When the news first broke about the four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in the middle of the night, the word evil was on everyone’s lips. I encountered it on Reddit boards and ...

Adolf Hitler speaking at the Kroll Opera House to Reichstag members about war in the Pacific, December 11, 1941 Source: On Wikimedia Commons / Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1987-0703-507 / Unbekannt / ...

Explaining away even the most horrific acts of violence by saying some people are just wicked is understandable—but it won’t help us build a safer society. Illustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic.