The course explores the origins and development of human aggressive behavior with an eye towards its control and treatment. Classical formulations of the issue by Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are presented as well as contemporary psychological, sociological, and criminological formulations. Students are exposed to issues in the philosophy of social science, e.g., reductionism and changing views of causality. Course also examines the origins of nonaggression and how aggression might be managed in a complex multicultural society.
CRJS 205 OR SOC 205