On Instinctive Human Peace Versus War By Professor David P. Barash

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Article Critique

The article “On Instinctive Human Peace Versus War” by professor David P. Barash seeks to find a connection between human genetic inheritance and their aggressiveness or/and peacefulness level. Author is attempting to confront the previous research results of all the scientists and scholars claiming that human beings are instinctively war prone. Professor Barash is not endeavoring to oppose their argument by stating that all humans are peaceful creatures. He emphasizes that we are as inclined to war, as we are inclined to peace. The main purpose of the text is mostly to prove that humans are not inherently violent species as considered by many and that they are able to negotiate and perfectly

I got the idea that this topic and ideas would belong to someone who works in the field of anthropology or biology. I decided to make an in-depth research about the writer David Barash, and information that I have found completely confirmed my thought. Professor Barash received his bachelor’s degree in biology and his Ph. D. in zoology. In addition, he works on the subjects such as human aggression, peace studies and sexual behavior of animals. Not surprisingly, all of these areas were covered in the “On Instinctive Human Peace Versus War” article. As stated on his website, he believes that all of these topics are fundamentally linked and that they all involve relationship between biology and human behavior. The problem of violence in living creatures especially stands out in his

The use of the citation from Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the very beginning of the text seems particularly strange. “What a piece of work is a man… like a God!”. After this citation author claims that there are “numerous historical and contemporary references of our species having been made in the image of God” (p. 298). Another example is the use of poet Alfred Tennyson’s vision of human nature as a point of reference (p. 304). I found these “references” to be completely irrelevant to the purpose of our text. Someone’s opinion not confirmed by any research, especially the one stated by the character of the book, should not be used as a point of reference in the article written by scientist and discussing quite serious scientific matters such as biology and evolution. In addition, Barash cites theologist who claims that all humans are sinful, which also cannot be represented as a reliable