“Monsters can be part of the moral imagination as a way to define what we don’t want to be. An obvious case would be a jihadi, who cuts off the head of a journalist. But there’s also subtle permutations like Ebenezer Scrooge. Our literature and culture creates icons of immorality, and they help shape…”— Stephen T. Asma, nautil.us
“I think every person is capable of committing monstrous acts, but true monsters are quite rare.”— Stephen T. Asma, nautil.us
“There’s a xenophobia running through the whole history of monsters. If you’re different from us, we’ll have a disgust-response or will be afraid and on guard. You see that in the ancient world. You see it through the medieval period and all the way up to the present, in the way we cast our enemies.”— Stephen T. Asma, nautil.us