Most people don't want to see lying as evil - what if it is the heart of evil! What if it is those people "who seem innocent but when you get down to it are subtly manipulating everyone around them" that are truly the most destructive in society? This book examines that idea!

kötülüğün bir hastalık olduğunu vurgulayan bir kitap.

Quite interesting in patches but very hard to take seriously given some of the God/Satan/Evil content.

The human animal is quite complex, capable of acts of heroism and cowardliness, compassion and selfishness, honesty and deceit. I respect Peck and find his work fascinating because he embraces both a high and low view of humanity. In The People of the Lie, Peck unveils his dissatisfaction with psychology’s attempt, or lack there of, at naming evil. This, in fact, is the stated purpose of the book. Peck believes that to name something correctly creates a sense of predictability and control, thus ensuring a greater sense of agency. This work is intended to be the starting point in the discussion of the legitimacy and necessity of a psychology of evil.

Peck “names” evil by sharing a cornucopia of case vignettes. The characters in his vignettes all share a common bond- they are lazy and self-absorbed. What makes them evil? According to Peck, evil, at its core, is consistent deceit and narcissism. More specifically, “evil” people display a) consistent destructive scapegoating behavior, b) excessive, but subtle, intolerance of criticism, c) prominent concern with public image and d) intellectual deviousness. Sounds strikingly similar to the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. So, the thing that remains unclear to me is Peck’s intended purpose for carving out a psychology of evil, as opposed to placing it under the umbrella of narcissism. The answer might reside in his desire to distinguish “sin” from psychopathology. A distinction that is difficult to make when dealing with various perspectives that contain illusive definitions. Although I appreciate his attempt, his distinction, in my opinion, fell short.

Besides “naming” evil, Peck offers little in the way of curative treatments. Towards the end of the book, in the chapter titled The Danger and The Hope, Peck did allude to the fact that love and acceptance can absorb evil, but it must be done carefully and intentionally. The lack of “answers” didn’t detract from the substance of this read. In fact, it enhanced it. Peck’s understanding of the human psyche is intriguing. He opens up new doors of exploration that many in our field won’t touch with a 10-foot pole. I give this read 9 out of 10 Freud stickers.

Through the authors own experiences as a counselor, he comes to discover what makes people do the things they do to disrupt other peoples lives and what their hidden agenda might be. Among these are different faces and layers of evil. Though the author has seen true evil and witnessed an extreme case that needed exorcism, this will help you identify the people who are have a subtle agenda that we often don't recognize. Some of these people are evil. A very interesting read for those who enjoy psychology.

This is a meaty book, but definitely worth the read. I think this is a book that would never be published today, but is so necessary for today, that I would definitely pick up a copy to hold onto while you still can.

The basic theory of this book is that evil should be a recognized psychiatric diagnosis and an examination of whether or not evil could be treated as a psychological disorder. The author gives several, very in-depth studies of cases he's come across as people he would identify as evil. One such couple gave their son the gun his brother used to kill himself as a Christmas present. Can those type of people be helped? The book isn't clear on that end of it.

In this book, the author begins to discuss his belief in the devil (that he is real) and that exorcism is likely the only way to cure these people. He does have another book on this issue which I've yet to read but is on my TBR list.

If you're intrigued by this topic-- highly recommended.

I wish what Dr Scott Peck suggests in his book from 30 years ago, how to rid the military of evil (he's talking USA, but it would apply anywhere ) would be put into practice; I had thoughts along similar lines, without the psychological reasoning behind it: like, use the military more for disaster relief and so on ...; I had not considered a conscripted military myself, but he makes a very good point why that should be so! Of course, that is only the last part in this very readable book; I love that he sees the Lie as so much part an parcel of Evil, and hence the title"People of the Lie"; and how evil people are often NOT the ones you find in Prison, but in church pews; exactly what I've been saying for yonks! Love the book, love the author's integrity and honesty!

I don't know why, each time I read this book, I get the desire to write a short story, a fictional novel, or a thriller series. Maybe because, unconsciously, I refuse to believe that the people "Scott Peck" is talking about are not real. It is a bit hard to admit they live everywhere around us. But, in fact, this is the truth: frustrated and mentally-disordered people are here, there and anywhere, and they can't be recognized easily. The writer says, in this book, that he meets psychopath people in parties and in the public life more than he does in his clinic.
I have two seperated opinions about this book:
First, I love his call to study the Evil neurologically and psychologically, and to make talking about it scientifically termed. But I expected he will be giving or suggesting any scientific hypothesis that give it the form of a serious theory. I loved the way he formulated the stories of his patients but I didn't discern their connection with his "theory". I just get informed about the problems of some people with some social deceases and with some bad influences.
Secondly, when he started talking about the Satan and his existence, as a man who went deep in the psychology field, I really felt like reading a fictional story. I don't think, as a reader in the twenty first century, that his participation in two excorsims rituals is enough to draw a conclusion on the facts of the demons' world. I guess that "M. Scott Peck" was was only telling us how he sees psychology in his christian perspective.
I agree with almost everyting said about the spiritual cure for humanity through love, but it wasn't enough for me, as a man who is seeking some deeper answers.

