- David Livingstone Smith
University of New England
Department of History and Philosophy
11 Hills Beach Road
Biddeford, 04005
USA - 2077769786
DAVID L Smith
University of New England, History and Philosophy, Faculty Member
- Moral Psychology, Ideology, Atrocity, Animals and Animality, Akrasia, Dehumanization, and 29 morePhilosophy Of Race, Philosophy of Psychology, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy, Self-deception, Philosophy of Psychoanalysis, Race and Ethnicity, Race and Racism, Critical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Critical Race Studies, History of Race and Ethnicity, Essentialism, Genocide Studies, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Comparative genocide, The uncanny, David Brion Davis, Impurity, Uncanny Valley, Critical Race Theory, Racism, Ruth Millikan, Monsters and the Monstrous, Monsters and Monster Theory, The Monstrous and Otherness, Cognitive Anthropology, Arne Johan Vetlesen, and Demonization of the Otheredit
- My research is focussed on moral psychology, broadly construed. My interests include dehumanization, deception, self-... moreMy research is focussed on moral psychology, broadly construed. My interests include dehumanization, deception, self-deception, war, and ideology. I am the author of seven books, including Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others (St. Martins Press, 2011), which is winner of the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf Prize for nonfiction.edit
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This is a comprehensive study of Freud's philosophy of mind that critically discusses philosophical responses to his work.
This book examines the biological roots of the human disposition to mass violence, and how self-deception allows us to override innate inhibitions against killing.
This book examines the biological foundations of deception, self-deception and sub-literal communication.
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Philosophy of Freud
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Despite its importance, the phenomenon of dehumanization has been neglected by philosophers. Since its introduction, the term “dehumanization” has come to be used in a variety of ways. In this paper, I use it to denote the psychological... more
Despite its importance, the phenomenon of dehumanization has been neglected by philosophers. Since its introduction, the term “dehumanization” has come to be used in a variety of ways. In this paper, I use it to denote the psychological stance of conceiving of other human beings as subhuman creatures. Next, I draw on an historical example— Morgan Godwyn’s description of 17th century English colonists’ dehumanization of African slaves, and use this to identify three explanatory desiderata that any satisfactory theory of dehumanization needs to address. I then summarize and criticize the theories of dehumanization developed by Jacques-Philippe Leyens and Nicholas Haslam, focusing on what I take to be their misappropriation of the theory of psychological essentialism, and show that both of them suffer from major difficulties. I conclude with an assessment of the degree to which Leyens’ and Haslam’s theories satisfy the three desiderata mentioned earlier, and conclude that they fail to address them, and offer a brief sketch of a more satisfactory approach to understanding dehumanization.
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We are a supremely social species whose ecological success rests largely on our capacity for large-scale cooperation. This high degree of sociality is only possible against a background of immensely powerful inhibitions against performing... more
We are a supremely social species whose ecological success rests largely on our capacity for large-scale cooperation. This high degree of sociality is only possible against a background of immensely powerful inhibitions against performing acts of lethal violence against conspecifics. However, there are circumstances in which acts of lethal violence are individually or collectively advantageous and attractive. To perform such acts, we must override our inhibitions. We argue that this tension causes us to be ambivalent about killing other human beings, and that this is manifested in the widespread belief, found across cultures and historical epochs, that taking human life contaminates the killer and may pose a threat to the entire community unless rituals of purification are performed to counteract it. We present examples from the Old Testament, the Greco-Roman world, medieval Europe, Africa, and Native American cultures to substantiate this claim. Finally, we show that pre-modern beliefs about the consequences of killing are echoed in the symptoms of “moral injury” described by contemporary psychiatrists treating combat veterans, suggesting that in defying or disabling our inhibitions against performing acts of lethal violence we ultimately do violence to ourselves.
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Representing members of racial minorities as apes or monkeys is a special case of dehumanization and cannot be properly understood outside of a general theory of dehumanization. We argue that to fully understand any particular case of... more
Representing members of racial minorities as apes or monkeys is a special case of dehumanization and cannot be properly understood outside of a general theory of dehumanization. We argue that to fully understand any particular case of dehumanization it is mandatory to consider the intersection of its psychological, cultural, and political determinants: the psychological component explains the distinctive form of dehumanizing thinking, the cultural component explains the significance of the choice of animal with which members of the dehumanized population are equated, and the political component explains the ideological function of particular cases of dehumanization. We apply this analysis to the special case of the simianization of people of African descent.
Research Interests: Black Studies Or African American Studies, Psychological Anthropology, Moral Psychology, Critical Race Studies, Animal Studies, and 17 moreRace and Racism, Genocide Studies, Uncanny Valley, Critical Race Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Antisemitism (Prejudice), Stereotypes and Prejudice, Essentialism, Philosophy Of Race, Antisemitism/Racisms, Dehumanization, History of Race and Ethnicity, The uncanny, Psychological Essentialism, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Infrahumanization, and Africana Philosophy
Research Interests: Moral Psychology, Animal Studies, Race and Racism, Genocide Studies, Critical Race Theory, and 17 moreHistory of Slavery, Colonialism, Essentialism, Racism, Comparative genocide, Antisemitism/Racisms, Racism In Antiquity, Caribbean Slavery, Dehumanization, Racial and ethnic discrimination, The uncanny, Africana Studies, Psychological Essentialism, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Infrahumanization, Africana Philosophy, and Colonial Genocide
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The following paper is an attempt to provide a concise, systematic and comprehensive review of Freud's developmental theory of narcissism. It grew out of efforts to analyse the development of psychoanalytic theories of narcissism... more
The following paper is an attempt to provide a concise, systematic and comprehensive review of Freud's developmental theory of narcissism. It grew out of efforts to analyse the development of psychoanalytic theories of narcissism from the introduction of the concept in 1909 to ...
