Dehumanization matters 

Dehumanization matters because it is implicated in the worst atrocities that humans perpetrate on one another. But dehumanization is poorly understood. There is not even a consensus among researchers about what dehumanization is, much less how it works. Some of them even deny its existence, or minimize its significance.

Some comments on my work:

“This brilliant and powerful book is a philosophically sophisticated and prophetically courageous treatment of dehumanization, especially in regard to race. It is timely and needful in our monstrous times. Don’t miss it!”

— Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary, author of Black Prophetic Fire

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“This book is firm but gentle, wise but accessible. Its reflections on our worst habits of politics are phrased in such a way that they allow us to see what better habits might be.”

— Timothy Snyder, Yale University, author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

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“A fascinating and rich book, which combines philosophical and historical sophistication. Even—indeed especially—those who disagree markedly with Smith’s views about dehumanization, like me, will benefit from wrestling with his lucid, important arguments.”

— Kate Manne, Cornell University, author of Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women

I’m a professor of philosophy who has been studying dehumanization for almost twenty years. I have written three books on this subject. The first, Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others (St. Martin’s Press, 2011), received the Anisfield-Wolf award for non-fiction. It was followed by On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It (Oxford University Press, 2020), and Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization (Harvard University Press, 2021). My work is cited by psychologists, historians, legal scholars, political scientists, and philosophers, as well as in the mass media. You can find info on my books and much more on my website Cognitive Dissidence.

The purpose of this newsletter is to share with you some of what I have learned about what dehumanization is, how it works, why it occurs, and what to do about it.

When people think of dehumanization, they are likely to call past events to mind. They think of Auschwitz. They think of Rwanda. They think of slavery. But dehumanization is happening now, and will continue in the foreseeable future. That’s is why understanding it should be high on our list of priorities.

Come join me at Dehumanization Matters

David

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