1. Characteristics of Evil
Wrongdoing
Harm
Motivation
Affect (Emotion)
Responsibility (lack thereof)
Lack of Empathy ?
The true face of evil?

2. Evil & Religion
Devil = “Opposer” or adversary of God
Christian mythos – Satan had opposed God and was thrown out of heaven (John Milton’s Paradise Lost)
Promotes evil in world
Evil is defined through good → its opposite
TWO ideas from opposite concept:
1. Evil & Good are locked in a battle – Good will eventually prevail

3. Evil is often seen as equal to good
Leads to question of whether human nature is good or evil
2. Creates hostilities between groups (nations, ethnic groups, social units, etc.)
“we are good, you are the opponent, the opposite of good is evil, therefore YOU are EVIL
Our enemies have “made a pact with Satan”

4. Evil at the movies
The Villain!
Staple of horror movies
2 periods
Supernatural – vampires, werewolves, etc
Humans
Madman who kills for little apparent reason
Authorities have difficulty
Women are victimized
Hero fights back and prevails
Action movie villains
Motivated by greed, money, power
Sadistic, egotistical

5. Evil in Pop Culture (literature, cartoons, etc)
Common characteristics
No reasons for aggression, attacks
Sadistic
Wishes, desires are not fully explained
Evil creates chaos
Destroy beauty
Good guys fight back in self-defense
Evil people speak in foreign accents
Evil people use torture, mind control
Take away freedom
Little emotional control

6. Pure Evil 1. Involves intentional infliction of harm
2. Driven by wish to harm for pleasure
People describe their misfortunes by others as having no reason, while they make up stories to rationalize what they do to others
Distortion of other’s actions
3. Victims are good
All responsibility is on the evil-doer, victim is innocent

7. 4. Evil is a part of the “outsider” group, enemy
Exist only in relation to good (us)
Bad guys look different & speak differently
5. Evil has been evil since beginning of time
Steady, relentless
6. Evil represents opposite of order, peace, & stability
Disrupts normalcy
7. Evil is characterized by ego
Excessive pride
8. Cannot control anger & rage
Impulsive despite its portrayal as cool & calculating

8. Is There Pure Evil? REALLY?????
The Myth
Criminals are evil
Drugs cause evil behavior
The “enemies” are evil for its own sake
Victims are innocent
Evil has earned whatever consequences come their way
Good guys use violence for a greater cause
Reciprocal Causality of Violence
Both Good & Evil use violence
Difference: Good use it to punish LAWFULLY
Evil use it maliciously, arbitrarily, sadistically to hurt innocents
REALLY?????

9. Police responding to call of domestic violence
Examples
Police responding to call of domestic violence
Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor
Terrorism
Asymmetric warfare
Belief they are fighting the righteous battle against the oppressor!
Myth of Pure Evil allows people to justify violence & oppressive actions
Allows evil to masquerade as good!
Roy F. Baumeister

10. Four Root Causes of Evil
Means to an End
To get what they want
Money, stuff, etc
Violence is an ineffective way to achieve this end
Perpetrators do not appreciate this fact  because they are evil

11. 2. Threatened Egotism
When our self-image is attacked
Evil people have high opinion of oneself
Key factor  how stable is the self-esteem
Narcissism  extreme self-centeredness
High, but unstable self-esteem mixed with narcissism creates a likelihood of lashing out aggressively against those who threaten one’s ego

12. 3. Idealism
BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
Violence is a necessity to combat evil
Stalin, Mao, Khmer Rouge, al-Qaeda, United States?
“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”
- don’t know who said it originally, but I have said it a LOT

13. Sadism: Evil because it is fun