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Psychotherapy research should concentrate on building up a scientifically validated, theoretical knowledge base by means of disciplined empirical research. The normal nested relationship between technology, theory, and research has not... more
Psychotherapy research should concentrate on building up a scientifically validated, theoretical knowledge base by means of disciplined empirical research. The normal nested relationship between technology, theory, and research has not been the norm in the world of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy researchers should learn from the history of science and concentrate on building basic theory. Investigations into the causal relations underpinning psychotherapy is the best way that research can help us do psychotherapy better. These investigations must conform to the canons of inductive reasoning. Conventional use of clinical data to underwrite psychotherapeutic theory is vulnerable to Grünbaum's critique. A research proposal based on Langs' communicative approach to psychotherapy is presented predicting measurable unconscious responses to brief, time-limited psychotherapy.
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Magnetically stimulating the brain could lift depression and perhaps even boost creativity. BY HUBERTUS BREUER 60>> Your Own Hall of Memories ... You can improve your recall with a trick from the Greeks and Romans.... more
Magnetically stimulating the brain could lift depression and perhaps even boost creativity. BY HUBERTUS BREUER 60>> Your Own Hall of Memories ... You can improve your recall with a trick from the Greeks and Romans. BY MICHAEL SPANG 66>> Head Attack
Abstract: In this article we argue that self-deception evolved to facilitate interpersonal deception by allowing people to avoid the cues to conscious deception that might reveal deceptive intent. Self-deception has two additional... more
Abstract: In this article we argue that self-deception evolved to facilitate interpersonal deception by allowing people to avoid the cues to conscious deception that might reveal deceptive intent. Self-deception has two additional advantages: It eliminates the costly cognitive ...
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FOUR FREUD AND SEARLE ON THE ONTOLOGY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS David Livingstone Smith Our mind is so fortunately equipped that it brings up the most important bases for our thoughts without our having the least knowl-edge of this work of... more
FOUR FREUD AND SEARLE ON THE ONTOLOGY OF THE UNCONSCIOUS David Livingstone Smith Our mind is so fortunately equipped that it brings up the most important bases for our thoughts without our having the least knowl-edge of this work of elaboration. Only the results ...
Abstract Westermarck's Hypothesis (WH) is widely accepted by evo-lutionary scientists as the best explanation for human incest avoidance. However, its explanatory shortcomings have been largely ignored and it has never been... more
Abstract Westermarck's Hypothesis (WH) is widely accepted by evo-lutionary scientists as the best explanation for human incest avoidance. However, its explanatory shortcomings have been largely ignored and it has never been pitted against alternative biological hypotheses. ...
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... Literature as Self-Engineering: An Evolutionary Hypothesis.David Livingstone Smith. Abstract. Response.
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Mind
... | Ayuda. Mentirosos natos. Autores: David Livingstone Smith; Localización: Mente y cerebro, ISSN 1695-0887, Nº. 14, 2005 , pags. 64-69. © 2001-2010 Universidad de La Rioja · Todos los derechos reservados. XHTML 1.0; UTF‑8.
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Biblioteca de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Base de datos de artículos de revistas, ...
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This is an extended treatment of my theory of ideology. I will be including a modified version of it in my forthcoming book on dehumanization. As always, I will GREATLY appreciate feedback on the argument, as well as leads about... more
This is an extended treatment of my theory of ideology. I will be including a modified version of it in my forthcoming book on dehumanization. As always, I will GREATLY appreciate feedback on the argument, as well as leads about additional resources.
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This is a draft of part of the first chapter of the book that I am working on. I would greatly appreciate feedback. The book is entitled MAKING MONSTERS: THE UNCANNY POWER OF DEHUMANIZATION. I want it to be of interest to academics... more
This is a draft of part of the first chapter of the book that I am working on. I would greatly appreciate feedback. The book is entitled MAKING MONSTERS: THE UNCANNY POWER OF DEHUMANIZATION. I want it to be of interest to academics from a variety of disciplines, and also accessible to non-academic readers. All comments will be greatly appreciated!
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This is a short piece about Donald Trump's recent rally in Jackson, Mississippi.
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This is my introduction to How Biology Shapes Philosophy: New Foundations for Naturalism, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press, with original contributions by Daniel Dennett, Alex Rosenberg, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Patricia... more
This is my introduction to How Biology Shapes Philosophy: New Foundations for Naturalism, forthcoming from Cambridge University Press, with original contributions by Daniel Dennett, Alex Rosenberg, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Patricia Churchland, David Papineau, John Dupre, Philip Kitcher, Karen Neander, Richard Boyd, Samir Okasha, Edouard Machery, Ronald DeSousa, and Luc Faucher.