Voltaire Lecture 2013: The Better Angels of Our Nature – A History of Violence and Humanity

The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity

Voltaire Lecture 2013 presented by Steven Pinker
20th March: 19.00 (for a 19:25 start) - 21.00

Contrary to the popular impression that we are living in extraordinarily violent times, rates of violence at all scales have been in decline over the course of history. Steven Pinker will explore how this decline could have happened despite the existence of a constant human nature.

Steven Pinker biography

Steven Pinker is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The New Republic, and is the author of seven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works,Words and Rules, The Blank Slate, and most recently, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.