Mutual Aid A Factor Of Evolution

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a book by Pyotr Kropotkin. It delves into modern liberal social theory, expanding on the theorem that says that the most practical human and animal populations are essentially cooperative, rather than competitive.

“Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution” is a 1902 collection of essays by Russian naturalist and anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin. Originally published in “The Nineteenth Century” from 1890 to 1896, the essays examine mutually-beneficial cooperation and reciprocity in both animal and human societies. Contents include: “Mutual Aid Among Animals”, “Mutual Aid Among Animals (continued)”, “Mutual Aid Among Savages”, “Mutual Aid Among The Barbarians”, “Mutual Aid In The Mediaeval City”, “Mutual Aid In The Mediaeval City (continued)”, etc. Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (1842–1921) was a Russian writer, activist, revolutionary, economist, scientist, sociologist, essayist, historian, researcher, political scientist, geographer, geographer, biologist, philosopher and advocate of anarcho-communism. He was a prolific writer, producing a large number of pamphlets and articles, the most notable being “The Conquest of Bread and Fields, Factories and Workshops” and “Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution”. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an excerpt from “Comrade Kropotkin” by Victor Robinson.

A pioneering treatise on cooperation and reciprocity, from the great anarchist thinker 'Don't compete! - competition is always injurious to the species, and you have plenty of resources to avoid it!' In his pioneering 1902 treatise on human cooperation, the anarchist thinker and natural scientist Peter Kropotkin argued that it is our innate instinct for mutual aid - rather than mutual struggle - which enables societies to survive and flourish. From the earliest days of evolution through to medieval guilds, indigenous nomads and modern voluntary organisations, Kropotkin's vision of small-scale, ecologically sustainable, collective communities challenged the orthodoxies of his age, whether individualism or Marxism. Mutual Aid offers instead a radical, and prescient, rewriting of the whole of human history. With an introduction by David Priestland

In Mutual Aid, which was first published in 1903, the renowned geographer applies his explorations of Eastern Asia and his study of wild-animal behaviour to a critical examination of the theory of evolution. His arguments anticipate in a remarkable way the contention of contemporary ecologists that the world of nature is one of interdependence rather than strife. Born in 1942 into an ancient military family of Russian princes, Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin was selected as a child for the elite Corps of Pages by Czar Nicholas I himself. Shortly before his death in 1921, Kropotkin had moved so far from his aristocratic beginnings and had attained such stature as a libertarian leader that he could with with impunity to Lenin, "e;Vladimir Ilyich, your actions are completely unworthy of the ideas you pretend to hold."e; Kropotkin provides a potent argument for anarchism by showing that people tend to cooperate spontaneously and that the state destroys this natural inclination towards mutual aid by strangling initiative with the dead hand of regulation. With the exception of his memoirs, this is Kropotkin's best-known work, and it is widely regarded as his masterpiece. It forms the cornerstone of his philosophy, and constitutes the most successful attempt by any writer to put anarchism on a scientific foundation. Mutual Aid is still the best refutation of the Darwinian thesis of survival of the fittest.

Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution is a book written by Peter Kropotkin and originally published as a series of articles in a British literary magazine. Kropotkin was a well-known zoologist, evolutionary theorist, and communist, and his ideas often challenged those of Charles Darwin. Mutual Aid is Kropotkin's examination of mutual aid, a theory of social organization that championed cooperation and reciprocation between members of a species for the betterment of the group. Kropotkin's view challenged the beliefs of Social Darwinists, who believed competition between members of a species inherently promoted evolution and survival of the group. Kropotkin begins his book with an examination of mutual aid in the animal kingdom, where he includes examples of ants, bees, birds, large cats, wolves, and more. Kropotkin continues with a discussion of mutual aid in human societies, examining both ancient civilizations as well as modern humans. The book concludes with an appendix and detailed index. Kropotkin's work is a fascinating read and presents a theory every bit as worthy of consideration as Darwinism. The author does not deny the importance of competition in the advancement of a species, but rather argues that cooperation and mutual aid have been underappreciated aspects of man's proliferation on Earth. Kropotkin argues for the local production of food and the self-sufficiency of nations - principals that many Westerners of the twenty-first century advocate for as well. Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution presents an important and often under considered theory on the development of species. Whether you sympathize with his viewpoints or not, Kropotkin was certainly a brilliant man, and one that deserves to be widely read. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

In Mutual Aid, Peter Kropotkin attacks the use of Darwinism as a social theory, arguing that cooperation is as important as competition. Examining animals, indigenous societies, medieval cities, and the modern era, Kropotkin demonstrates the importance of cooperation to evolution and survival. This Dialectics edition includes Kropotkin's extensive notes. Each note is placed as a footnote at the bottom of the page in which it appears. Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) was born a Russian prince, but abandoned his title at the age of twelve. He escaped from his first imprisonment and lived the bulk of his life in exile. Though he was a skilled geographer, he is most known for being an important theorist of anarchism and anarchist communism.