A Swipe at the Gordian Knot of Evil

The challenges of writing and thinking about evil

Few topics arouse as much anxiety, fascination, and controversy as discussions of good and evil. Evil is a particular lightning rod. While the topic of good seems rather approachable, the task of thinking about the complexities of evil stirs such “profound anxiety” (Bollas, 1995 p. 181) that consideration of it easily confounds us, even to the point that we must neglect the topic or dissociate from it .

When we consider, then, where and how to look at evil, we face a powerful mix of feelings, and this makes finding focus nearly as complicated as the study itself. That said, in this paper we avail ourselves of what enlightenment serial killers' own words and descriptions offer. This is not an unusual choice. Others, too, (e.g. Bollas, 1995) have chosen this route. The “organized” serial killer in contrast to the “disorganized” one (Michaud, 1999), who can be more readily conceived as mentally ill, seems one who has chosen a deliberate and contrary path for dealing with the sin of evil that “is crouching at the door” (Revised Standard Version Bible, 1952, Genesis 4:7). The organized killer, rather than being one who has fallen into evil, seems to be one who has foresworn the effort to “master it” (Genesis 4:7) in deference to embodying it. As serial killer Ted Bundy is reported to have said: “I don't feel guilty for anything, I feel sorry for people who feel guilt” (Lundren, 2019, unnumbered).

Hence, we acknowledge forthrightly that defining evil can be an expansive and tricky task. However, for this paper we are delimiting ourselves to the evil that is evidenced in the shocking disregard of the humanity of fellow beings which several serial killers demonstrate (and reflect upon) in their own intimately murderous behavior. We invite readers to consider our organizational comments about these killers to be useful for considering one angle (“slice”) in what evil is and what leads to it.

Furthermore, choosing serial killers a