This is possibly the worst book about psychology I have ever read. For reference, I have a Master's degree in psychology. This will be a lengthy review because I have a LOT of thoughts.

Firstly, this book is not scientific so much as it is a very overdramatic sense of moral superiority packaged as pseudoscience. From the very first chapter "Handle with Care", Peck begins painting this picture of a horrifyingly dangerous phenomenon, evil, that he can't even properly define. There is no sense of how he would even try to investigate this phenomenon empirically, and his definitions are vague at best and completely paradoxical at worst.

Secondly, you will get an overload of Freudian psychoanalytical nonsense in this book. I'm not saying that the psychoanalytic perspective is devoid of merit, but when you begin suggesting that maybe it would be a good idea to sleep with your patient to give her the "mothering" she clearly desires in her unconscious, all those merits fly right out of the window. Seriously, I have no idea how this man was allowed to practice as a therapist. The ethics were beyond questionable from the start in telling George that he's a coward who has sold his soul to the devil, but it got worse and worse and worse.

Thirdly, I shouldn't even have to say this, but science is objective. It's one thing to use religion as a source of strength for a client who relies upon faith in times of crisis, it is another thing to force religion down the throat of anyone you treat and go on about how they should probably have an exorcism. I cannot even describe the amount of furious scribbling I did in the margins of this book because of how completely ridiculous it is.

Lastly, and most importantly, there is a fundamental issue with essentially equating mental illness with "evil." Anyone who thinks this has no business working in this field. If Dr. Peck took a moment to get off his moral high horse and stop condescending to and infantilizing his patients, he might see that every person is a combination of good and bad actions, but that bad actions do not make an evil person. I work with individuals who are incarcerated, many of whom Dr. Peck would probably label as evil. They are not. They are people. As Bryan Stevenson says, we are all more than the worst thing we have ever done. I could go on and on about this atrocious book, but I really don't want to spend any more mental energy on it.

If I had rolled my eyes one more time while reading this, I think they would have fallen straight out of my head. Zero stars.

What a huge disappointment. Immediately, from the introduction Dr. Peck's ideas are off putting; "...about my use of masculine pronouns in relation to God....first of all, God, is not neuter. He is exploding with life and love- even sexuality of a sort. ...I subjectively experience His reality as more masculine than feminine. While He nurtures us, He also desires to penetrate us, and while we more often than not flee from His love like a reluctant virgin, He chases after us with a vigor in the hunt that we most typically associate with males." I find that statement revulsive.

For me, Dr. Peck misses the mark.

This has to be one of my all time favorite books. It has given me helpful insight into human behavior. I have read it at least a dozen times over the years and it has assisted me in comprehending situations that used to baffle me in my personal life. I can't recommend it enough.

Definitely one of the scariest and most disturbing books I've read, but it's a great book. The examples of his patients that he considered evil show exactly how these people are and how they operate. If you've always wondered why some people are evil and want to try to understand why some people are evil this book will definitely shed light on evil and at the end is a testament to the power of love to overcome it. Indeed, the author agrees by the end of the book that our only hope to heal evil is with love. This book became so disturbing I had to take a break from reading it and was anxious as I read the rest of it, but overall I'm glad I read it. I felt like I knew some of the things he pointed out about evil and evil people, especially the fact that they are the "people of the lie" and evil always involves lies in one way or another. Having come into contact with several evil people in my life I agree that human evil is common and that many people are indeed screwed up in one way or another at the hands of their parents. This was a rather grim book and the only hope came at the very end of the book in the last few pages. I agree that we should pity those who have succumbed to evil because they are desperately and deeply afraid of themselves and the truth. They can't face it and that keeps them stuck. They don't want to grow, they don't want to change, and they create chaos for themselves and others. We have to use love to smother hate and evil.

"Evil can be defeated by goodness. When we translate this we realize what we dimly have always known: Evil can be conquered only by love."

"I know that good people can deliberately allow themselves to be pierced by the evil of others - to be broken thereby yet somehow not broken - to even be killed in some sense and yet still survive and not succumb. Whenever this happens there is a slight shift in the balance of power in the world."

"There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one's heart, it loses its power and goes no further."