Questions About The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

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Answered Questions (3)

Do David Graeber or David Wengrow note that Peter Kropotkin wrote about man's early social organization in a series of essays begun in 1890 and brought out in book form as "Mutual Aid", in 1902? Kropotkin criticized the neo-Darwinians who exaggerated things he wrote to fit their favourite trope of "survival of the fittest". He showed that cooperation, not competition, was paramount to early humanity's survival.

Mitch Not in this particular book, though aparently the last essay Graeber wrote was a forward to a new printing of Mutual Aid by PM Press. So if you are re…moreNot in this particular book, though aparently the last essay Graeber wrote was a forward to a new printing of Mutual Aid by PM Press. So if you are really interested in Graeber's thoughts on Kropotkin, you should look there. But I also suggest you read this book to go much deeper into the idea you're referencing here, with archeological and anthropological evidence Kropotkin didn't have access to.

Mutual Aid: An Illuminated Factor of Evolution (Kairos)(less)

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Is this be a good introductory book? For someone not too well versed in the social sciences? If not, is there anything in particular you would have someone be aware of before going into this book? Any information or details are helpful!

Socraticgadfly No, it's not a good introductory book. And, "social sciences" is a huge field. Archaeology and anthropology partially intersect, but neither one of th…moreNo, it's not a good introductory book. And, "social sciences" is a huge field. Archaeology and anthropology partially intersect, but neither one of them is sociology, nor social psychology, nor other psychology, etc.(less)

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From the Wengrow-Appiah exchange in NYRB, Wengrow writes: “Appiah claims we have a thesis, that Europeans, before the Enlightenment, lacked the concept of social (in)equality.” Rather the book asks why the origin of inequality was a hot topic in 1754. Yet they write: “One cannot even say that medieval thinkers rejected the notion of social equality: the idea that it might exist seems never to have occurred to them."?

Josh Buermann The notion that never occurred to medieval Christians was to question social inequalities' origins, per the topic sentence of that paragraph on p.32, …moreThe notion that never occurred to medieval Christians was to question social inequalities' origins, per the topic sentence of that paragraph on p.32, since it lay in the God that had ordained it, before whom they were all equals. Appiah harkening back to Pope Gregory I just recapitulates the notion, as Gregory the Great's declarations about equality before God did not stop him from framing social inequalities as part of the Christian order, "For when we offend those set over us, we oppose the ordinance of Him who set them above us."

Graeber & Wengrow's citation for that passage is Alfani and Frigeni 2016:

"Through the seventeenth century, the word “equality” remained rooted in its traditional meanings [e.g. their Triune God], which were perpetuated in publications produced by or addressed to academia: prolusions or treatises in which it was a keyword for consideration of astronomical and theological matters. In the same century, however, there arose a school of thought that used aequalitas in ethical juridical discussion, suggesting that equality was a characteristic of human beings in the so-called state of nature. This use signaled the spread of a new paradigm – jusnaturalismo – whose deeply innovative vision of the political order broke with the medieval political tradition."

https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...(less)

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Unanswered Questions (3)

Why am I finding this book such a slow, slog? Because their timelines jump all over the place. They start a history of the 'world' from N. America, which is weird to begin with. They drop as many un-footnoted ideas into the text as they do attributed ones. This book should have been seriously pared down by a good editor. I'll have to keep coming back to it in stages, when I'm not busy reading better organized books.

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How well does this book work as an audiobook?

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Does this book make any reference to a concept that was labelled for me as "genetic socialism"? From my inadequate understanding of both this book and the concept, they would seem to have something common. heh...it's for this I ask

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