Summary
It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings,... Full description
- Prologue
- A new realism
- The real Lord of the Flies
- Part 1. The state of nature. The rise of Homo puppy ; Colonel Marshall and the soldiers who wouldn't shoot ; The curse of civilisation ; The mystery of Easter Island
- Part 2. After Auschwitz. In the basement of Stanford University ; Stanley Milgram and the shock machine ; The death of Catherine Susan Genovese
- Part 3. Why good people turn bad. How empathy blinds ; How power corrupts ; What the Enlightenment got wrong
- Part 4. A new realism. The power of intrinsic motivation ; Homo ludens ; This is what democracy looks like
- Part 5. The other cheek. Drinking tea with terrorists ; The best remedy for hate, injustice and prejudice ; When the soldiers came out of the trenches
- Epilogue: Ten rules to live by.