Summary Of Monsters And The Moral Imagination By Stephen T. Asma

Monsters will NEVER ever die: all cultures around the world have them and have had them since people first thought of them. Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago, Stephen T. Asma, in his essay, Monsters and the Moral Imagination, describes how we look at and are drawn to monsters. But not just monsters, murderers and psychopaths also. Monsters never age, ranging from the first civilization to now. In Asma's essay he asks, "Why do monsters exist?" He speculates two reasons, maybe social anxiety or the unconscious mind. He appeals to an audience of all ages. Asma's purpose is to remind us that monsters are a constant in our lives. The tone that Asma creates is informative yet entertaining and iconic to convey to his audience is that monsters exist.

First, Asma describes how monsters are treated like outcasts but idolized, such as Frankenstein and Dracula. He then uses history to justify monsters as being creatures sent by God as a punishment for humanity: "The medieval mind saw giants and mythical creatures as God's punishments for the sin of pride. For the Greeks and Romans, monsters were prodigies—warnings of impending calamity." He also states different horror films that we still can't get enough of such as "Saw VI",

He cites many monster stories appealing to one's imagination. "The uses of monsters vary widely. In our liberal culture, we dramatize the rage of the monstrous creature—and Frankenstein's is a good example—then scold ourselves and our "intolerant society" for alienating the outcast in the first place. To add to Asma's credibility, he includes real life events, such as Daniel Silva who stabbed seven people in a coffee shop. But then he goes on to say people won't think of Daniel as a monster but a mentally ill man who snapped because he felt he needed to avenge his mother, whom he believed to had been