult of Struggle
135
The Intellectualization of War
325
The Systemic View of the World
347
Arms Races
366
Indices Parameters and Trends
393
The War System
414
Pacifism
443
Conceptions of a World Order
489
Conflict Resolution and Conciliation
510

Addiction to Power
152
The Cult of Violence
176
Ideological Issues of the Cold War
196
The End of Ideology
223
The Strategic Mode of Thought
247
Limits of Individual Rationality
276
Cooperative Games and Strategic Bargaining
304
Problems of Peace Research
537
Problems of Peace Education
569
Concluding Remarks Can There Be a Science of Peace?
585
Bibliography
593
Name Index
605
Subject Index
611
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