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On the other hand, the author is not very likeable from a modern and liberal standpoint. A couple asides about gay relationships and women making false rape accusations both left a bad taste in my mouth. He places a ton of weight upon confessions extracted under intense questioning, referencing the Central Park Five case with zero skepticism (the book was written in 1991, so you can't blame him for not seeing the future, but it's concerning that he mentioned it as an example of a well-conducted investigation similar to one that he himself was involved with). Even from the beginning when he describes his early work with the army, going undercover to infiltrate anti-war student movements during the Vietnam War, I knew I was not going to agree with his politics. Nietzsche was a brilliant philosopher whose intellectual life was crippled by serious amounts of pain and discomfort and a slow descent into madness, the primary cause was a progressive and untreatable brain condition that resulted in his almost complete immobility in later years due to stroke.
Whoever Fights Monsters - Macmillan
Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar. One ought to hold on to one’s heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.
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The monster doesn't fight fair. Ethics and morals mean nothing to the monster as their action is unrestrained. In doing battle how can a person win without sinking to their level? A person fights the monster and grows weary, over time there is less and less they wont do to achieve victory. In trying to defeat the monster they have become just like it. Mapping the minds of killers is no small undertaking. Robert Ressler was the man who developed psychological profiling at the FBI Behavioural Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia. Along with his colleague John Douglas, he was involved in some of the highest-profile serial killer cases in American history, including John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. Anyone who has studied the history of the 20th Century can see all too well how it is possible to fight monsters and become one in the process. How great evil can be practised in the name of liberty, goodness and defence not only of the realm but all of mankind. How bright-eyed revolutionaries can become dictators just as bad, ruthless, cruel and as hated as the men they’ve replaced. The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.
Robert Ressler - Wikipedia Robert Ressler - Wikipedia
This is one of the classics - for good reason as it turns out - and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it's held up. First published in 1993, by someone whose career was primarily in the 70s and 80s, there are some things you just don't expect to be handled as well as they were. And though some of the phrasing and the occasional idea have definitely dated, there's also a surprising effort here to discount some old prejudices.
Navel Gazing
Surely it's about the genealogy of morals. e.g. when you are hurt, not to take on a moral system which devalues whoever has that power over you. Or rather, he's cautioning against it. Robert Ressler had the opportunity to interview Ted Bundy directly, one of the first criminal investigators to do so, and found him to be one of the most intelligent and narcissistic criminals he had ever come across. a b c d e f g h Ressler, Robert (1993). Whoever Fights Monsters. New York: St Martin's Press. pp. 23–30. ISBN 0312950446.
Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes That Will Upgrade Your Thinking 20 Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes That Will Upgrade Your Thinking
The book also includes 2 series of photos showing serial killers, crime scenes and in some cases gruesome photos of some victims (although these are tame compared to a regular internet search). Another great example is The Green Knight, which seems to represent the encounter of the Christian Arthurian knights and their ethical code of chivalry, with pagan traditions about rebirth and submission to natural cycles. This is one of the aspects of Nietzsche that is easily overlooked by people who want to see him as simply nihilistic and destructive. He worked on many cases of serial homicide such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Richard Chase and John Joubert, and John Wayne Gacy.He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you” The first part of the quote, “ Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster,” suggests that the act of fighting against something or someone can change us. Nietzsche warns us to be careful not to become like the very thing we are fighting against, for doing so would mean losing ourselves and our humanity in the process. The book takes you through actual cases where Ressler's profiles helped the FBI nab the killers, Ressler's actual interviews with serial killers like Charles Manson, Ed Kemper and John Wayne Gacy as well as just some cold hard facts like recognizing the difference between disorganized and organized killers, how and why some serial killers use staging to their advantage among other topics that Ressler's usually covered in his classes.
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