My work has caused me to become perhaps unhealthily preoccupied with the problem of evil. Why do people commit evil? What conditions allow it to flourish? How is it best prevented and, when necessary, suppressed? Each time I listen to a patient recounting the cruelty to which he or she has been subjected, or has committed (and I have listened to several such patients every day for 14 years), these questions revolve endlessly in my mind.
Theodore Dalrymple, the Orwell of our times (sorry, Christopher Hitchens) announces his retirement. From psychiatry, that is. I assume he'll now devote his full time to writing.
It's odd. Psychiatrists are notorious for muddle-headed jargon; but two of the best, most lucid political writers around come from that profession. (The other being Charles Krauthammer.)
Via ThePolitic.com
Comments (2)
This is actually a pretty old piece by Dalrymple, so I think he's been retired from his old job for a while. But it's a great article that I think everyone should read.
The psychologists and psychiatrists I've met have generally been level-headed people capable of structuring their ideas well. (Though there are exceptions.) The muddle-headed reputation probably comes from the single-issue, special-interest types that get quoted in the media simply because they're willing to say whatever the reporter wants them to say without any of that annoying nuance.
Posted by Bruce Gottfred | July 29, 2007 9:58 AM
Posted on July 29, 2007 09:58
That is a long but rewarding read.
It's an excellent example of neoconservative moralizing in the tradition of Irving Kristol. He addresses a legitimate social problem (many neoconservative writers these days seem to content to merely invent them where they don't necessarily exist), and explores the intricate moral underpinnings of the issue to reveal where liberalism and conservatism have both failed.
There are many tenets of neoconservative thought that I disagree with, but one that I do believe deeply in is the idea of a moral society. I would add the caveat that very few moral issues are actually objective moral issues, but I would argue that they exist.
Posted by Patrick Ross | July 29, 2007 6:38 PM
Posted on July 29, 2007 18:38