Hi Y'all,
Jim Clark wrote:
> The book I had read was indeed Baumeister's (1997, reprinted
> 1999) "Evil: Inside Human Cruelty and Violence" published by W.
> H. Freeman. A very interesting book.
Sorry to have been redundant about the citation in my previous post. Let me
however, provide some brief concerns regarding Baumeister's book.
In his book, he discusses the "myth of pure evil" which represents our view of
evil from primarily a victim perspective. He identifies the characteristics of
the myth and then hypothesizes four causes of evil. However, this represents
the first major problem with his book in that he often contradicts himself.
For example, he identifies the intentional infliction of harm as one aspect of
the myth of pure evil (the idea that perpetrators want to harm or intentionally
harm their victims) (p. 72). Yet, his opening definition of evil involves the
intentional harm of others (p.8). Another myth according to Baumeister is that
"evil characters are often marked by egotism" (p. 74), and yet, he then egotism
as one of his four root causes of evil.
Baumeister's most controversial and problematic hypothesis is that violence and
aggression are usually the result of "reciprocal, mutual grievances, and
provocations" (p. 91). In other words, according to Baumeister, the idea of an
innocent victim is principally an element of the myth of pure evil. However,
while reciprocal violence certainly occurs so do innocent victims.
Baumeister identifies four root causes of evil: evil as a means to an end -
greed, lust, and ambition; egotism and revenge; true believers and idealists.
He applies these root causes to occurrences of evil ranging from a mugging to
genocide. Clearly, this is too simplistic.
Baumeister draws on a variety of disciplines for source material such as
psychology, history, literature, and anthropology. While this should represent
a strength, for Baumeister, it does not. As stated previously he assumes that
the nature of evil underlying everyday occurrences of interpersonal harm to
torture and genocide exist on a single continuum. Thus, Watergate, the
Holocaust, and the shooting of Vietnamese prisoners are presented as evidence
in regards to a single hypothesis. A more damaging criticism, however, is that
while Baumeister presents a broad spectrum of information, it lacks depth,
accuracy, and analysis. Some of it is simply wrong. Much of his discussion
consists of anecdotes reframed to support his hypothesis. The Holocaust, for
example, is the most widely studied instance of genocide. Yet, Baumeister's
presentation is filled with historical misinterpretation and errors, often
citing highly controversial works as his source of evidence. Unfortunately, it
is clear that Baumeister only has a surface knowledge of some of the events he
is discussing. This raises questions about much of the historical evidence
that he presents.
Additionally, Baumeister argues for a moral subjectivism when addressing the
issue of evil. Interestingly, Baumeister discusses the atomic bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki as " a prototype of the benefit of evil for a good
cause" (p. 201). He fails to acknowledge the evidence that the Japanese,
including the Emperor, understood their imminent defeat and were making
repeated attempts at surrender in the months prior to the dropping of the
bombs. Baumeister's own arguments (for example, in relation to the magnitude
gap) can be used to explain his apparent lack of understanding in regards to
the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Baumeister also operates from a ethnocentric bias. For example, he presents
the belief that democracy is synonymous with freedom and human rights. He also
assumes a universal definition of evil. This lens tends to distort and limit
many of his conclusions.
Finally, any comprehensive analysis of evil, mass violence, and genocide is
incomplete without an inclusion of such subjects as nationalism, cultural
definitions of evil, an analysis/impact of bystander behavior , the impact of
evil and genocide on survivors, the impact of political/economic crisis,
scarcity, historical patterns of behavior and cultural values, and rescuers.
However, these are largely omitted.
In summary, the text is simplistic and often historically inaccurate.
On the plus side, Baumeister presents a very good discussion of individualistic
and group factors that can lead to an escalation of violence on the part of a
perpetrator. Reflecting his expertise as a social psychologist, the discussion
of self-control may represent Baumeister's greatest contribution to the
literature regarding evil.
For those who want to read more about the psychosocial roots of large scale
violence I genocide I would recommend the following. I would particularly
recommend the book by Erwin Staub although their are facets of genocide that he
omits. His theory only applies to certain genocides but clearly not all. I'll
leave the analysis for a different post :-)
Chalk, F., & Jonassoh, K. (1990). The history and sociology of genocide:
Analyses and case studies. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Dobkowski, M., & Wallimann, I. (1998). The coming age of scarcity: Preventing
mass death and genocide in the Twenty-first century. Syracuse: Syracuse
University Press.
Rummel, R. (1996) Death by Government. New Brusnwick, New Jersey: Transaction
Publishers.
Staub, E. (1989). The roots of evil: The origins of genocide and other group
violence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Strozier, C., & Flynn, M. (Eds.)(1998). Genocide, war, and human survival.
Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Totten, S., Parsons, W., & Charny, I. (1997). Century of genocide: Eyewitness
accounts and critical views. New York: Garland Publishing.
Wallimann, I. & Dobkowski, M. (Eds.) (1987) Genocide and the modern age:
Etiology and case studies of mass death. New York: Greenwood Press.
Warm regards,
linda
--
linda m. woolf, ph.d.
associate professor - psychology
webster university
main webpage: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/
Holocaust and genocide studies pages:
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/holocaust.html
womens' pages: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/women.html
gerontology pages: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/gero.html
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
