Serial Killers – Philosophy for Everyone investigates our
profound intrigue with mass-murderers. Exploring existential,
ethical and political questions through an examination of real and
fictional serial killers, philosophy comes alive via an exploration
of grisly death.
* Presents new philosophical theories about serial killing, and
relates new research in cognitive science to the minds of serial
killers
* Includes a philosophical look at real serial killers such as
Ian Brady, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the
Zodiac killer, as well as fictional serial killers such as Dexter
and Hannibal Lecter
* Offers a new phenomenological examination of the writings of
the Zodiac Killer
* Contains an account of the disappearance of one of Ted Bundy’s
victims submitted by the organization Families and Friends of
Missing Persons and Violent Crime Victims
* Integrates the insights of philosophers, academics, crime
writers and police officers
Table of Content
Foreword viii
John M. Doris
Acknowledgments xi
S. Waller
Introduction: Meditations on Murder, or What is so Philosophical about Serial Killers? 1
S. Waller and William E. Deal
Part I I THINK THEREFORE I KILL: The Philosophical Musings of Serial Killers 15
1 Man is the Most Dangerous Animal of All: A Philosophical Gaze into the Writings of the Zodiac Killer 17
Andrew M. Winters
2 A Philosophy of Serial Killing: Sade, Nietzsche, and Brady at the Gates of Janus 29
David Schmid
3 The Situation of the Jury: Attribution Bias in the Trials of Accused Serial Killers 41
Mark Alfano
Part II Can You Blame Them? Ethics, Evil, And Serial Killing 51
4 Serial Killers as Practical Moral Skeptics: A Historical Survey with Interviews 53
Amanda Howard
5 Are Psychopathic Serial Killers Evil? Are They Blameworthy for What They Do? 66
Manuel Vargas
6 Sympathy for the Devil: Can a Serial Killer Ever Be Good? 78
Matthew Brophy
Part III DANGEROUS INFATUATIONS: The Public Fascination with Serial Killers 91
7 The Allure of the Serial Killer 93
Eric Dietrich and Tara Fox Hall
8 Dexter’s Dark World: The Serial Killer as Superhero 103
Susan Amper
Part IV A EULOGY FOR EMOTION: The Lack of Empathy and the Urge to Kill 115
9 Killing with Kindness: Nature, Nurture, and the Female Serial Killer 117
Elizabeth Schechter and Harold Schechter
10 It Puts the Lotion in the Basket: The Language of Psychopathy 129
Chris Keegan
11 Are Serial Killers Cold-Blooded Killers? 141
Andrew Terjesen
Part V Creepy Cognition: Talking and Thinking About Serial Killers 153
12 The Serial Killer was (Cognitively) Framed 155
William E. Deal
13 Wolves and Widows: Naming, Metaphor, and the Language of Serial Murder 166
Wendy M. Zirngibl
14 An Arresting Conversation: Police Philosophize about the Armed and Dangerous 178
S. Waller (with Diane Amarillas and Karen Kos)
Part VI Psycho-ology: Killer Mindsets and Meditations on Murder 189
15 Psychopathy and Will to Power: Ted Bundy and Dennis Rader 191
Richard M. Gray
16 The Thread of Death, or the Compulsion to Kill 206
J. S. Piven
A Solemn Afterword: A Message from the Victim’s Network 218
Mary Miller
A Timeline of Serial Killers 222
Amanda Howard
Notes on Contributors 226
About the author
Editor
S. Waller is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at
Montana State University Bozeman. Her areas of research are
philosophy of neurology, philosophy of cognitive ethology
(especially dolphins, wolves, and coyotes), and philosophy of mind,
specifically the parts of the mind we disavow.
Series Editor
Fritz Allhoff is an Assistant Professor in the
Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a
Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National
University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.
In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series,
Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor for several titles,
including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007),
Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley,
2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe,
Wiley-Blackwell, 2007).
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