La crueldad : El origen de lo humano

We are all cruel. To a greater or lesser degree, cruelty dwells within each of us. Disguised in the most diverse ways, hidden behind different names, it has lurked since the beginning of time. If the gods were cruel, what hope is there for us, mere mortals at the mercy of the storms of our human condition? Is there a way out of this labyrinth? Cynthia Wila decides to embark on a journey to the heart of the night, to that hazy side of humanity. The result of this voyage is a courageous book, essential for understanding not only the reasons behind the great tragedies of history, but also the everyday forms that cruelty takes in the present, hand in hand with the tyranny of beauty, indifference, new technologies, and romantic mistreatment. With a strong psychoanalytic and philosophical imprint, while also incorporating art, film, literature, and music, *Cruelty* draws on the best of the essayistic tradition to give back to the world—to us—a melody that makes it somewhat kinder. That is why, Wila argues, reclaiming that almost forgotten link between ethics and aesthetics is more necessary today than ever. Because it means restoring value to that space between the desperate cry and the lacerating whisper where the calming word resides. It means looking into each other's eyes again to recognize in the other—in ourselves—that infinite universe of light and shadow, which is, nothing more and nothing less, the root and fruit of our own origin.