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Twentieth Annual Darwin College Lecture Series 2005

CONFLICT

Lecture 5   :   18 February

THE ROOTS OF WARFARE

Barry Cunliffe

Biography  |   Abstract   |   Printable Version

Abstract

The Roots of Warfare

The debate ranges wide - philosophers, natural historians, anthropologists and archaeologists - all have thought deeply about the question from their different viewpoints. To the philosopher Hobbes, humanity had a natural propensity for violence. Not so said Rousseau, 'nothing could be more gentle' than man in his natural state. And so the lines were drawn up - is aggression innate and selected for or conditioned by social or environmental constraints? Anthropologists, in detailed studies and cross- cultural surveys, mostly conclude that warfare is endemic, the great variety of behaviour they observe resulting from different ways of containing and controlling that violence. But how recent is the phenomenon? Here archaeologists can produce a deep-time perspective. At first the evidence is anecdotal but it becomes increasingly systematic allowing us to see how conflict resolution is embedded in social systems, becoming more complex over time. Perhaps the perspective helps us to understand our own world better.

The lectures are given at 5.30 p.m. in The Lady Mitchell Hall, Sidgwick Avenue, with an adjacent overflow theatre with live TV coverage. Each lecture is typically attended by 600 people so you must arrive early to ensure a place.