Amnesia Quote by Alfred W. McCoy
““Psychology’s service to U.S. national security has produced a variant of what the psychiatrist Robert Lifton has called, in his study of Nazi doctors, a “Faustian bargain.” In this case, the price paid has been the American Psychological Association’s collective silence, ethical “numbing,” and, over time, historical amnesia. 3 Indeed, Lifton emphasizes that “the Nazis were not the only ones to involve doctors in evil”; in defense of this argument, he cites the Cold War “role of …American physicians and psychologists employed by the Central Intelligence Agency…for unethical medical and psychological experiments involving drugs and mind manipulation.” 4””
About This Quote
Source Article: “Psychology and National Security,” 2020, Journal of Ethics
Psychology’s role in security has led to ethical compromises, silence, and forgetting past abuses.
In simple terms: Psychology compromised by security work, causing ethical lapses.
Key Takeaway
Demand transparency and ethical accountability.
Themes
ethics
national security
psychology
history
Mood
critical
reflective
Type
analytical
cautionary
When to use this quote
- policy making
- psychological research
- military training
- government oversight
- academic curricula
Key Concepts
moral responsibility
institutional silence
faustian bargain
Questions to Reflect On
- What safeguards can prevent ethical erosion?
- How should institutions address past complicity?
A Different Perspective
Balancing security needs with ethical standards is complex and politically charged.
