VIOLENCIA Y CRUELDAD

Abstract

This work distinguishes between violence used to attain a specific purpose and violence intended or practice for itself. Cruelty is characterised as violence for violence' sake. The aim is to try to find an explanation for that cruelty which can be described as absolute violence. For that reason, reference is made to a series of books that have dealt with the subject that, in spite of allusions to other types of cruelty, end by speaking of military cruelty. An attempt to determine the 'function' of cruelty leads to an understanding of the conditions that make it possible: impunity, fear and the culture of hate. Finally, the human being does not appear to be cruel per se, but as someone who feels compelled to be so by 'power'.