Product DescriptionA description of the author's experience of psychiatric therapy with patients who appear manifestly evil which attempts to show that a spiritual or even religious dimension is required to aid in the understanding of human nature.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Risky Business
It's always risky when a psychiatrist goes against the majority view and proposes something radical. And Dr Peck's proposal that some human beings are simply "evil" certainly contradicts the assumptions of most in his profession. But Peck's argument is strong, and his definition of human evil is both fascinating and potentially productive for psychiatrists, counseloors, and pastors alike.
Rating: - Peck's witch hunt
To quote another reviewer who said it well "I'm assuming that this book was published before the widespread acceptance of biological causes of mental illness, since Peck's "case studies" that appear to be primarily cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder, major depression, borderline personality disorder or some form of psychosis, all of which are now treatable with drugs" (Cade Foster). I completely agree. When I read this book quite a while ago, I found it pretty absorbing, but I was alarmed to ... Read More
Rating: - DANGER - This is a life-changing book
Twenty-five years ago Dr. M. Scott Peck (author of "The Road Less Traveled" series of books) threw down the gauntlet, challenging the psychological and scientific communities to subject human evil to the same rigorous study as other human behaviors. Only within the last very few years has anyone had sufficient courage to take up that challenge.
Ever been relentlessly lied to - or about - by someone? Ever been stunned to realize that someone in your life somehow behaves as though he's ... Read More
Rating: - The Ability to Recognize Human Evil is Crucial for Self-Preservation
Psychiatrist, Dr. Scott Peck, defines human evil. After working with thousands of patients, Dr. Peck finds that there is a common thread between many of them; a life of lies along with complete & total self-absorption. To realize that there are people among us that are truly evil is unsettling, to say the least. However, the ability to recognize evil people is critical and crucial to human self-preservation. The reader must be careful, however, not to "diagnose" all liars and narcissistic people ... Read More
Rating: - a helpful primer on thinking about evil
After reading, enjoying, and becoming inspired by The Road Less Travelled I had to take Dr. Peck's writing seriously. People of the Lie was a wrenching departure from his first book, a "nice book", as he says. Even tho I am no longer a Christian and in spite of the Christian overtones of POTL, I found it to be not just fascinating but helpful. It is a thought-provoking book, to say the least, and even "over the top" in parts. Still, to this day, perhaps 15 years after reading it, I think about evil in ... Read More
- Risky Business
- Peck's witch hunt
