Ponerology
Encyclopedia
Ponerology is the name given by Polish
psychiatrist Andrzej Łobaczewski
to an interdisciplinary study of the causes of periods of social injustice
. This discipline makes use of data from psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history to account for such phenomena as aggressive war, ethnic cleansing
, genocide
, and police states. The original theory and research was conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists working in Poland
, Czechoslovakia
, and Hungary
in the years before the institution of Communism such as Kazimierz Dąbrowski
and Stefan Blachowski.
Łobaczewski adopted the term from the branch of theology
dealing with the study of evil
, derived from the Greek
word poneros. According to Łobaczewski, all societies vacillate between "happy times," or times of prosperity, during which advanced psychological knowledge of the danger of psychopathological influence in the corridors of power is suppressed, and "unhappy times," during which the intelligentsia and society at large are forced to recover this specialized knowledge in order to ultimately rectify the social order along mentally healthier lines. It is to be noted that "happy times" do not imply morally advanced times, as Łobaczewski makes clear that this "happiness" or prosperity may well be premised on the oppression of a target group.
Łobaczewski defines many specific "characteropathies," which Western psychology would probably term "character disorders," as paving the way for the ultimate rule of "essential psychopaths" in full-fledged "pathocracy." This is what he says takes place when society is insufficiently guarded against the minority of such abnormal pathologs ever-present in its midst (Łobaczewski asserts that the etiology is almost entirely bio-genetic.) He believes that they infiltrate any institution or state, prevailing moral values are perverted into their opposite, and a coded language not unlike Orwell's "double-think" circulates into the mainstream, using "paralogic" and "paramoralism" in place of genuine logic and morality. There are various identifiable stages of pathocracy described by Łobaczewski. Ultimately, each pathocracy is foredoomed because the root of healthy social morality, according to Łobaczewski, is contained in the congenital instinctive infrastructure in the vast majority of the population. While some in the normal population are more susceptible to pathocratic influence, and become its lackeys, the majority instinctively resist.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
psychiatrist Andrzej Łobaczewski
Andrzej Łobaczewski
Andrzej Łobaczewski was a Polish psychiatrist who synthesized the research of a group of underground Eastern European scientists that included Kazimierz Dąbrowski, Stefan Szuman, and Stefan Blachowski, among many other anonymous contributors...
to an interdisciplinary study of the causes of periods of social injustice
Social injustice
Social injustice is a concept relating to the claimed unfairness or injustice of a society in its divisions of rewards and burdens and other incidental inequalities...
. This discipline makes use of data from psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history to account for such phenomena as aggressive war, ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
, genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, and police states. The original theory and research was conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists working in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
in the years before the institution of Communism such as Kazimierz Dąbrowski
Kazimierz Dabrowski
Kazimierz Dąbrowski was a Polish psychologist, psychiatrist, and physician.Dąbrowski developed the Theory of Positive Disintegration, which describes how a person's development grows as a result of accumulated experiences...
and Stefan Blachowski.
Łobaczewski adopted the term from the branch of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
dealing with the study of evil
Evil
Evil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
, derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word poneros. According to Łobaczewski, all societies vacillate between "happy times," or times of prosperity, during which advanced psychological knowledge of the danger of psychopathological influence in the corridors of power is suppressed, and "unhappy times," during which the intelligentsia and society at large are forced to recover this specialized knowledge in order to ultimately rectify the social order along mentally healthier lines. It is to be noted that "happy times" do not imply morally advanced times, as Łobaczewski makes clear that this "happiness" or prosperity may well be premised on the oppression of a target group.
Łobaczewski defines many specific "characteropathies," which Western psychology would probably term "character disorders," as paving the way for the ultimate rule of "essential psychopaths" in full-fledged "pathocracy." This is what he says takes place when society is insufficiently guarded against the minority of such abnormal pathologs ever-present in its midst (Łobaczewski asserts that the etiology is almost entirely bio-genetic.) He believes that they infiltrate any institution or state, prevailing moral values are perverted into their opposite, and a coded language not unlike Orwell's "double-think" circulates into the mainstream, using "paralogic" and "paramoralism" in place of genuine logic and morality. There are various identifiable stages of pathocracy described by Łobaczewski. Ultimately, each pathocracy is foredoomed because the root of healthy social morality, according to Łobaczewski, is contained in the congenital instinctive infrastructure in the vast majority of the population. While some in the normal population are more susceptible to pathocratic influence, and become its lackeys, the majority instinctively resist.