Humanism Now | Secular Ethics, Curiosity and Compassionate Change 48. David Livingstone Smith on the Psychology of Dehumanization - Roots, Rhetoric, Myths and How to Resist It
“The arc of history bends towards justice only if you keep pushing it in that direction.”
David Livingstone-Smith, Ph.D., award-winning author, Professor of Philosophy at the University of New England and a leading authority on dehumanization joins us to unpack how ordinary people come to see others as “less than human,” why that shift makes atrocities feel morally necessary, and what practical tools can help us resist it.
His books include Less Than Human (Anisfield-Wolf Award), On Inhumanity (OUP), and Making Monsters (HUP; Joseph B. Gittler Award; Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize shortlist).
Connect with David Livingstone-Smith
- Website – https://www.davidlivingstonesmith.com
- Newsletter – https://davidlivingstonesmith.substack.com/
- University profile – https://www.une.edu/people/david-livingstone-smith
- Media – https://www.davidlivingstonesmith.com/media
Topics we cover
- What dehumanization is: conceiving others as subhuman creatures or monsters
- How we hold contradictory beliefs (human and subhuman) at the same time
- The role of epistemic authority, leaders, “experts” and propaganda, in spreading dehumanization
- Why racialization often precedes full dehumanization
- Moral framing of mass violence as “self-defence” against monsters
- Economic insecurity and social fear as fertile ground for dehumanizing narratives
- Psychological self-defense: recognizing our manipulability
- What actually helps: honest historical education, dismantling racial thinking, and a robust press
Resources & further reading
- Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others (2011) – https://www.davidlivingstonesmith.com/project-09
- On Inhumanity: Dehumanization and How to Resist It (2020) – https://www.davidlivingstonesmith.com/on-inhumanity
- Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization (2021) – https://www.davidlivingstonesmith.com/making-monsters
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Music: Blossom by Light Prism