Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution Kindle Edition
by Peter Kropotkin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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In 1902 Kropotkin published the book Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, which provided an alternative view on animal and human survival, beyond the claims of interpersonal competition and natural hierarchy proffered at the time by some "social Darwinists", such as Francis Galton. He argued "that it was an evolutionary emphasis on cooperation instead of competition in the Darwinian sense that made for the success of species, including the human." Kropotkin explored the widespread use of cooperation as a survival mechanism in human societies through their many stages, and animals. He used many real life examples in an attempt to show that the main factor in facilitating evolution is cooperation between individuals in free-associated societies and groups, without central control, authority or compulsion. This was in order to counteract the conception of fierce competition as the core of evolution, that provided a rationalization for the dominant political, economic and social theories of the time; and the prevalent interpretations of Darwinism. Kropotkin did not deny the presence of competitive urges in humans, but believed that they were not the driving force of history as capitalists and social Darwinists claimed. He did believe that there were times that it was socially beneficial to seek out conflict, but only during attempts to destroy unjust, authoritarian institutions such as the State or Church, which stifled human creativity and freedom and impeded humans' instinctual drive towards sociality and cooperation.
Length: 341 pages Word Wise: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled Language: English
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"Kropotkin's basic argument is correct," noted evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould. "Struggle does occur in many modes, and some lead to cooperation among members of a species as the best pathway to advantage for individuals."
Anthropologist Ashley Montagu declared that "Mutual Aid will never be any more out of date than will the Declaration of Independence. New facts may increasingly become available, but we can already see that they will serve largely to support Kropotkin's conclusion that 'in the ethical progress of man, mutual support—not mutual struggle—has had the leading part.'"
Physician and author Alex Comfort asserted that "Kropotkin profoundly influenced human biology by his theory of 'Mutual Aid' ... He was one of the first systematic students of animal communities, and may be regarded as the founder of modern social ecology."
About the Author
Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) was a renown Russian scientist and anarchist philosopher and activist who lectured across Europe and North America and published widely. His many books include Words of a Rebel and Fields, Factories and Workshops.
Product details
ASIN : B008YIDIX6
Language: : English
File size : 833 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 341 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 1479131407
Best Sellers Rank: 122,077 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
28 in Anarchism
70 in Radical Thought
46,085 in Textbooks & Study Guides
Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars 133 ratings
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John H
5.0 out of 5 stars Opens our eyes to the role of cooperation and mutual aid in all areas of life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2015
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In this book, Peter Kropotkin sets out to demonstrate the importance of cooperation (“mutual aid”) within species and within human societies. Kropotkin, writing in the 1890s, was concerned to oppose “Social Darwinist” ideas that put the emphasis on individual self-assertion and competition within “the struggle for life”. Far from individualistic competition – “the war of all against all” – being the norm, Kropotkin insisted, the principle of “mutual aid” can be found at all levels of nature and of human society, throughout history. If anything, he adds, it is “mutual aid”, not competition, that has done the most to promote human development.
Kropotkin delineates this process working from animals through "primitive" (Kropotkin, using the terminology of his times, says "savage"), "barbarian" and medieval societies to the modern day. Kropotkin does not deny that individualistic competition and self-assertion have also been important factors in human development. His objection is that they have claimed a disproportionate amount of attention – “the self-assertion of the individual or of groups of individuals, their struggles for superiority, and the conflicts which resulted therefrom, have already been analyzed, described, and glorified from time immemorial” – and his purpose is to refute the Social Darwinist claim that evolutionary science supports (or even mandates) an individualistic, “all against all” approach to contemporary human society.
How much Kropotkin’s specific examples can be relied upon as a matter either of zoology or history, I’m not qualified to say. But he surely succeeds in his overall aim: to open our eyes to cooperation and mutual aid as a fundamental and universal experience of both humankind and the rest of nature.
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Peter Alan Clarke
5.0 out of 5 stars A different viewpoint
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 November 2013
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For those Biologists who like me think that Nature is not all red tooth and claw, Kropotkin's work should be better known to balance the tired repulsive view of "the survival of the fittest". Please note that this last saying was not formed by Biologists specialising in evolution or zoology nor any Natural Scientists, the saying was coined by an economist and when do we ever listen to them. Read this book and realise that Nature and its inhabitants are more than just needy killers.
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Sarah. Bluck
5.0 out of 5 stars Many thanks.....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2019
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Another FAB-ORDER..
well described. Arrived quickly
many thanks
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 October 2017
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This book is a great start to understand a bit of Anarchism .
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Stef
5.0 out of 5 stars Mutual Aid.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 August 2012
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This book makes a lot of sense to me. There things written in it that I had always suspected, but never really known. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of human society and how it was corrupted by the introduction of the State.
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