In this thoughtful exploration of a painful subject, Kathleen Taylor seeks to bring together the fruits of work in psychology, sociology, and her own field of neuroscience to shed light on the nature of cruelty and what makes human beings cruel. The question of cruelty is inevitably tied to
questions of moral philosophy, the nature of evil, free will and responsibility. Taylor's approach is ambitious, but little work has been done in this area and this wide-ranging discussion, considering the roles of emotion, belief, identity and 'otherizing'; evolved instincts and differences in
brains; callousness and sadism; seeks to begin to identify how we might reduce or limit cruelty in our societies by a greater understanding of its causes, and the circumstances in which it can grow.
As with her highly regarded previous book, Brainwashing, Taylor draws in examples from
history and literature in her study, making this a rich and multifaceted analysis that should be of interest to a wide readership, and provoke much thought, debate, and further research.
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction - Cruelty in Context
1. What is cruelty?
2. Quis judicat? Who decides?
3. Why does cruelty exist?
4. How do we come to act?
5. How do we come to feel?
6. How do we come to believe?
7. Why are we callous?
8. Why
does sadism exist?
9. Can we stop being cruel?
Bibliography
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Kathleen Taylor studied physiology and philosophy at Oxford University. She went on to do a research MSc at Stirling University, working on brain chemistry, before returning to Oxford to do a DPhil in neuroscience. She has written on a range of topics, from consciousness to the psychology of
wartime atrocities. In 2002 she won two writing competitions, one for science writing and one for an essay in the humanities/social sciences.
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