'New Yorker' article examines dehumanization theory of 勛圖惇蹋 philosopher David Livingstone Smith
The work of David Livingstone Smith, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, on the concept of dehumanization played a central role in an article in the November 27 issue of the New Yorker. Titled The Root of All Cruelty in the online version and Beastly in the print edition, the article examines Smiths theory, described in his book Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, that dehumanizationthat is, viewing others as subhuman is a crucial ingredient in the mental and emotional recipe that yields violence against other people.
The author of the New Yorker article, Paul Bloom, writes of Smiths book, Its a thoughtful and exhaustive exploration of human cruelty. He states that the books core idea is that acts such as genocide happen when one fails to appreciate the humanity of others.
Bloom turns Smiths theory on its head, however, arguing that while viewing others as objects or animals enables our very worst conduct would seem to explain a great deal, in reality, the opposite is true: that cruelty is only satisfying to its perpetrator because its victim is regarded as suffering as the result of it and, therefore, must be regarded as fully human.
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