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Cruelty's utility: The evolution of same-species killing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 August 2006
Abstract:
Human beings, like chimpanzees, deliberately kill their own species in order to expand their territory. For a self-aware social animal to attack its own kind, it would need to evolve a mechanism to dehumanize, or dechimpanzee-ize those it attacks. It is suggested that cruelty reflects such an evolved predisposition. The implications for violence prevention are discussed.
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- Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006
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