Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins

Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins
AuthorKonrad Lorenz
Original titleDie acht Todsünden der zivilisierten Menschheit
TranslatorMarjorie Kerr Wilson
LanguageGerman
PublisherPiper Verlag
Publication date
1973
Publication placeGermany
Published in English
1974
Pages157

Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins (German: Die acht Todsünden der zivilisierten Menschheit) is a book by the Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz. It is about major threats against humans that Lorenz sees in ingoing disregards of nature and in new and emerging technologies. The material originated as six lectures Lorenz held for Bayerischer Rundfunk in 1970, before a revised version was published as a book in 1973.[1][2]

The eight threats Lorenz warns about are:[3]

  1. Overpopulation
  2. Crimes against nature
  3. Obsessive technological development
  4. Emotional atrophy
  5. Genetic decay
  6. Ruptured traditions
  7. Indoctrination
  8. Nuclear weaponry
  1. ^ Kalikow, Theo J. (1978). "Book Reviews : Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins. By Konrad Lorenz. Trans. Marjorie Kerr Wilson. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1974. Pp. xiii + 107, $4.95". Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 8 (1): 99–101. doi:10.1177/004839317800800110.
  2. ^ Wynne-Edwards, Vero (1975). "Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins, by Konrad Lorenz. Translated by Marjorie Latze. Methuen, £1.60". Oryx. 13 (1): 85–86. doi:10.1017/S0030605300013090.
  3. ^ "Civilized Man's Eight Deadly Sins". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 21 April 2024.