Circumstantial Variables That Can Corrupt Morality Interviews have confirmed that many people who do great evil-terrorists, torturers, those who facilitate genocide-are otherwise psychologically healthy and rational. In other words, Zimbardo argues that evildoers are ordinary people who find themselves in situations that cause them to disengage their normal sense of morality. (We’ll call this the “theory of circumstantial morals” because it implies that each individual’s moral compass can change rapidly in response to new circumstances.) He argues that any one of us could commit evil if we found ourselves in the wrong situation. (We’ll call this the “theory of fixed morals,” as it implies that each individual’s moral compass is relatively fixed and slow or impossible to change.) They’re an “evil person,” and it would be difficult or impossible to rehabilitate them. Most people assume that if someone does something truly evil-on the level of murder, torture, or rape-there must be something uniquely twisted about them. In his book The Lucifer Effect, Philip Zimbardo defines evil as any intentional harm done to innocent people. Surely, no one we know could ever murder or torture an innocent person, right? It’s difficult to imagine what kind of individual could willingly participate in evil like this. We don’t need to look far into the past to find genocides, murderous wars of conquest, and systematic torture. The world is full of evil-every day, people inflict unimaginable pain and suffering on one another. Here’s a brief overview of Philip Zimbardo’s book The Lucifer Effect. In it, Zimbardo argues that most of us drastically misunderstand evil’s potential. The Lucifer Effect was written by Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist famous for running the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. What is The Lucifer Effect about? What are the main takeaways from Philip Zimbardo’s book? Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading. This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Lucifer Effect" by Philip Zimbardo.
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