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

him in the name of our more typical world view. In short,

whenever some unidentified psychopathological factor comes

into play, the natural human world view ceases to be applica-

ble.

Moving further, we often meet with sensible people en-

dowed with a well-developed natural world view as regards

psychological, societal, and moral aspects, frequently refined

via literary influences, religious deliberations, and philosophi-

cal reflections. Such persons have a pronounced tendency to

overrate the values of their world view, behaving as though it

were an objective basis for judging other people. They do not

take into account the fact that such a system of apprehending

human matters can also be erroneous, since it is insufficiently

objective. Let us call such an attitude the “egotism of the natu-

ral world view”. To date, it has been the least pernicious type

of egotism, being merely an overestimation of that method of

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

55

comprehension containing the eternal values of human experi-

ence.

Today, however, the world is being jeopardized by a phe-

nomenon which cannot be understood nor described by means

of such a natural conceptual language; this kind of egotism thus

becomes a dangerous factor stifling the possibility of objective

counteractive measures. Developing and popularizing the ob-

jective psychological world view could thus significantly ex-

pand the scope of dealing with evil, via sensible action and

pinpointed countermeasures.

The objective psychological language, based on mature phi-

losophical criteria, must meet the requirements derived from its

theoretical foundations, and meet the needs of individual and

macrosocial practice. It should be evaluated fully on the basis

of biological realities and constitute an extension of the analo-

gous conceptual language elaborated by the older naturalistic

sciences, particularly medicine. Its range of applicability

should cover all those facts and phenomena conditioned upon

cognizable biological factors for which this natural language

has proved inadequate. It should, within this framework, allow

sufficient understanding of the contents, and varied causes, for

the genesis of the above-mentioned deviant world views.

Elaborating such a conceptual language, being far beyond

the individual scope of any scientist, is a step-by-step affair; by

means of the contribution of many researchers, it matures to the

point when it could be organized under philosophical supervi-

sion in the light of above-mentioned foundations. Such a task

would greatly contribute to the development of all bio-

humanistic and social sciences by liberating them from the

limitations and erroneous tendencies imposed by the overly

great influence of the natural language of psychological imagi-

nation, especially when combined with an excessive compo-

nent of egotism.

Most of the questions dealt with in this book are beyond the

scope of applicability of the natural language. The fifth chapter

shall deal with a macrosocial phenomenon which has rendered

our traditional scientific language completely deceptive. Un-

derstanding these phenomena thus requires consistent separa-

tion from the habits of that method of thinking and the use of

56

SOME INDESPENSIBLE CONCEPTS

the most objective system of concepts possible. For this pur-

pose, it proves necessary to develop the contents, organize

them, and familiarize the readers with them as well.

At the same time, an examination of the phenomena whose

nature forced the use of such a system will render a great con-

tribution to enriching and perfecting the objective system of

concepts.

While working on these matters, the author gradually accus-

tomed himself to comprehending reality by means of this very

method, a way of thinking which turned out to be both the most

appropriate and the most economical in terms of time and ef-

fort. It also protects the mind from its own natural egotism and

any excessive emotionalism.

In the course of the above-mentioned inquiries, each re-

searcher went through his own period of crisis and frustration

when it became evident that the concepts he had trusted thus

far proved to be inapplicable. Ostensibly, correct hypotheses

formulated in the scientifically improved natural conceptual

language turned out to be completely unfounded in the light of

facts, and of preliminary statistical calculations. At the same

time, the elaboration of concepts better suited for investigated

reality became extremely complex: after all, the key to the

question lies in a scientific area still in the process of develop-

ment.

Surviving this period thus required an acceptance of and a

respect for a feeling of nescience11 truly worthy of a philoso-

pher. Every science is born in an area uninhabited by popular

imaginings that must be overcome and left behind. In this case,

however, the procedure had to be exceptionally radical; we had

to venture into any area indicated by systematic analysis of the

facts we observed and experienced from within a full-blown

condition of macrosocial evil, guided by the light of the re-

quirements of scientific methodology. This had to be upheld in

spite of the difficulties caused by extraordinary outside condi-

tions and by our own human personalities.

Very few of the many people who started out on this road

were able to arrive at the end, since they withdrew for various

reasons connected to this period of frustration. Some of them

11 Literally, the absence of knowledge. [Editor’s note.]

POLITICAL PONEROLOGY

57

concentrated on a single question; succumbing to a kind of

fascination regarding its scientific value; they delved into de-

tailed inquiries. Their achievements may be present in this

work, since they understood the general mining of their work.

Others gave up in the face of scientific problems, personal

difficulties, or the fear of being discovered by the authorities,

who are highly vigilant in such matters.

Perusing this book will therefore confront the reader with

similar problems, albeit on a much smaller scale. A certain

impression of injustice may be conveyed due to the need to

leave behind a significant portion of our prior conceptualiza-

tions, the feeling that our natural world view is inapplicable,

and the expendability of some emotional entanglements. I

therefore ask my readers to accept these disturbing feelings in

the spirit of the love of knowledge and its redeeming values.

The above explanations were crucial in order to render the

language of this work more easily comprehensible to the read-

ers. The author has attempted to approach the matters described

herein in such a way as to avoid both losing touch with the

world of objective concepts and becoming incomprehensible to

anyone outside a narrow circle of specialists. We must thus beg

the reader to pardon any slips along the tightrope between the

two methods of thought. However, the author would not be an

experienced psychologist if he could not predict that some

readers will reject the scientific data adduced within this work,

feeling that they constitute an attack upon the natural wisdom

of their life-experience.

The Human Individual

When Auguste Comte12 attempted to found the new science

of sociology during the early nineteenth century, i.e. well be-