'New Yorker' article examines dehumanization theory of 新香港六合彩资料 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 鈥淭he Root of All Cruelty鈥 in the online version and Beastly in the print edition, the article examines Smith鈥檚 theory, described in his book Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, that dehumanization鈥攖hat is, viewing others as subhuman 鈥 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 Smith鈥檚 book, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a thoughtful and exhaustive exploration of human cruelty.鈥 He states that the book鈥檚 鈥渃ore idea鈥 is 鈥渢hat acts such as genocide happen when one fails to appreciate the humanity of others.鈥
Bloom turns Smith鈥檚 theory on its head, however, arguing that while 鈥渧iewing others as objects or animals enables our very worst conduct would seem to explain a great deal,鈥 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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