5e15f685afc3ff001967352f

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{
  "abstract": "While political theory occasionally resembles a protracted discussion about violence, the same cannot be said for atrocity. Where something recognizable as atrocity does crop up in canonical texts, it tends to be characterized as a fundamentally extra-political phenomenon. The canon promotes a tautology: atrocity is extra-political and properly political violence is not atrocious. To begin my discussion of atrocity, I first consider the figure of the tyrant and tyrannical violence in Western political thought as a possible proxy issue for early thinking about transgressive violence. Of the many disquisitions on tyranny, Seneca’s distinction between ordinary cruelty and what he calls “bestial savagery” establishes the basis for a theory of atrocity, but it does not go far enough. I then survey canonical discussions of transgressive violence up to the present, emphasizing the recurring theme of non-instrumentality. Finally, I present a tentative formulation of atrocity that underscores its political nature.",
  "abstractViews": 868,
  "approvedDate": "2020-01-08T19:31:53.245Z",
  "assetFileName": "The Bull of Phalaris - Reduced.pdf",
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  "doi": "10.33774/apsa-2020-xkvxd",
  "doiUrl": "https://doi.org/10.33774/apsa-2020-xkvxd",
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  "keywords": [
    "Atrocity",
    "Violence",
    "Genocide",
    "Cruelty",
    "Phalaris",
    "Torture",
    "Sadism",
    "Evil",
    "Seneca",
    "Aristotle",
    "More",
    "Montaigne",
    "Political Theory",
    "Trangressive Violence"
  ],
  "licenseId": "5cc9d9bf7d4e0000ac04ef27",
  "publishedDate": "2020-01-08T19:31:53.257Z",
  "status": "PUBLISHED",
  "statusDate": "2020-01-08T19:31:53.257Z",
  "subjectId": "5e68cb1bd1f19d49ce3ac752",
  "submittedDate": "2020-01-08T15:55:44.479Z",
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  "title": "The Bull of Phalaris: Atrocity in the Canon",
  "version": "1",
  "vor": null,
  "webLinks": []
}

History in this collection

1. addedv1.0.0Jun 24, 2026this version