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Why War? Motivations for Fighting in the Human State of Nature

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Mind the Gap

Abstract

The chapter addresses the causes of fighting among hunter-gatherers, whose way of life represents 99.5% of the history of the genus Homo and about 90% of that of Homo sapiens sapiens. Based on anthropological observations on the behavior of extant and recently extinct hunter-gatherer societies, compared with animal behavior, the chapter begins with somatic and reproductive causes. It proceeds to demonstrate that other motives, such as dominance, revenge, the security dilemma, and “pugnacity,” originally arose from the somatic and reproductive competition. Rather than being separate, all motives come together in an integrated motivational complex, shaped by the logic of evolution and natural selection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Azar Gat

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  1. Azar Gat
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Correspondence to Azar Gat .

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  1. Abt. Soziobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Kellnerweg 4, Göttingen, 37077, Germany

    Peter M. Kappeler

  2. Dept. Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, U.S.A.

    Joan Silk

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Gat, A. (2010). Why War? Motivations for Fighting in the Human State of Nature. In: Kappeler, P., Silk, J. (eds) Mind the Gap. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02725-3_9

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