Seville Statement on Violence

The Seville Statement on Violence is a statement on violence that was adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain, on 16 May 1986. It was subsequently adopted by UNESCO at the twenty-fifth session of the General Conference on 16 November 1989. The statement, then known as a 'Statement on Violence', was designed to refute "the notion that organized human violence is biologically determined". [cite book |last=Suter |first=Keith |authorlink=Keith Suter |title=50 things you want to know about world issues... but were too afraid to ask |year=2005 |publisher=Transworld Publishers |location=Milson's Point, NSW, Australia |isbn=978-1-86325-503-5 ]

Core Ideas

The statement contains five core ideas. These ideas are:

#"It is scientifically incorrect to say that we have inherited a tendency to make war from our animal ancestors."
#"It is scientifically incorrect to say that war or any other violent behaviour is genetically programmed into our human nature."
#"It is scientifically incorrect to say that in the course of human evolution there has been a selection for aggressive behaviour more than for other kinds of behaviour."
#"It is scientifically incorrect to say that humans have a 'violent brain'."
#"It is scientifically incorrect to say that war is caused by 'instinct' or any single motivation."

The statement concludes: "Just as 'wars begin in the minds of men', peace also begins in our minds. The same species who invented war is capable of inventing peace. The responsibility lies with each of us."cite web |url=http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3247&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html |title=Seville Statement on Violence, Spain, 1986 |accessdate=2007-03-04 |format=HTML |work=EDUCATION- Non-Violence Education |publisher=UNESCO |language=English ]

Founding scientists

The following is a list of the scientists who founded the statement:

*flagicon|USA David Adams, Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, U.S.A.
*flagicon|Australia S.A. Barnett, Ethology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
*flagicon|USSR N.P. Bechtereva, Neurophysiology, Institute for Experimental Medicine of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Leningrad, U.S.S.R.
*flagicon|USA Bonnie Frank Carter, Psychology, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
*flagicon|Spain José M. Rodriguez Delgado, Neurophysiology, Centro de Estudios Neurobiológicos, Madrid, Spain
*flagicon|Mexico José Luis Díaz, Ethology, Instituto Mexicano de Psiquiatría, México D.F., Mexico
*flagicon|Poland Andrzej Eliasz, Individual Differences Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
*flagicon|Mexico Santiago Genovés, Biological Anthropology, Instituto de Estudios Antropológicos, México D.F., Mexico
*flagicon|USA Benson E. Ginsburg, Behavior Genetics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, U.S.A.
*flagicon|Germany Jo Groebel, Social Psychology, Erziehungswissenschaftliche Hochschule, Landau, Federal Republic of Germany
*flagicon|India Samir-Kumar Ghosh, Sociology, Indian Institute of Human Sciences, Calcutta, India
*flagicon|UK Robert Hinde, Animal Behaviour, Cambridge University, Cambridge, U.K.
*flagicon|Kenya Richard E. Leakey, Physical Anthropology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
*flagicon|Kuwait Taha H. Malasi, Psychiatry, Kuwait University, Kuwait
*flagicon|Spain J. Martín Ramírez, Psychobiology, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
*flagicon|Spain Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Biochemistry, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
*flagicon|Spain Diana L. Mendoza, Ethology, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
*flagicon|India Ashis Nandy, Political Psychology, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, India
*flagicon|USA John Paul Scott (geneticist), Animal Behaviour, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S.A.
*flagicon|Finland Riitta Wahlstrom, Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finlanda]

Criticism

The Seville Statement has been criticized as being an example of the moralistic fallacy. [ Davis, Bernard. The Moralistic Fallacy, "Nature", 1978 Mar 30. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11643452&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum] ] For example, some scientists believe both evolutionary psychology and neuropsychology suggest that human violence does indeed have biological roots. For example, see these online articles: [http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080130/full/451512a.html Human behaviour: Killer instincts] and [http://www.physorg.com/news121098401.html Brain rewards aggression much like it does sex, food, drugs] .

References

3. Adams, David (2005) [http://www.culture-of-peace.info/ssov-intro.html] Introduction to the Seville Statement on Violence

External links

* [http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3247&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Full text of the Seville Statement on Violence]