Human Nature

[Fat Mike]

Hi guys!

It's been a while since I was here last time and I have to admit that I've only returned for egoistic reasons. :) I'm going to start writing my C-thesis (I don't know the English counterpart, but it's the last moment in University) in a week which I'll need a lot of books for. The topic is human nature and politics in general. How human nature effects politics and vice versa, if there is a human nature at all etc. My goal is to undermine the classical realist assumption that international politics reflects the human nature.

So basically I'm interested in anything which has to do with human nature. I'll start off with some classical works such as Leviathan, but I'd also need pure scientific books on this issue. I guess psychology or maybe anthropology would be the preferable fields to begin with, but that's what I need your help with. So please, share your books with me. :) I'm searching both political philosophy on human nature and more scientifical works about the issue.

Thank you!

[Dodo25]

'The Blank Slate' by Stephen Pinker is what you need. It deals with prevalent (but wrong) theories of human nature, and thus gives you a great overview, plus it presents the real picture.

You might also want to check out Jared Diamond's 'The Third Chimpanzee'. It's anthroplogy, biology and linguistics combined, very interesting.

As for non-fiction, 'Galapagos' by Kurt Vonnegut could be quite interesting too. It paints human nature as 'too smart', as a big brained evolutionary mistake.

You can always use some books or speeches by famous politicians of old times (Victorian or colonization period) that include racist or sexist remarks, just to show how things have changed.

'Brave New World' (by Huxley) shows how one could change human nature, and opens the question of whether that would be desirable.

And for examples of particular character traits or philosophies, 'The Brothers Karamazov' (Dostoyevsky) provides some interesting examples.

[Fat Mike]

Thank you Dodo! Interesting books, I've read a couple of reviews. And including fiction is a great idea as well, why haven't I thought about it... As a matter of fact "Brave New World" is probably more scientifical than most of the works within "political philosophy". It might sound contradictory, but yes, they tend to treat political philosophy as science for some unexplainable reasons.

[Fat Mike]

I've decided to include some anarchistic views in my paper and I'm looking for some classic works about anarchism. I could of course just google it, which I will, but it's always interested to see personal recommendations. So please, shoot.

[baaaaadgoatjoke]

I've decided to include some anarchistic views in my paper and I'm looking for some classic works about anarchism. I could of course just google it, which I will, but it's always interested to see personal recommendations. So please, shoot.

Days of War, Nights of Love