On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It

David Livingstone Smith

sept. 2020 · Tantor Media Inc · Carte narată de Matthew Josdal

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An award-winning author and philosopher, Smith takes an unflinching look at the mechanisms of the mind that encourage us to see someone as less than human. There is something peculiar and horrifying in human psychology that makes us vulnerable to thinking of whole groups of people as subhuman creatures. When governments or other groups stand to gain by exploiting this innate propensity, and know just how to manipulate words and images to trigger it, there is no limit to the violence and hatred that can result. Drawing on numerous historical and contemporary cases and recent psychological research, On Inhumanity is the first accessible guide to the phenomenon of dehumanization. Smith walks listeners through the psychology of dehumanization, revealing its underlying role in both notorious and lesser-known episodes of violence from history and current events. On Inhumanity is bracing and vital reading in a world lurching towards authoritarian political regimes, resurgent white nationalism, refugee crises that breed nativist hostility, and fast-spreading racist rhetoric. The book will open your eyes to the pervasive dangers of dehumanization and the prejudices that can too easily take root within us, and resist them before they spread into the wider world.

Despre autor

David Livingstone Smith is a professor of philosophy at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. He has written or edited eight books, including Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, which won the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf award for nonfiction.

Originally from a small town in southwest Saskatchewan, Matthew Josdal is a voice-over and theater artist who has narrated titles in a wide range of genres, including historical nonfiction and contemporary fantasy. He obtained his BFA in drama from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, where he currently resides.