Some 6% of people are sadists.
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What causes unprovoked acts of violence? And is there any place for such cruelty in our society?
Portrait of the sadist as a young man by Charles Amédée Philippe van Loo (1719-1795).
His name has become a byword for deviancy and sexual cruelty. But Sade has also provided creative inspiration for generations of writers and artists.
Portrait of Marquis de Sade (1740-1814), whose name and writings gave us the term ‘sadism’
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In early 20th-century Australia, a series of highly publicised murders of women saw newspapers widely discuss sadism.
U.S. President’s apparent passion for cruelty speaks to a greater American illness.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Donald Trump seems to have a passion for cruelty, often publicly celebrating his investment in violence as a source of pleasure. Those tendencies represent symptoms of a broader American sickness.