Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty

by Roy F. Baumeister Ph.D., Aaron Beck (Foreword by)

Overview

Why is there evil, and what can scientific research tell us about the origins and persistence of evil behavior?

Considering evil from the unusual perspective of the perpetrator, Roy F. Baumeister asks, How do ordinary people find themselves beating their wives? Murdering rival gang members? Torturing political prisoners? Betraying their colleagues to the secret police? Why do cycles of revenge so often escalate?

Baumeister casts new light on these issues as he examines the gap between the victim's viewpoint and that of the perpetrator, and also the roots of evil behavior, from egotism and revenge to idealism and sadism. A fascinating study of one of humankind's oldest problems, Evil has profound implications for the way we conduct our lives and govern our society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805071658
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/19/1999
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	486,317
Product dimensions:	6.05(w) x 8.95(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Roy F. Baumeister, Ph.D., holds the E. B. Smith Professorship in Liberal Arts at Case Western Reserve University. Since receiving his doctorate in social psychology from Princeton University, he has received numerous fellowships and awards. He has published nearly 150 scientific works and is cited in numerous sources in the popular media. Baumeister has authored or co-authored a dozen other books, including Losing Control: How and Why Self-Regulation Fails and Meanings of Life. He lives on the shores of the Great Lakes.

Dr. Aaron T. Beck, M.D., the Father of Cognitive Therapy, is University Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, and President of The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy. He is the author and co-author of a dozen books and over 350 articles and chapters.

What People are Saying About This

Russell G. Green

Blending material from history, literature, philosophy, and anthropology, Baumeister has skillfully presented a picture of the nature of the evil that people do, a picture often at odds with popular and mythological ones. -- (Russell G. Geen, Curators Professor of Psychology,University of Missouri)

Brad J. Bushman

This is the most important work I have read on the nature of evil. -- (Brad J. Bushman, Iowa State University)

Craig Etcheson

I once met a man who commanded a squad that executed some 10,000 men, women, and children with axes and hoes. Today that man is a humble farmer. I have often wondered what he dreams. Baumeister helps us to see into the dreams of such perpetrators and, indeed, into our own darkest dreams. -- (Craig Etcheson, Ph.D.Manager, Cambodian Genocide Program, Yale University)

Editorial Reviews

...[A] worthy synthesis for both victims who want to know why and for policymakers who need to know what to do.

Scientific American

He challenges the view that drug use accounts for violence in America and explains how idealism and faith get corrupted into license to do evil.

Dallas Morning News

In this open-minded, provocative, unsettling inquiry into the causes of evil, Baumeister rejects the entrenched view that low self-esteem causes violence and aggression. On the contrary, he argues, violent or evil people tend to have highly favorable opinions of themselves, and cross the line to commit immoral, hurtful acts when they feel their egotism is threatened by others. Among the root causes of evil he identifies are ambition, desire for power or wealth, misplaced idealistic adherence to a creed or doctrine and sadistic pleasure. He applies this framework, with varying degrees of persuasiveness, to an analysis of diverse evils: murder, rape, street crime, war, petty cruelty, emotional abuse, wife beating, government repression, racial and ethnic hatreds. A social psychologist at Case Western Reserve University, Baumeister believes that evil grows and spreads when cultures stop restraining individuals' angry, violent impulses-a process abetted by desensitization, yearnings for revenge, group conformity and inadequate socialization or upbringing. His rewarding study challenges-and complements-traditional, religion-based views of evil with a humanistic perspective. Author tour. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

...[A] worthy synthesis for both victims who want to know why and for policymakers who need to know what to do.

Scientific American