completely elaborated by myself. Unfortunately, when I was expelled from
Poland, it made it impossible for me to transfering any of my many results to
other psychologists because I was deprived of all my research papers in
addition to almost everything else.
POLITICAL PONEROLOGY
101
part of the cases adjudicate a commutation of a sentence by
taking the criminal’s pathological characteristics into account.
We may often reason by means of the exclusionary hy-
pothesis, e.g. pondering what would happen if the genesis of a
particular wrongdoing did not have some pathological compo-
nent. We then usually reach the conclusion that the deed would
not have taken place either since the pathological factor sealed
its occurrence or became an indispensable component in its
origin.
The hypothesis thus suggests itself that such factors are
commonly active in the genesis of evil. The conviction that
pathological factors generally participate in ponerogenic proc-
esses appears even more likely if we also take into account the
conviction of many scholars in ethics that evil in this world
represents a kind of web or continuum of mutual conditioning.
Within this interlocking structure, one kind of evil feeds and
opens doors for others regardless of any individual or doctrinal
motivations. It does not respect the boundaries of individual
cases, social groups, and nations. Since pathological factors are
present within the synthesis of most instances of evil, they are
also present in this continuum.
Further deliberations on the observations thus obtained con-
sidered only a part of the above-mentioned variegated cases,
especially those which did not generate doubt by colliding with
natural moral attitudes, and those which did not reveal practical
difficulties for further analysis (such as absence of further con-
tact with the patient). The statistical approach furnished only
general guidelines. Intuitive penetration into each individual
problem, and a similar synthesis of the whole, proved the most
productive method in this area.
The role of pathological factors in a process of the origin of
evil can be played by any known, or not yet sufficiently re-
searched, psychopathological phenomenon, and also by some
pathological matters medical practice does not include within
psychopathology. However, their activity in a ponerogenic
process is dependent on features other than the obviousness or
intensity of the condition. Quite the contrary, the greatest pon-
erogenic activity is reached by pathological factors at an inten-
sity which generally permits detection with the help of clinical
102
PONEROLOGY
methods, although they are not yet considered pathological by
the opinion of the social environment. Such a factor can then
covertly limit the bearer’s ability to control his conduct, or
have an effect upon other persons, traumatizing their psyches,
fascinating them, causing their personalities to develop im-
properly, or inciting vindictive emotions or a lust for punishing.
A moralistic interpretation of such agents and their legacy
works against humankind’s ability to see the causes of evil and
to utilize common sense to combat it. This is why identifying
such pathological factors and revealing their activities can so
often stifle their ponerogenic functions.
In the process of the origin of evil, pathological factors can
act from within an individual who has committed a hurtful act;
such activity is relatively easily acknowledged by public opin-
ion and the courts. Consideration is given much less frequently
to how outside influences emitted by their carriers act upon
individuals or groups. Such influences, however, play a sub-
stantial role in the overall genesis of evil. In order for such
influence to be active, the pathological characteristic in ques-
tion must be interpreted in a moralistic manner, i.e. differently
from its true nature. There are many possibilities for such ac-
tivities. For the moment, let us indicate the most damaging.
Every person in the span of his life, and particularly during
childhood and youth, assimilates psychological material from
others through mental resonance, identification, imitation, and
other communicative means, thereupon transforming it to build
his own personality and world view. If such material is con-
taminated by pathological factors and deformities, personality
development shall also be deformed. The product will be a
person unable to understand correctly either himself and others,
normal human relations and morals; he develops into a person
who commits evil acts with a poor feeling of being faulty. Is he
really at fault?
Man’s age-old, familiar moral weaknesses and intelligence
deficiencies, proper reasoning, and knowledge combine with
the activity of various pathological factors to create a complex
network of causation which frequently contains feedback rela-
tionships or closed causal structures. Practically speaking,
cause and effect are often widely separated in time, which
POLITICAL PONEROLOGY
103
makes it more difficult to track the links. If our scope of obser-
vation is expansive enough, the ponerogenic processes are
reminiscent of complex chemical synthesis, wherein modifying
a single factor causes the entire process to change. Botanists
are aware of the law of the minimum, wherein plant growth is
limited by contents of the component which is in deficiency in
the soil. Similarly, eliminating (or at least limiting) the activity
of one of the above-mentioned factors or deficiencies should
cause a corresponding reduction in the entire process of the
genesis of evil.
For centuries, moralists have been advising us to develop
ethics and human values; they have been searching for the
proper intellectual criteria. They have also respected correct-
ness of reasoning, whose value in this area is unquestionable.
In spite of all their efforts, however, they have been unable to
overcome the many kinds of evil that have scourged humanity
for ages and that are presently taking on unheard-of propor-
tions.
By no means does a ponerologist wish to belittle the role of
moral values and knowledge in this area; rather, he wants to
buttress it with hitherto-underrated scientific knowledge in
order to round out the picture as a whole and adapt it better to
reality, thereby making more effective action possible in moral,
psychological, social, and political practice.
This new discipline is thus primarily interested in the role of
pathological factors in the origin of evil, especially since con-
scious control and monitoring of them on the scientific, social,
and individual levels could effectively stifle or disarm these
processes. Something which has been impossible for centuries
is now feasible in practice thanks to progress in naturalistic
cognizance. Methodological refinements are dependent upon