From the Rwandan genocide to Nazi concentration camps, atrocities often manifest when the oppressors see their victims as less than human. Join philosopher of psychology, David Livingstone Smith, as he explores the psychology at the heart of cruelty, how our minds make us vulnerable to dehumanising rhetoric, and how we can insulate ourselves against hate.

By the end of this course you will have learned

• Understanding the Concept of Dehumanisation
• Recognising the Mechanisms of Dehumanisation
• Moral and Political Implications
• Biological and Evolutionary Dimensions
• Phenomenology and the Experience of Being Dehumanised
• Dehumanisation in History and Society
• Resisting Dehumanisation

Relevant readings by David Livingstone Smith

Livingstone Smith, D. (2011), Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Livingstone Smith, D. (2021), Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Livingstone Smith, D. (2016), ‘Paradoxes of Dehumanization’, Social Theory and Practice, 42(2), pp. 416–443.
Livingstone Smith, D. (2014), On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Livingstone Smith, D. (2007), The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War, New York: St. Martin’s Press.