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Citation |
Roscoe P. Am. Anthropol. 2007; 109(3): 485-495. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2007, American Anthropological Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
Advances in primatological research have recently led to a hypothesis that lethal coalitionary raiding in chimpanzees is the product of an evolutionarily adaptive “dominance drive” that disposes adult males to seek out low-cost opportunities for conspecific killing. This conclusion has been extended into a claim that human warfare and other forms of coalitional killing are outcomes of a hardwired, “demonic male” complex. Reversing this evidential approach, I argue from data on conspecific killing in humans that humans and chimpanzees have an aversion to killing conspecifics. Their lethal violence, I propose, is more parsimoniously explained as the result of a developed intelligence capable of envisioning the future and, when necessary, of disabling this aversion to achieve desired goals. |