Hi Davor,
I think we need to separate out two different versions of 'destruction'. The
root meaning of destruction is to "de - structure" or take apart an existing
structure. The Latin meant 'pulling down'. This can be good, bad, or
neutral. A missile that has gone astray is 'destructed' for everyone's
safety, for example.
But if we look at human 'destructiveness', we see "malignant aggression,
that is, cruelty and destructiveness, ... specific to the human species and
virtually absent in most mammels: it is not phylogenetically programmed and
not biologically adaptive; it has no purpose, and its satisfaction is
lustful." Erich Fromm, 'The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness'.
In my view we would be well advised to use the term 'destructiveness' when
the pathogenic form is meant, and keep 'destruction' as a relatively neutral
term.
Regards
John B
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