Zero Degrees of Empathy: A new understanding of cruelty and kindness

Borderline personality disorder, autism, narcissism, psychosis, Asperger's: All of these syndromes have one thing in common: lack of empathy. In some cases, this absence can be dangerous, but in others it can simply mean a different way of seeing the world. We have always struggled to explain why some people behave in the most evil way imaginable, while others are completely self-sacrificing. Is it possible that - rather than thinking in terms of 'good' and 'evil' - all of us instead lie somewhere on the empathy spectrum, and our position on that spectrum can be affected by both genes and our environments?

• Why do some people treat others as objects?
• Why is empathy our most precious resource?
• And does a lack of it always mean a negative outcome?

In Zero Degrees of Empathy, Simon Baron-Cohen, an award-winning British researcher who has investigated psychology and autism for decades, develops a new brain-based theory of human cruelty. A true psychologist, however, he examines social and environmental factors that can erode empathy, including neglect and abuse.

From the Nazi concentration camps of World War Two to the playgrounds of today, Simon Baron-Cohen examines empathy, cruelty and understanding in this fascinating and challenging new look at what exactly makes our behaviour uniquely human. Based largely on Baron-Cohen's own research, Zero Degrees of Empathy will change the way we understand and treat human cruelty.