Andrew Lobaczewski - Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

which our nostalgia for homey, familiar human concepts can be

no match. We must step beyond this world of everyday, illu-

sory thinking for our own good and for the good of our loved

ones.

The social sciences have already elaborated their own con-

ventional language which mediates between the ordinary man’s

view and a fully objective naturalistic view. It is useful to sci-

entists in terms of communication and cooperation, but it is still

not the kind of conceptual structure which can fully take into

account the biological, psychological, and pathological prem-

ises at issue in the second and fourth chapters of this book. In

the social sciences, the conventional terminology eliminates

critical standards and puts ethics on ice; in the political sci-

ences, it leads to an underrated evaluation of factors which

describe the essence of political situations when evil is at the

core.

This social science language left the author and other inves-

tigators feeling helpless and scientifically stranded early in our

research on the mysterious nature of this inhuman historical

phenomenon which engulfed our nation, and still fires his at-

tempts to reach an objective understanding of it. Ultimately, I

had no choice but to resort to objective biological, psychologi-

cal, and psychopathological terminology in order to bring into

focus the true nature of the phenomenon, the heart of matter.

The nature of the phenomena under investigation as well as

the needs of readers, particularly those unfamiliar with psycho-

pathology, dictate the descriptive manner which must first in-

troduce the data and concepts necessary for further comprehen-

42

INTRODUCTION

sion of psychologically and morally pathological occurrences.

We shall thus begin with human personality questions, inten-

tionally formulated in such a way as to coincide largely with

the experience of a practicing psychologist, passing then to

selected questions of societal psychology. In the “ponerology”

chapter, we shall familiarize ourselves with how evil is born

with regard to each social scale, emphasizing the actual role of

some psychopathological phenomena in the process of ponero-

genesis. This will facilitate the transition from natural language

to the necessary objective language of naturalistic, psychologi-

cal, and statistical science to the extent that is necessary and

sufficient. Hopefully, it will not be irksome for readers to dis-

cuss these matters in clinical terms.

In the author’s opinion, Ponerology reveals itself to be a

new branch of science born out of historical need and the most

recent accomplishments of medicine and psychology. In the

light of objective naturalistic language, it studies the causal

components and processes of the genesis of evil, regardless of

the latter’s social scope. We may attempt to analyze these pon-

erogenic processes which have given rise to human injustice,

armed with proper knowledge, particularly in the area of psy-

chopathology. Again and again, as the reader will discover, in

such a study, we meet with the effects of pathological factors

whose carriers are people characterized by some degree of

various psychological deviations or defects.

Moral evil and psychobiological evil are, in effect, inter-

linked via so many causal relationships and mutual influences

that they can only be separated by means of abstraction. How-

ever, the ability to distinguish them qualitatively can help us to

avoid a moralizing interpretation of the pathological factors, an

error to which we are all prone, and which poisons the human

mind in an insidious way, whenever social and moral affairs

are at issue.

The ponerogenesis of macrosocial phenomena – large scale

evil - which constitutes the most important object of this book,

appears to be subject to the same laws of nature that operate

within human questions on an individual or small-group level.

The role of persons with various psychological defects and

anomalies of a clinically low level appears to be a perennial

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

43

characteristic of such phenomena. In the macrosocial phe-

nomenon we shall later call “pathocracy”, a certain hereditary

anomaly isolated as “essential psychopathy” is catalytically and

causatively essential for the genesis and survival of large scale

social evil.

Our natural human world view actually creates a barrier to

our understanding of such questions, thus, it is necessary to be

familiar with psychopathological phenomena, such as those

encountered in this field, in order to breach that barrier. May

then the readers please forgive the author’s occasional lapses

along this innovative path and fearlessly follow his lead, famil-

iarizing themselves rather systematically with the data adduced

in the first few chapters. Thus, we shall be able to accept the

truth of the nature of evil without reflex protests on the part of

our natural egotism.

Specialists familiar with psychopathology will find the road

less novel. They will, however, notice some differences in in-

terpreting several well known phenomena, resulting in part

from the anomalous situations under which the research was

done, but mostly from the more intensive penetration needed to

achieve the primary purpose. That is why this aspect of our

work contains certain theoretical values useful for psychopa-

thology. Hopefully, non-specialists will depend upon the

author’s long experience in distinguishing individual psycho-

logical anomalies found among people and factored into the

process of the genesis of evil.

