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Dr Kathleen TaylorResearcher and science writeraffiliated to the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics,University of Oxford. To email me click here. |
Find Cruelty on Amazon.co.uk |
Find Cruelty on Amazon.com |
How is it that some people can be exceptionally cruel, even to the extent of torturing and murdering a lover, friend, or innocent child? I predicted while I was writing Cruelty that it would divide opinion; it certainly has. You can make up your own mind here.
| Summary | Reviews | Sample text | Internet (websites, blogging, podcasting) | Talks and other media | Citation |
Cruelty: human evil and the human brain
Oxford University Press, 2009
Cruelty on the Internet
- Read more about Cruelty on the OUP blog.
- Read my Psychology Today blog Science and Cruelty. Or you may like to check out the Psychology Today website.
- Listen to a podcast interview for Psychjourney (April 2009) here. You can find more about Psychjourney at the Psychjourney Podcast Blog and the Warrior Traditions Blog.
- See online reviews of the book.
- Go to the publisher's website: OUP USA, or OUP UK.
- Find the book on Amazon.com or on Amazon.co.uk
Talks and Radio
- I spoke about Cruelty at the Words by the Water festival (28 February 2009) and am due to speak in Nottingham (6 July 2009) and at the Edinburgh Book Festival (31 August 2009).
- I spoke about Cruelty on the BBC World Service programme The Forum (5 April 2009), on BBC Radio Three's Night Waves (25 February 2009) and on BBC Radio Four's Leading Edge (26 Februrary 2009).
Summary
Human beings can be gentle and loving creatures, but we can also be extremely cruel. History suggests we always have been; recent horrors confirm that we still are. The twentieth century, which gave us remarkable advances in science and public health, also brought vicious conflicts which killed millions of soldiers and millions more innocent civilians. In the twenty-first century we seem no nearer to eliminating the scourge of cruelty. From domestic violence to the atrocities of warfare, innocents continue to suffer and die because other people want them to. Why? What makes us cruel, and can we do anything about it?
Cruelty is at the heart of human harm doing, but cruelty per se is a neglected topic compared with violence, genocide, sexual abuse etc. Yet what unites all these forms of harm doing is the deliberate choice to hurt and kill. In Cruelty, I consider that choice, examining the factors which influence a perpetrator's decision to be cruel. Drawing on the latest research from psychology and neuroscience, I explore cruelty as a scientific phenomenon, setting it in the context of human evolution and current understanding of brain function. Noting the moral context of cruelty, I describe the beliefs and emotions which can lead normally decent and law-abiding people to commit shocking acts of mutilation and murder.
Reviews
- "clear and wide-ranging ... readable and comprehensive" (Julian Baggini in the Financial Times)
- "an excellent work ... absorbing and thought-provoking ... a copy should be given to every politician elected to Parliament" (Times Higher Education)
- "wise and timely" (Steven Rose in the Guardian)
- "thoroughly researched, open-minded and humble" (The Catholic Register)
- "at once profoundly original, thoroughly insightful, rigorously developed, and deeply disturbing. This is a work of fundamental importance that should be widely read" (James A. Moses Jr. in the American Psychological Association's PsycCritiques) review series)
- "Hopefully, Cruelty, with Taylor's timely highlighting of the topic, will encourage fresh thought on an issue that continues to be central to human existence" (Science)
Sample Text
To read an excerpt from Cruelty, click here.
Citation
Taylor, K. (2009), Cruelty: human evil and the human brain. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
