Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes

be superseded by straightforward information of a scientific

and popular scientific nature on the subject. The bottom line is

that we can only conquer this huge, contagious social cancer if

we comprehend its essence and its etiological causes. This

would eliminate the mystery of this phenomenon as its primary

survival asset. Ignota nulla curatio morbi!8

Such an understanding of the nature of the phenomena that

this study brings forward leads to the logical conclusion that

the measures for healing and reordering the world today should

be completely different from the ones heretofore used for solv-

ing international conflicts. Solutions to such conflicts should

function more like modern antibiotics, or, even better, psycho-

therapy properly handled, rather than taking the approach of

old-style weapons such as clubs, swords, tanks or nuclear mis-

siles. Healing social problems should be the objective, not de-

stroying society. An analogy can be drawn between the archaic

method of bleeding a patient as opposed to the modern method

of strengthening and restoring the ill one in order to effect the

cure.

With reference to phenomena of a ponerogenic nature, mere

proper knowledge alone can begin healing individual humans

and helping their minds regain harmony. Toward the end of

this book, we shall be discussing how to use this knowledge in

order to arrive at the correct political decisions and apply it to

an overall therapy of the world.

8 Do not attempt to cure what you do not understand.

CHAPTER II

SOME INDISPENSABLE CONCEPTS

Three principal heterogeneous items coincided in order to

form our European civilization: Greek philosophy, Roman

imperial and legal civilization, and Christianity, consolidated

by time and effort of later generations. The culture of cogni-

tive/spiritual heritage thus born was internally fuzzy wherever

the language of concepts, being overly attached to matter and

law, turned out to be too stiff to comprehend aspects of psycho-

logical and spiritual life.

Such a state of affairs had negative repercussions upon our

ability to comprehend reality, especially that reality which

concerns humanity and society. Europeans became unwilling to

study reality (subordinating intellect to facts), but rather tended

to impose upon nature their subjective ideational schemes,

which are extrinsic and not completely coherent. Not until

modern times, thanks to great developments in the hard sci-

ences, which study facts by their very nature, as well as the

apperception of the philosophical heritage of other cultures,

could we help clarify our world of concepts and permit its own

homogenization.

It is surprising to observe what an autonomous tribe the cul-

ture of the ancient Greeks represented. Even in those days, a

civilization could hardly develop in isolation, without being

affected by older cultures in particular. However, even with

that consideration, it seems that Greece was relatively isolated,

culturally speaking. This was probably due to the era of decay

46

SOME INDESPENSIBLE CONCEPTS

the archaeologist refer to as the “dark age”, which occurred in

those Mediterranean areas between 1200 and 800 B.C., and

also to the Achaean tribes’ belligerence.

Among the Greeks, a rich mythological imagination, devel-

oped in direct contact with nature and the experiences of life

and war, furnished an image of this link with the nature of the

country and peoples. These conditions saw the birth of a liter-

ary tradition, and later of philosophical reflections searching

for generalities, essential contents, and criteria of values. The

Greek heritage is fascinating due to its richness and individual-

ity, but above all due to its primeval nature. Our civilization,

however, would have been better served if the Greeks had

made more ample use of the achievements of other civiliza-

tions.

Rome was too vital and practical to reflect profoundly upon

the Greek thoughts it had appropriated. In this imperial civili-

zation, administrative needs and juridical developments im-

posed practical priorities. For the Romans, the role of philoso-

phy was more didactic, useful for helping to develop the think-

ing process which would later be utilized for the discharge of

administrative functions and the exercise of political options.

The Greek reflective influence softened Roman customs, which

had a salutary effect on the development of the empire.

However, in any imperial civilization, the complex prob-

lems of human nature are troublesome factors complicating the

legal regulations of public affairs and administrative functions.

This begets a tendency to dismiss such matters and develop a

concept of human personality simplified enough to serve the