Love and Hate [antikvár]

The "Human Beast" a Modem Caricature of ManIn the history of mankind one bloody chapter follows another almost without interruption; and the picture has remained un-changed right up to the present day. The only difference is that now we possess atomic weapons, and in the event of war we run the risk of destroying ourselves. We have subdued the forces of nature, we have conquered epidemics and wiped out the beasts of prey that once threatened us. Now we are our own greatest enemy, unless we succeed in taming our aggressive urges.Is there the slightest prospect of our doing this? Are we not ruled by an innate aggressive drive, by a lust for killing which at best can be repressed but never eliminated? In recent times this has beeil repeatedly asserted."Cain rules the world. If anyone doubts it, let him read the history of the world," wrote Leopold Szondi in 1969 (20/).* In his view a murderous inclination is inherent in all men and he speaks of a "Cain-tendency," a drive factor with which we are bom. Robert Ardrey has sketched a similar portrait of mankind (8).The same thesis has been put forward in the weekly and daily press. Thus, Time magazine (204) says that man is "one of the world's most aggressive beasts who fundamentally enjoys torturing and killing other animals, including his fellow man. . . . His hormones urge him to copulate with his sisters and* The italic figures in parentheses in the text refer to the list of sources at the end of the book.