Order of Assassins

1. Assassination is Murder as a Self-Fulfilling, Creative Act.

The assassin is a man for whom murder is not only an ultimate purpose, but also a means of self-fulfilment, a creative act.

Defining the assassin. Unlike most murderers who kill for practical reasons (money, jealousy, self-preservation), the assassin kills for the act itself. This type of killer, exemplified by figures like Jack the Ripper or Charles Manson, sees the murder as a primary goal, a way to assert their will and achieve a sense of purpose or self-fulfillment. It's a paradoxical notion, viewing destruction as a form of creation.

A new type of killer. While Dostoevsky wrote about such characters in the 19th century, the 20th century has seen the rise of the "high I.Q." or "cerebral" murderer. These individuals, often feeling alienated or superior to society, justify their crimes as a response to perceived corruption or decadence. Their violence is not merely emotional but often rooted in a distorted ideology or philosophy.

Beyond simple motives. Traditional crime surveys show most murders result from quarrels or disputes. However, the significance of the assassin lies in their motive: a generalized resentment against society or a deep-seated psychological drive. This type of "resentment crime" has become increasingly characteristic of the modern era, reflecting deeper societal issues and individual frustrations.

2. Historical Killers Reveal Deep Psychological Compulsions.

The Thugs accepted their own murderous obsession, because killing was ordained by their goddess.

Ancient orders of death. The historical Assassins, a breakaway Islamic sect, used murder as a political weapon, believing it was a religious duty leading to paradise. Similarly, the Thugs of India, who worshipped the goddess Kali, saw strangling travelers not just as robbery but as a sacred ritual. These groups highlight how killing can become a compulsive, almost religious vocation, transcending simple criminal intent.

Beyond the material. While robbery often accompanied Thuggee, investigators like William Sleeman noted the killers' primary drive was the act of killing itself, a sacrifice to their dark goddess. This suggests a psychological compulsion deeper than greed, an addiction to the "exciting game" of stalking and strangling. Many Thugs were otherwise respectable citizens, revealing a Jekyll and Hyde duality driven by this internal force.

The "worm" of destruction. These historical examples point to an autonomous urge to destroy, as fundamental as sexual or territorial drives. This "worm of destruction" creates a morbid involvement in violence, touching a deep "erotic nerve" that blinds individuals to consequences. It's this compulsive impulse, whether sexual, political, or born of resentment, that distinguishes the "assassin" from the ordinary murderer.

3. Violence Stems from a Frustrated Will to Power, Not Just Sex.

Sexual dominance is a fairly unimportant sub-department of the will to power.

Nietzsche's insight. Building on Schopenhauer's concept of the blind, striving will, Nietzsche saw the "will to power" as the fundamental drive towards growth and dominance. He recognized that individuals too strong for their environment, or living in decadent societies, might turn this drive towards destruction. This perspective offers an alternative to purely sexual explanations for violence.

Beyond Freudian libido. While Freud linked violence to the sexual drive (libido) or a death urge, later psychological and zoological research (Maslow, Ardrey, Lorenz) emphasized dominance and territoriality as primary drives, even in animals. Sexual behavior, particularly dominance displays, can be seen as an expression of the will to power, rather than the other way around. Men obsessed with political power are often not primarily driven by sex, and vice versa.

Dominance as a core need. The "dominant minority" (Pareto's élite) constitutes about five percent of any population, possessing a strong will-drive. In healthy societies, this drive finds constructive outlets. In frustrated individuals or stagnant societies, this powerful appetite, if blocked, can manifest as violence, contempt for others, and a feeling of being "in the right" when acting destructively.

4. Sadism is a Perversion of Dominance, Not Purely Sexual.

The underlying drive is power.

Revisiting de Sade. While sadism is commonly defined as sexual pleasure derived from inflicting pain, a closer look at the Marquis de Sade's work suggests his primary interest was power, not just sex. His elaborate fantasies, filled with extreme violence and philosophical diatribes, appear as power fantasies where the protagonist is an absolute ruler, able to command destruction and defy all limits.

Beyond erotic pleasure. Sade's writings, particularly works like Juliette, are often sickening, filled with gratuitous violence that goes far beyond sexual stimulation. This suggests a drive to shock and assert absolute control, rather than merely achieve sexual arousal. His characters' cruelty stems from a distorted sense of being god-like, a droit de seigneur to inflict pain as an expression of ultimate freedom and dominance.

