On Aggression (Harvest Book, Hb 291)

I bought this book to have in my collection of human behaviors. It’s a classic study one that is often referred to by others. I always like to go back to a source to see if the reference is accurate. You would be surprised to see that often there are liberties of interpretation that distort the original intent. But that is just my pet peeve and nothing to be upset with regard to the text itself. Anyway, I enjoy having the text in my collection for that reason.

While some Lorenz's ideas ("for the good of the species") might be supplanted, his observations of the animal world are still brilliant and make for fascinating reading. This book has been given a bum rap and severely criticized, often for the wrong reasons, by writers I admire. Lorenz never claimed that were were doomed by nature. Lorenz claimed that we are aggressive by nature, but never that we are murderous by nature. Nature has made humans, as it has made most animals, reluctant to kill its own kind. But humans have stepped outside nature. Knives and clubs made it too easy too kill. Guns made it easier still. How bomber American pilots of World War II would have parachuted down into German or Japanees cities and torched thousands of civilians? None of them would have done so. Killing at a distance makes killing too easy. We are not murderers by nature, but we have stepped outside of nature, and we have to make adjustments for that.

I read this book a long time ago and was totally captivated by it. Unfortunately I donated that copy to the free public library. Now I am reading it again and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in human behavior. Lorenz starts out at the low end of the evolutionary ladder and ultimately ends up showing how aggression is innate in humans.

I recommend that you buy this book.

I own and train a doberman for protection work. This book was recommended by my trainer. Absolutely fascinating and completely changed the way I perceive aggression in dogs. I do not know how much I buy into the conclusions Lorenz draws in connection with human aggression but just reading the research regarding animals makes the book priceless. Not an easy read but worth it!! I do not think you can fully understand animals without it.

The content is great. I got it through a reseller and the book itself is pretty beat up

According to my copy, this book was originally published in Austria under the title: Das Sogenannte Bose: Der Naturgeschichte der Aggression. The English translation is copyright Konrad Lorenz (1966). I strongly recommend this book as being as relevant now as it was then ('63-'66). It is an excellent book about why a dog is a man's best friend and not another man. The dogs understand. We don't.

I give away copies of this magnificent book. It is seminal. Lorenz wise thoughts on the essential role played by tribal rituals/manners/taste in binding together groups larger than personal associations have been ignored in our quest for ruthless and pathological "mixing" and "diversity".