The Firth Lectures 2021 with Prof. Celia Deane-Drummond, Senior Research Fellow in Theology, Campion Hall, Oxford, Director of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute

This event is a Q&A in regards to the lecture Prof. Deane-Drummond has given on the topic below. Prior to attending the Q&A watch the video.

Theology and the Evolution of Violence: Are We Wired for War or Peace?

This public lecture considers the empirical and theological aspects of the long- standing debate between Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau on the basic state of nature at the dawn of human origins: was it towards collective violence or peace? Work with primates highlights both violence and reconciliation tendencies among chimpanzees and bonobos. More organised violence in the form of warfare is only characteristic of human societies capable of symbolic representation. I will argue that any linear progression from hunting game to warfare is unlikely, and the role of religious belief is also equally complex. Theologians influenced by Augustine’s theory of just war and evolutionary anthropologists agree that perception of injustice triggers inter-group and intra-group violence. Anthropologists are normally hesitant about coming to any negative judgement about oppressors, but theologians have different tools that can be at the service of understanding the complex factors that lead to peace.

Be sure to watch the pre-recorded lecture for this live Q&A session. It can be found here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/humanities/departments/theology-and-religious-studies/news-and-events/firth.aspx

You will be sent the the link to the Microsoft Teams Q&A session to join, with the confirmation of your booking on Eventbrite.