Let us look away from the individual to the great war that is still devastating Europe. Think of the colossal brutality, cruelty, and mendacity which is now allowed to spread itself over the civilized world. Do you really believe that a handful of unprincipled place-hunters and corrupters of men would have succeeded in letting loose all this latent evil, if the millions of their followers were not also guilty? Will you venture, even in these circumstances, to break a lance for the exclusion of evil from the mental constitution of humanity? -- Ninth Lecture, A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis
Disturb a nest of hornets and you have an approximation of evil. Disturb a hive of humans and you have evil incarnate. In either case, the typical reaction of the victim is to annihilate the nest or hive. The evil is then neutralized. Perhaps that is what Freud is suggesting when he discusses the latent evil within the human mind and its exclusion. The entire mind will need to be annihilated to that end.
Posted by: Kyril Alexander Calsoyas | January 21, 2023 at 12:50 PM
The Calsoyas comment seems to me thoughful but its conclusion a bit extreme.
Posted by: sarah gelder | January 21, 2023 at 02:51 PM