Frustration and magnification. Sadistic fantasies, like those in modern pornography, often stem from frustration – a desire for total dominance over another person. When reality falls short, the fantasy escalates, magnifying elements of control and humiliation. This isn't necessarily about sexual pleasure itself, but about using sex as a stage for asserting absolute will and overcoming a sense of powerlessness or a blurred self-image.

5. "Magical Thinking" Drives Illogical, Destructive Behavior.

Emotion, says Sartre, is essentially a substitute for action.

Sartre's theory of emotion. Jean-Paul Sartre proposed that emotion is a form of "magical thinking," a way of trying to achieve a desired outcome through an illogical, often violent, response when direct action is blocked. For example, fainting in fear might be a "magical" attempt to escape a threat. This applies to negative emotions and actions that are disproportionate or counterproductive to the actual problem.

Violence as a blunt instrument. In complex situations, individuals with strong will but limited capacity for subtle problem-solving may resort to violence – a "magical" act intended to force a result. This is like hitting a delicate watch with a hammer when it stops working. Crimes like the Niebel murders, where the killers took actions that guaranteed their capture, illustrate this illogical, emotionally driven behavior, prioritizing the discharge of violent feeling over rational escape.

Psychological link. Sex crime and "motiveless murder" are linked by this "magical" approach. They are violent, unsubtle responses to subtle psychological problems, often stemming from a sense of inadequacy or a blurred self-image. The increasing complexity of industrial society may contribute to this, as individuals feel overwhelmed and resort to primitive, destructive methods to assert control or meaning.

6. The "Violent Man" Feels Justified in Asserting Dominance.

Such a man... has an absolute obsession about being ‘in the right’.

Van Vogt's "Right Man". Science fiction writer A. E. Van Vogt described a type of "violent man" characterized by an obsessive need to be right and an inability to tolerate any challenge to their authority or self-image. These individuals, often belonging to the "dominant five percent," demand unquestioning obedience and react with disproportionate rage or violence to perceived disrespect or resistance.

Insecurity and control. This behavior stems from deep insecurity; their dominance over others, particularly family members, becomes the fragile foundation of their self-esteem. If this control is threatened, their ego can disintegrate. Examples like Arthur Hosein or Raymond Morris, who were outwardly charming but capable of extreme violence when their dominance was challenged, fit this pattern.

Beyond simple criminality. The "right man" is often not a typical criminal but someone driven by a need for recognition and control, sometimes possessing above-average intelligence. Their crimes are less about material gain and more about asserting their will and punishing those who defy them. This psychological type, seeking validation through dominance, becomes a significant problem in societies where traditional outlets for such drives are limited.

7. Modern Society's "Passive Fallacy" Fuels Resentment and Crime.

Everything about modern life favours the unchecked growth of the passive attitude to existence, and the frustration and waste of vitality that springs from it.

The trap of comfort. Modern civilization, focused on comfort and security, inadvertently fosters a "passive fallacy." By removing challenges and providing ease, it reduces the need for active engagement and effort, leading to boredom and a sense of suffocation. This contrasts with earlier eras where survival demanded constant vigilance and effort, providing a natural outlet for human energy.

Stagnation breeds resentment. When the mind is passive and lacks purposeful activity, its vitality drains, leading to a blurred self-image and a feeling of unreality or "life failure." This stagnation creates a buildup of frustrated energy that seeks release. Lacking constructive outlets, this energy can turn into resentment, often directed at an abstract "society" perceived as the source of their malaise.

The craving for intensity. The passive state makes individuals insensitive to subtle pleasures and meanings. They crave intense stimuli – shock, violence, or crisis – to feel alive and real again. This explains the appeal of violent entertainment and, in extreme cases, the commission of violent crimes as a desperate attempt to break through the numbness and experience a powerful, albeit destructive, sense of reality.

8. Beauty Starvation and Lack of Meaning Lead to Alienation.

If the sense of meaning is starved, the result is a feeling of futility that will eventually produce violence.

Rousseau's critique. Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that society alienates man from his natural virtues and creates artificial needs, leading to egoism and unhappiness. This idea was echoed by the Romantics, who felt a "beauty starvation" in the industrial age, believing that a lack of exposure to beauty and meaning blights the soul and vital forces.

The blight of triviality. Modern life, with its focus on material success and routine, can suffocate the human need for meaning and purpose. This creates a sense of futility and detachment, particularly for intelligent individuals who crave deeper engagement. Like Dostoevsky's characters trapped in their own subjectivity, they long for "impersonal" meanings to escape the confines of a small, stifling personal world.

