The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch | Reprint Edition

Compare Textbook Prices for The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch Reprint Edition ISBN 9780143108054 by Gottschall, Jonathan
Author: Gottschall, Jonathan
ISBN:0143108050
ISBN-13: 9780143108054
List Price: $15.28 (up to 81% savings)
Prices shown are the lowest from
the top textbook retailers.

View all Prices by Retailer

Details about The Professor in the Cage: Why Men Fight and Why We Like to Watch:

An English professor begins training in the sport of mixed martial arts and explores the science and history behind the violence of men When a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym moves in across the street from his office, Jonathan Gottschall sees a challenge, and an opportunity. Pushing forty, out of shape, and disenchanted with his job as an adjunct English professor, part of him yearns to cross the street and join up. The other part is terrified. Gottschall eventually works up his nerve, and starts training for a real cage fight. He’s fighting not only as a personal test but also to answer questions that have intrigued him for years: Why do men fight? And why do so many seemingly decent people like to watch? In The Professor in the Cage, Gottschall’s unlikely journey from the college classroom to the fighting cage drives an important new investigation into the science and history of violence. Mixed martial arts is a full-contact hybrid sport in which fighters punch, choke, and kick each other into submission. MMA requires intense strength, endurance, and skill; the fights are bloody, brutal, and dangerous. Yet throughout the last decade, cage fighting has evolved from a small-time fringe spectacle banned in many states to the fastest-growing spectator sport in America. But the surging popularity of MMA, far from being new, is just one more example of our species’ insatiable interest not just in violence but in the rituals that keep violence contained. From duels to football to the roughhousing of children, humans are masters of what Gottschall calls the monkey dance: a dizzying variety of rule-bound contests that establish hierarchies while minimizing risk and social disorder. In short, Gottschall entered the cage to learn about the violence in men, but learned instead how men keep violence in check. Gottschall endures extremes of pain, occasional humiliation, and the incredulity of his wife to take us into the heart of fighting culture—culminating, after almost two years of grueling training, in his own cage fight. Gottschall’s unsparing personal journey crystallizes in his epiphany, and ours, that taming male violence through ritualized combat has been a hidden key to the success of the human race. Without the restraining codes of the monkey dance, the world would be a much more chaotic and dangerous place.

Need a Sociology tutor? View profile below:
Mary V.
(0 reviews)
Education: New York NY
Major: Skilled Tutor in Sociology, Writing, Reading

Learning is about awakening curiosity, engagement, and creativity. There are many areas I love helping students in include Sociology, Writing, Reading, and Social Studies.... Read more

Learning is about awakening curiosity, engagement, and creativity. There are many areas I love helping students in include Sociology, Writing, Reading, and Social Studies.... Read more

Need Sociology course notes? Start your search below: