Myth: War Is Inevitable (resources)

Video and Audio:sad

This video addresses the myth that humans are naturally violent: Book Discussion with Paul Chappell on The Art of Waging Peace.

This 1939 antiwar cartoon from MGM gives some indication of how mainstream opposition to war was at the time.

Doug Fry on Talk Nation Radio.

John Horgan on Talk Nation Radio.

An example of humans’ inclination away from war: the 1914 Christmas truce.

Films:

Joyeux Noel: a film about the 1914 Christmas truce.

Articles:

Fry, Douglas P. & Souillac, Geneviéve (2013). The Relevance of Nomadic Forager Studies to Moral Foundations Theory: Moral Education and Global Ethics in the Twenty-First Century. Journal of Moral Education, (July) vol:xx-xx.

Henri Parens (2013) War Is Not Inevitable, Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 25:2, 187-194.
Main arguments: Human civilization is at its best with universal education, affordable communication, and international travel as human connectors. War prevention is possible through support and fostering of human rights, securing of governments and institutions against abuses and exploitations by others, internationalization of children’s education, compulsory parenting education, and countering extremism of all kinds.

Brooks, Allan Laurence. “Must war be inevitable? A general semantics essay.”  ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 63.1 (2006): 86+. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Dec. 2013.
Main arguments: Warns against two-valued positions: we are not either aggressive or non-aggressive. Points to the predominant mode of human cooperation throughout history. Arguments in line with many social and behavioral scientists who state that we have the potential to be aggressive and fight wars, but we also have the potential to be non-aggressive and peaceful.

Zur, Ofer. (1989). War Myths: Exploration of the Dominant Collective Beliefs about Warfare. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 29(3), 297-327. doi: 10.1177/0022167889293002.
Main arguments: Author critically examines three myths about war: (1) war is part of human nature; (2) decent people are peaceful and seek to avoid war; (3) war is a male institution. Good point made: Disqualifying myths scientifically does not reduce their importance to the people and cultures subscribing to them. “Exposing the erroneous nature of these beliefs can be the first step out of the vicious cycle of destructive, unconscious self-fulfilling prophecies”.

Zur, Ofer. (1987). The Psychohistory of Warfare: The Co-Evolution of Culture, Psyche and Enemy. Journal of Peace Research, 24(2), 125-134. doi: 10.1177/002234338702400203.
Main arguments: Humans have had the technical and physical ability to create and use weapons against each other for the last 200,000 years, but only created and used weapons against each other in the last 13,000 years. Wars have been waged only one percent of human evolutionary time.

The Seville Statement on Violence: PDF.
World’s leading behavior scientists refute the notion that organized human violence [e.g. war] is biologically determined. The statement was adopted by the UNESCO.

War Can Be Ended: Part I of “War No More: The Case for Abolition” by David Swanson

Wars Are Not Unavoidable: Chapter 4 of “War Is A Lie” by David Swanson

On Ending War by E. Douglas Kihn

Books:

Beyond War: The Human Potential for Peace by Doug Fry

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Dave Grossman

Peaceful Revolution by Paul K. Chappell

The End of War by John Horgan

War Is A Lie by David Swanson

When the World Outlawed War by David Swanson

War No More: The Case for Abolition by David Swanson

A Future Without War: The Strategy of a Warfare Transition by Judith Hand

American Wars: Illusions and Realities by Paul Buchheit

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley

Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves by Adam Hochschild

Fry, Douglas. P. (2013). War, peace, and human nature : the convergence of evolutionary and cultural views. New York: Oxford University Press.

Kemp, Graham, & Fry, Douglas P. (2004). Keeping the peace : conflict resolution and peaceful societies around the world. New York: Routledge.

War Is Inevitable:

Summary.

Detail.

Other Myths:

War is necessary.

War is beneficial.

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