Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature

Description

You don’t consider yourself evil, do you? Of course not! No one does. And yet, the world is full of violence and suffering. We hear the stories in the news. We see the images online. We know too well how bad things can be, but if we’re sure of anything, we’re sure that we’re not like those who do evil. But what makes us so sure? It’s an uncomfortable question, but how different are we, really? Is it possible that we actually share something in common with those who’ve done the worst humanity has to offer? After all, we’re all human. Aren’t we? Professor Biography......Page 3 Table of Contents......Page 5 Course Scope......Page 7 Lecture 1— What Do We Mean by the “Dark Side”?......Page 8 The Invisibility Ring......Page 9 “The Man in the Well”......Page 10 This Course’s Approach......Page 11 Lecture 2— Our Fundamental Nature: Good or Evil?......Page 13 Mencius’s Thinking......Page 14 Xunzi’s Thinking......Page 16 Mencius in Depth......Page 17 Gaozi in Depth......Page 18 Individualism in Depth......Page 19 Lecture 3— What Is Evil?......Page 21 The Ontology of Evil......Page 22 The Conceptual Analysis of Evil......Page 23 Thought Experiments......Page 24 Objections to the Russell Case......Page 26 Conclusion......Page 28 Lecture 4— Moral Monsters and Evil Personhood......Page 29 The Dispositional Model......Page 30 The Affect Model......Page 32 The Moral Monster Model......Page 33 Conclusion......Page 34 Lecture 5— Evil and Responsibility......Page 36 Psychopathy, Responsibility, and Evil......Page 37 Psychopathy and Morality......Page 38 Legal Insanity, Responsibility, and Evil......Page 39 Psychopathy and Cruelty......Page 41 Active and Passive Members of a Moral Community......Page 42 Lecture 6— Sin: Original and Otherwise......Page 44 Sin in the Christian Tradition......Page 45 Thomas Aquinas and Augustine......Page 46 Explaining Original Sin......Page 47 The Buddhist Conception of Sin......Page 49 Lecture 7— Dark Thoughts and Desires......Page 51 Intrusive and Murderous Thoughts......Page 52 Considering Dark Thoughts......Page 53 The Buddha......Page 54 Tiantai Thoughts......Page 56 Lecture 8— Suffering and Its Causes......Page 58 The Nature of Suffering......Page 59 Craving and Suffering......Page 60 The Truth of Suffering......Page 61 Lecture 9— The Problem of Expectation and Desire......Page 63 The Disciplined Way of Action......Page 64 The Necessity of Desire......Page 65 Flow Experiences......Page 66 A Life of Flow?......Page 67 Lecture 10— The Fear of Death......Page 68 Zhuangzi on Death......Page 69 Lucretius on Death......Page 70 Postmortem and Prenatal Nonexistence......Page 71 The Fear of Death......Page 72 Immortality......Page 73 Lecture 11— Existential Anxiety and the Courage to Be......Page 75 Albert Camus and the Myth of Sisyphus......Page 76 Thomas Nagel on the Absurd......Page 77 Tillich on the Courage to Be......Page 78 Lecture 12— The Goodness of Grief......Page 80 Seneca on Grief......Page 81 Seneca’s Arguments......Page 82 The Absence of Grief......Page 83 Zhuangzi on Grief......Page 84 Lecture 13— Homo necans: Why Do We Kill?......Page 87 Psychopaths, War, and Biology......Page 88 Paul Bloom versus Adrian Raine......Page 89 David Buss on Killing......Page 90 Situationism......Page 91 Situationism in Practice......Page 92 Conclusion: The Bodhisattva Example......Page 93 Lecture 14— Nightmares and the Dream Self......Page 95 Freud on Dreams......Page 96 Daniel Wegner on Freud......Page 97 Immoral Dreams......Page 99 Lecture 15— Varieties of Self-Deception......Page 102 Modifying the Traditional Model......Page 103 The Revisionist Models......Page 104 The Evolution of Self-Deception......Page 106 Conclusion......Page 107 Lecture 16— Varieties of Ignorance......Page 109 Shankara’s Theory of Maya......Page 110 Ramanuja on Shankara......Page 111 Ramanuja and Shankara’s Views......Page 112 The Roots of Ignorance......Page 113 Counteracting Injustice......Page 114 Lecture 17— Weakness of Will......Page 116 Aristotle on Weakness of Will......Page 117 Donald Davidson on Weakness of Will......Page 118 Holton on the Ordinary Sense of Weakness of Will......Page 120 Conclusion......Page 121 Lecture 18— Luck and the Limits of Blame......Page 122 Other Types of Luck......Page 123 Moral Luck and Moral Difference......Page 124 Moral Record and Moral Worth......Page 126 The Victim’s Perspective......Page 127 Lecture 19— Victim Blaming and the Just-World Hypothesis......Page 130 The Psychology of Victim Blaming......Page 131 Retributive Karma and Victim-Blaming......Page 132 A Medical Analogy......Page 134 Thich Nhat Hanh on Blame......Page 135 Conclusion......Page 136 Lecture 20— Retribution and Revenge......Page 137 The Retributive Urge......Page 138 Institutionalized Cultures and Honor Cultures......Page 139 Vengeance in the Oresteia......Page 140 Just Revenge......Page 141 Laura Blumenfeld......Page 142 Lecture 21— Forgiveness and Redemption......Page 144 Forgiveness......Page 145 Moral Obligations......Page 146 Spiritual Redemption......Page 147 Moral Redemption......Page 148 Lecture 22— The Elimination of Anger......Page 150 What Is Anger?......Page 151 The Elimination View......Page 152 The Moderation View......Page 153 Anger as Motivation......Page 154 The Humanity-Affirmation Argument......Page 155 Lecture 23— Being Peaceful in a Troubled World......Page 157 The Pacifist’s Challenge......Page 158 Reframing Confrontation......Page 159 Lecture 24— The Allure of the Dark Side......Page 162 The Story of Leontius......Page 163 The Paradox of Horror......Page 164 Motivations......Page 165 Real Horror......Page 166 Conclusion......Page 167 Bibliography......Page 169 Image Credits......Page 184