On Evil

Adam Morton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• eBook ISBN: 9781134406104
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

Evil has long fascinated psychologists, philosophers, novelists and playwrights but remains an incredibly difficult concept to talk about.
On Evil is a compelling and at times disturbing tour of the many faces of evil. What is evil, and what makes people do awful things? If we can explain evil, do we explain it away? Can we imagine the mind of a serial killer, or does such evil defy description? Does evil depend on a contrast with good, as religion tells us, or can there be evil for evil's sake?
Adam Morton argues that any account of evil must help us understand three things: why evil occurs; why evil often arises out of banal or everyday situations; and how we can be seen as evil. Drawing on fascinating examples as diverse as Augustine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, psychological studies of deviant behaviour and profiles of serial killers, Adam Morton argues that evil occurs when internal, mental barriers against it simply break down. He also introduces us to some nightmare people, such as Adolf Eichmann and Hannibal Lecter, reminding us that understanding their actions as humans brings us closer to understanding evil.
Exciting and thought-provoking, On Evil is essential reading for anyone interested in a topic that attracts and repels us in equal measure.

Index

acts: motivational patterns 54–5; see also evil acts

Adam and Eve 27

adultery 14–15

African wars 77

aggression/aggressiveness: inhibiting 42–3, 45; and violence 38–40, 49

American Psychiatric Association 47–8

amnesty: ancient Athens 121–2; Truth and Reconciliation Commission 120

anarchism 85

anger/rage 105, 130–1; retributive 77–8, 104–5

apartheid: South Africa 119–20, 126

Arendt, Hannah 59, 82, 125; on the banality of evil 8, 69, 80–1, 84; Eichmann in Jerusalem 80, 113–14

Argentina 122

Aristotle 55

Athens: amnesty in ancient times 121–2

atomic bomb 16, 61

atrocities 1–2, 13, 101; and blame 77–8; committed by states 78–84; and facing evil 104, 105, 135; and images of evil 31, 101–2; need for institutions to deal with 123–4, 133, 134–5; organizers of 79–80, 81, 121; strategies for ignoring 58; terrorism 84, 85, 90

Atta, Mohammed 67

Augustine, Aurelius 24–5

Auschwitz 81

autism 51–2

“axis of evil” 2

Baha’i faith 81

banality of evil 94; Arendt’s thesis 8, 69, 80–1, 84

barrier theory of evil 5, 34, 38, 53–9, 62, 65–6

barriers: overcome by evil-doers 73, 111–13; to our understanding of evil acts 19–20, 21–2; to setting up truth and reconciliation commission 124

behavior: continuities between normality and evil 4, 30; motivational patterns underlying evil 34; sociopaths 48; transitions between pacific and violent modes 38–44; variability 6

Bell, Mary 76

Bizot, François 102–3

Blade Runner (film) 65

Blair, Robert: theory of VIM mechanism 42, 49, 52

blame 21, 76–8, 83; see also self-blame

bombings: authorized by South African apartheid regime 121; terrorist 85, 86; in wars 84

Bosnia 17

Botha, P.W. (President of South Africa) 121

breaches of contract 14, 61

Britain 1, 79; see also United K...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Evil and Otherness One
• The Barrier Theory of Evil Two
• Nightmare People Three
• Facing Evil: Reconciliation Four
• Notes
• Index