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Is crime really so social in its origin that, as Richard Quinney (1966) once said, “crime is a social phenomenon”?
This social view of criminality can be contrasted with an opposing view which is more biological in orientation, as shown in the arguments that, for example, “crime is most frequent in second and third decades of life” (that is, among young folks) and “males commit more overall ... crime” (than females). (WK 2011; L. Ellis 2009)
So, which view is correct here? Contrary to these opposing ideas (and other views as will be discussed in the book), criminality (in relation to heroes and villains) is neither possible (or impossible) nor desirable (or undesirable) to the extent that the respective ideologues (on different sides) would like us to believe.
But the challenge to these opposing views about criminality does not imply that the study of criminality (or criminology in short) is useless, or that those fields of study (related to criminology) like psychology, anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, biology, literature, ethics, religion, and so on should be rejected too. Needless to say, neither of these extreme views is plausible.
Instead, this book offers an alternative (better) way to understand the future of criminality, especially in the dialectic context of heroes and villains — while learning from different approaches in the literature but without favoring any one of them (nor integrating them, since they are not necessarily compatible with each other).
In other words, this book offers a new theory (that is, the reflective theory of criminality) to go beyond the existing approaches in a novel way.
If successful, this seminal project is to fundamentally change the way that we think about criminality, from the combined perspectives of the mind, nature, society, and culture, with enormous implications for the human future and what I originally called its “post-human” fate.
In this book:
Introduction — The Longevity of Criminality
Heroes and their Duality
Villains and their Doubleness
Conclusion — The Future of Criminality
Contents:
Part One: Introduction • Chapter One. Introduction—The Longevity of Criminality • A Quarrel about Criminality • Heroes and Villains in Criminality • General Features of Criminality • The Theoretical Debate • The Reflective Theory of Criminality • Theory and Meta-Theory • The Logic of Existential Dialectics • Sophisticated Methodological Holism • Chapter Outline • Some Clarifications
Part Two: Heroes • Chapter Two. Heroes and their Duality • The Greatness of Heroes • Heroes and the Mind • Heroes and Nature • Heroes and Society • Heroes and Culture • The Smallness of Heroes
Part Three: Villains • Chapter Three. Villains and their Doubleness • The Wickedness of Villains • Villains and the Mind • Villains and Nature • Villains and Society • Villains and Culture • The Goodness of Villains
Part Four: Conclusion • Chapter Four. Conclusion—The Future of Criminality • Beyond Heroes and Villains • 1st Thesis: The Formalness-Informalness Principle • 2nd Thesis: The Absoluteness-Relativeness Principle • 3rd Thesis: The Partiality-Totality Principle • 4th Thesis: The Predictability-Unpredictability Principle • 5th Thesis: The Explicability-Inexplicability Principle • 6th Thesis: The Fiction-Reality Principle • 7th Thesis: The Finiteness-Transfiniteness Principle • 8th Thesis: The Preciseness-Vagueness Principle • 9th Thesis: The Simpleness-Complicatedness Principle • 10th Thesis: The Openness-Hiddenness Principle • 11th Thesis: The Denseness-Emptiness Principle • 12th Thesis: The Change-Constancy Principle • 13th Thesis: The Order-Chaos Principle • 14th Thesis: The Slowness-Quickness Principle • 15th Thesis: The Expansion-Contraction Principle • 16th Thesis: The Theory-Praxis Principle • 17th Thesis: The Convention-Novelty Principle • 18th Thesis: The Evolution-Transformation Principle • 19th Thesis: The Symmetry-Asymmetry Principle • 20th Thesis: The Sofness-Hardness Principle • 21st Thesis: The Seriousness-Playfulness Principle • 22nd Thesis: The Regression-Progression Principle • 23rd Thesis: The Sameness-Difference Principle • 24th Thesis: The Stability-Reaction Principle • 25th Thesis: The Post-Human Reflection • Towards the Post-Human Reflection
Bibliography • Index
ISBN - 9788130921730
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