The Cannibal Within

The Cannibal Within
Author :
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Total Pages : 248
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0202369501
ISBN-13 : 9780202369501
Rating : 4/5 (501 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Cannibal Within by : Lewis F. Petrinovich

Download or read book The Cannibal Within written by Lewis F. Petrinovich and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Cannibal Within offers an evolutionary account of the propensity of human beings, in extreme circumstances to eat other human beings, despite the strong Western taboo against such practices. What sets this volume apart from the large body of literature on cannibalism, both popular and anthropological, is the underlying premise: cannibalism as an alternative to starvation is tacitly condoned by the same biological morality that would condemn cannibalism of other sorts in non-threatening situations. Deep as the taboos may be, the survival instinct runs even deeper. The title of the book reflects the author's belief that cannibalism is not a pathology that erupts in psychotic individuals, but is a universal adaptive strategy that is evolutionarily sound. The cannibal is within all of us, and cannibals are within all cultures, should the circumstances demand cannibalism's appearance and usage. Petrinovich's work is rich in historical detail, and rises to a level of theoretical sophistication in addressing a subject too often dealt with in sensationalist terms. The major instances in which survival cannibalism has occurred convinced the author that there is a consistent pattern and a uniform regularity of order in which different kinds of individuals are consumed. In considering who eats whom, when, and under what circumstances, this regularity appears, and it is consistent with what would be expected on the basis of evolutionary or Darwinian theory. In short, he concludes that starvation cannibalism is not a manifestation of the chaotic, psychotic behavior of individuals who are driven to madness, but reveals underlying characteristics of evolved human beings. Lewis Petrinovich is professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology of the University of California, Riverside and is currently a resident of Berkeley, California.


The Cannibal Within Related Books

The Cannibal Within
Language: en
Pages: 248
Authors: Lewis F. Petrinovich
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: - Publisher: Transaction Publishers

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Cannibal Within offers an evolutionary account of the propensity of human beings, in extreme circumstances to eat other human beings, despite the strong Wes
Cannibal Fictions
Language: en
Pages: 262
Authors: Jeff Berglund
Categories: Literary Criticism
Type: BOOK - Published: 2006-08-15 - Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Objects of fear and fascination, cannibals have long signified an elemental "otherness," an existence outside the bounds of normalcy. In the American imaginatio
Cannibal Talk
Language: en
Pages: 344
Authors: Gananath Obeyesekere
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005-06-06 - Publisher: Univ of California Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this radical reexamination of the notion of cannibalism, Gananath Obeyesekere offers a fascinating and convincing argument that cannibalism is mostly "cannib
Cannibals and Converts
Language: en
Pages: 240
Authors: Maretu
Categories: Cannibalism
Type: BOOK - Published: 1983 - Publisher: [email protected]

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Story of the Cook Islands immediately before the coming of Europeans written by a Rarotongan missionary.
Resurrecting Cannibals
Language: en
Pages: 226
Authors: Heike Behrend
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011 - Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Accompanying DVD is entitled: "Satan crucified : a crusade of the Catholic Church in western Uganda / a video by Armin Linke and Heike Behrend.