The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty

An award-winning psychologist draws on years of research to unveil “a simple but persuasive hypothesis for a new way to think about evil” (New York Times).

How can we explain both cruelty and kindness? To award-winning psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, the explanation for cruelty is low levels of empathy, and the explanation for kindness is high levels of empathy. In The Science of Evil, Baron-Cohen draws on decades of research to develop a new, brain-based theory of human cruelty and kindne...