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After reviewing historical occurrences of violence, an attempt is made to define violence, excluding metaphorical uses to restrict its proper usage to instances in which human responsibility is involved. The assessment of violence depends largely on how its relationship to human nature is conceived: if, as in Thomas Hobbes, Charles Darwin, & much of Western thought, violence is considered to be rooted in human nature, not much can be done to eradicate it except through repressive social structures. If, on the other hand, violence, in opposition to much Western thinking in philosophy, economics, & politics, consists essentially in deviations from the requirements of human nature, the pursuit of human realization can only be predicated on a gradual eradication of violence through heightened consciousness & education. AA