It should be pointed out that considerable moral, intellec-

tual, and practical advantages can be gleaned from an under-

standing of the ponerogenic processes thanks to the naturalistic

objectivity required. The long-term heritage of ethical ques-

tions is thereby not destroyed; quite the contrary, it is rein-

forced , since modern scientific methods confirm the basic val-

ues of moral teachings. However, ponerology forces some cor-

rections upon many details.

Understanding the nature of macrosocial pathological phe-

nomena permits us to find a healthy attitude and perspective

toward them, thus assisting us in protecting our minds from

being poisoned by their diseased contents and the influence of

their propaganda. The unceasing counter-propaganda resorted

44

INTRODUCTION

to by some countries with a normal human system could easily

be superseded by straightforward information of a scientific

and popular scientific nature on the subject. The bottom line is

that we can only conquer this huge, contagious social cancer if

we comprehend its essence and its etiological causes. This

would eliminate the mystery of this phenomenon as its primary

survival asset. Ignota nulla curatio morbi!8

Such an understanding of the nature of the phenomena that

this study brings forward leads to the logical conclusion that

the measures for healing and reordering the world today should

be completely different from the ones heretofore used for solv-

ing international conflicts. Solutions to such conflicts should

function more like modern antibiotics, or, even better, psycho-

therapy properly handled, rather than taking the approach of

old-style weapons such as clubs, swords, tanks or nuclear mis-

siles. Healing social problems should be the objective, not de-

stroying society. An analogy can be drawn between the archaic

method of bleeding a patient as opposed to the modern method

of strengthening and restoring the ill one in order to effect the

cure.

With reference to phenomena of a ponerogenic nature, mere

proper knowledge alone can begin healing individual humans

and helping their minds regain harmony. Toward the end of

this book, we shall be discussing how to use this knowledge in

order to arrive at the correct political decisions and apply it to

an overall therapy of the world.

8 Do not attempt to cure what you do not understand .

CHAPTER II

SOME INDISPENSABLE CONCEPTS

Three principal heterogeneous items coincided in order to

form our European civilization: Greek philosophy, Roman

imperial and legal civilization, and Christianity, consolidated

by time and effort of later generations. The culture of cogni-

tive/spiritual heritage thus born was internally fuzzy wherever

the language of concepts, being overly attached to matter and

law, turned out to be too stiff to comprehend aspects of psycho-

logical and spiritual life.

Such a state of affairs had negative repercussions upon our

ability to comprehend reality, especially that reality which

concerns humanity and society. Europeans became unwilling to

study reality (subordinating intellect to facts), but rather tended

to impose upon nature their subjective ideational schemes,

which are extrinsic and not completely coherent. Not until

modern times, thanks to great developments in the hard sci-

ences, which study facts by their very nature, as well as the

apperception of the philosophical heritage of other cultures,

could we help clarify our world of concepts and permit its own

homogenization.

It is surprising to observe what an autonomous tribe the cul-

ture of the ancient Greeks represented. Even in those days, a

civilization could hardly develop in isolation, without being

affected by older cultures in particular. However, even with

that consideration, it seems that Greece was relatively isolated,

culturally speaking. This was probably due to the era of decay

46

SOME INDESPENSIBLE CONCEPTS

the archaeologist refer to as the “dark age”, which occurred in

those Mediterranean areas between 1200 and 800 B.C., and

also to the Achaean tribes’ belligerence.

Among the Greeks, a rich mythological imagination, devel-

oped in direct contact with nature and the experiences of life

and war, furnished an image of this link with the nature of the

country and peoples. These conditions saw the birth of a liter-

ary tradition, and later of philosophical reflections searching

for generalities, essential contents, and criteria of values. The

Greek heritage is fascinating due to its richness and individual-

ity, but above all due to its primeval nature. Our civilization,

however, would have been better served if the Greeks had

made more ample use of the achievements of other civiliza-

tions.

Rome was too vital and practical to reflect profoundly upon

the Greek thoughts it had appropriated. In this imperial civili-

zation, administrative needs and juridical developments im-

posed practical priorities. For the Romans, the role of philoso-

phy was more didactic, useful for helping to develop the think-

ing process which would later be utilized for the discharge of

administrative functions and the exercise of political options.

The Greek reflective influence softened Roman customs, which