A definitive work on the human condition, with a foreword by Templeton Prize winning biologist Charles Birch. The book addresses the crux issue of the human condition, our capacity for good and evil, describing how humans have coped with the dilemma by living in denial of it. It then explains the biological reason for the human condition, ending the denial and maturing humanity to psychological freedom. Examines science, religion, politics, psychiatry, mythology, men and women. REVIEWS: 'Jeremy's is a superb book, it brings out the truth of a new and wider frontier for humankind, a forward view of a world of humans no longer in naked competition amongst ourselves and with all others.' John Morton, Emeritus Professor of Zoology, Auckland University 'A breakthrough in understanding the human condition.' Dr John H Champness, Australian psychologist and educator 'Jeremy Griffith is the latest and one of the most challenging thinkers [his book] goes against so much of the resigned don't-rock-the-boat attitude of the Western mind There are not many books offering as much. It offers so many insights into our divided selves.' Ronald Conway OAM, distinguished Australian psychologist Australian Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Analysis, Jan-Feb 2004 Why are we the way we are? Why do we do things we know we ought not to do? What do we really mean by 'original sin'? Can science explain our contradictory nature? Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species connected humans with nature, but since then biology has been stalled, unable to address the dilemma of the human condition our capacity for good and evil. If the universally accepted moral ideal is to be co-operative, loving and selfless, why are we humans so competitive, aggressive and selfish? Ignorance about ourselves, about why we behave the way we do, has been an immense affliction. In fact, without being able to understand and to reconcile our contradictory behaviour, we have had little choice but to block out the whole depressing subject and live in a state of denial. In A SPECIES IN DENIAL biologist Jeremy Griffith argues that only by understanding why we have become less than ideally behaved can we at last safely face the truth about our condition and learn to live in full harmony with ourselves and with others. The 'truth sets us free', but it had to be the whole truth that explains rather than criticises us. Griffith suggests that in fact there is a biological explanation for why humans are angry, egocentric and alienated. Human 'sin' or 'upset' as he terms it, has been a necessary and unavoidable stage in our upward evolutionary development. Life isn't driven by a competitive model of 'survival of the fittest', but rather by a drive towards greater co-operativeness and integration. With the accumulated knowledge of science we can finally understand how, despite appearances, we have been a part of this process, and it is this liberating insight which finally brings about the maturity of the human race. Divided into four essays A SPECIES IN DENIAL sets out Griffith's definitive treatise on the human condition: Deciphering Plato's Cave Allegory an explanation of how a biological understanding of the human condition can liberate humanity from its 'cave-like' state of denial. Resignation looks at the most important psychological event in human life. If humans are living in a state of deep psychological denial then the question arises, are we born with this denial, and if not, when and how do we adopt it? This essay explains how adolescents begin trying to understand the dilemma of the human condition. However, with humanity unable until now to explain this deepest of issues, young people eventually learn they have no choice but to resign themselves to a life of denial. Bringing Peace to the War between the Sexes and the Denial-Free History of the Human Race some of the deepest wounds in human life have been caused by the lack of understanding in the relationship between men and women. The bitterness, heartache, suffering and the damage to children has been immense. By understanding the human condition, it is now possible to answer these questions and bring peace to the 'war' between the sexes and give a true account of human history. The Demystification of Religion a powerful demonstration of how understanding the human condition and the phenomenon of resignation demystifies previously impenetrable aspects of human life, in particular, the world of religious metaphysics and dogma. AUTHOR: JEREMY GRIFFITH, BSc, was raised on a sheep station in central New South Wales, educated at Geelong Grammar School in Victoria and later graduated in biology from Sydney University. He spent six years in the wilds of Tasmania where he undertook the most thorough investigation ever into the plight of the Tasmanian Tiger, concluding that it was extinct. During this time, aged 27, Jeremy shifted his exploratory focus to humanity, which has remained his life objective for the last 30 years. He started writing about the human condition in 1975, established the Foundation for Humanity's Adulthood in 1983, published his first book, Free: The End of the Human Condition in 1988 and his second book, Beyond the Human Condition in 1991. The Foundation is a registered charity committed to promoting this new frontier of thinking. World-renowned mountaineer and twice-honoured recipient of the Order of Australia Tim Macartney-Snape AM is also a Director.