From loathing to violence. Writers like H. P. Lovecraft expressed this alienation as a "loathing" for modern civilization and its perceived mediocrity. This curdled romanticism, a frustrated appetite for beauty and meaning, can manifest as a desire to shock or destroy. In individuals like Melvin Rees or the Wimbledon "queer bashers," this sense of rootlessness and meaninglessness, exacerbated by boredom, can erupt into seemingly pointless violence.

9. Boredom and Stagnation Create a Craving for Intense Feeling.

Unless dispersed by action, it turns into a feeling of dyspepsia and general low-spirits, and eventually into a longing for something violent to happen.

The mind's need for focus. Human consciousness requires constant re-focusing and engagement, much like the eye needs movement to maintain focus. When life is dull or repetitive, the "attention muscles" relax, leading to mental stagnation. This passivity, if prolonged, results in a sense of unreality and a craving for intense stimuli to feel alive again.

Displacement activities. When purposeful action is blocked, frustrated energy can spill over into irrational "displacement activities," as seen in animals or in human behaviors like nail-biting or engineered emotional crises. Dostoevsky's characters, like Stavrogin, engage in self-destructive or cruel acts as a desperate attempt to break through their inner numbness and experience strong feelings like remorse or delight in baseness.

The trap of passivity. The "passive fallacy" is dangerous because it's self-reinforcing. Boredom leads to passivity, which reduces sensitivity to pleasure, making life seem duller, which in turn encourages more passivity. This vicious cycle can escalate from mild low spirits to a desperate longing for violent disruption as the only perceived way to feel real and escape the suffocating sense of futility.

10. Psychological Health Requires Purposeful Action and Control.

Sanity depends on the strength of the self-image.

The self-image as a mirror. Our sense of "who I am" (the self-image) depends on how actively we engage with the world. When we are bored or passive, our self-image becomes blurred and fragmented, leading to a feeling of weakness and unreality. Conversely, purposeful action clarifies the self-image, creating a sense of power and meaning.

Intentionality of consciousness. Edmund Husserl's concept of "intentionality" highlights that consciousness is active, not passive. We actively "grasp" reality, not just receive it. This effortful engagement is crucial for perceiving meaning and maintaining vitality. When this effort wanes, due to boredom or frustration, the world appears dull, and the self-image suffers.

Control psychology. This perspective suggests that psychological health is linked to the strength of the self-image and the ability to maintain a sense of control through purposeful action. When the self-image is blurred, individuals may seek intense, even destructive, actions to restore a sense of reality and power, as seen in criminals who commit crimes for the act itself rather than material gain.

11. Rehabilitation Restores Responsibility and Potential.

Functioning way below his potential and capacity.

Beyond punishment. Traditional views of criminality often see offenders as inherently bad or mentally ill. However, the success of approaches like Dan MacDougald's "attitude therapy" suggests that many criminals are simply functioning far below their potential, trapped by negative attitudes and "faulty blocking" of perception.

Unblocking perception. MacDougald's method, based on the idea that negative attitudes create physical "blocking" that prevents individuals from perceiving reality fully, has shown remarkable success in rehabilitating prisoners. By helping them recognize and change these attitudes, it allows them to "unblock" their senses and experience the world, and themselves, with renewed clarity and meaning.

Responsibility as a driver. This therapy works by fostering a sense of responsibility. When individuals take ownership of their attitudes and actions, they activate their will and begin to function closer to their potential. This renewed sense of purpose and self-worth provides intrinsic rewards (like Maslow's peak experiences), making a non-criminal life more appealing and sustainable than the passive, resentful state that led to crime.

12. A Creative Civilization Channels Man's Evolutionary Urge.

We have to learn to think in terms of a new concept: the creative civilization.

Man's evolutionary drive. Human beings possess a fundamental drive to evolve and grow, seeking out challenges and fruitful activity. Civilization itself is a product of this urge. However, modern society, focused on comfort and security, often blocks this creative flow, leading to frustration and the misdirection of energy into destructive channels.

Beyond material needs. A civilization focused solely on providing food and shelter fails to satisfy man's higher needs for meaning, self-esteem, and self-actualization. This creates a pervasive sense of futility, even amidst material abundance. The violence and alienation seen in modern society are symptoms of this blockage, not inherent human wickedness.

Fostering potential. A "creative civilization" would prioritize providing opportunities for individuals to fulfill their potential, recognizing that psychological health and social stability depend on channeling man's evolutionary urge constructively. By understanding the psychological roots of frustration and violence, society can move beyond simply punishing crime to actively fostering the conditions necessary for human flourishing and preventing the stagnation that breeds destruction.

Last updated: July 8, 2025