THE DAIMONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE MALEVOLENT PERSONALITY

This paper examines the reluctance of the behavioral sciences to tackl e the problem of evil. Whereas each of us as private citizens can atte st to the calamitous presence of malevolence in our daily lives, the p oint of view I take in this paper is that as behavioral scientists mos t of us have acted as if the problem of evil could be safely ignored o r the character structure of the perpetrators of heinous actions could be reduced to known and well-understood psychiatric disorders. This p sychological denial and reductionism have not well served our mandate to provide meaningful explanations and solutions of social problems fo r the public. If the behavioral sciences are to have a relevant role i n contemporary society, the problem of evil-perhaps the most important issue humankind has ever faced-must be meaningfully reexamined. This paper serves as an effort in this direction.