Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Xenophon, Peter Singer and J.J.C. Smart

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23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 4. Boredom
Psychopaths may just be bored, because they cannot participate in normal emotional life [Singer]
     Full Idea: Maybe psychopaths are bored because their emotional poverty means that they cannot take interest in, or gain satisfaction from, what for others are the most important things in life: love, family, success in business or professional life, etc.
     From: Peter Singer (Practical Ethics [1979], 10)
     A reaction: [he cites Hervey Cleckley for this] Maybe boredom is a symptom of some human inadequacy, but it might sometimes be a mark of superiority. It drives people to both creation and destruction. Quite a good account of criminal behaviour.