The Science of Evil （Simon Baron-Cohen）

 
"What makes someone evil? What's the brain got to do with it? Baron-Cohen confronts the most urgent and controversial questions in social neuroscience. Both disturbing and compassionate this brilliant book establishes a new science of evil, explaining both its brain basis and development. Baron-Cohen fundamentally transforms how we understand cruelty in others and in so doing forces us to examine ourselves. "―Andrew N. Meltzoff, co-director of University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences 
 
How can we explain both cruelty and kindness? To award-winning psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, the explanation for cruelty is low levels of empathy, and the explanation for kindness is high levels of empathy. 
 
In The Science of Evil, Baron-Cohen draws on decades of research to develop a new, brain-based theory of human cruelty and kindness. He explores the social and biological factors that can influence our empathy levels, explains the key distinction between cognitive and affective forms of empathy, and shows how low empathy can lead to dehumanizing behavior. The Science of Evil continues to challenge our understanding of human cruelty.
 
Simon Baron-Cohen (1958-) is a professor of developmental psychopathology and director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of more than six hundred scientific articles and four books, including The Pattern Seekers, The Science of Evil, and The Essential Difference. He lives in Cambridge, UK.