Why Do We Kill? A Review of Past and Current Theories on the Nature of Murder

Research indicates that humans have been killing one another since the evolution of our species and some theorists suggest that interpersonal violence and murder may be components of human nature, evolved for the purpose of reproductive fitness. Evolutionary psychologist David Buss claims that not only is the human race biologically predisposed to murderous behavior, but the tendency to think about killing other individuals is a function of adaptive problem-solving. Critics argue that human behaviors are produced by adaptations to our environment rather than by functions leftover from the Pleistocene. The purpose of this paper is to investigate Buss’s research and alternative theories in order to explain why some individuals among us go as far as to murder another individual despite the known consequences of doing so. It is concluded that murder is an evolutionary function of human nature that resides in us all but is regulated by a combination of innate self-restraint and social learning behavior