This collection of essays focuses on the extreme bounds of human behaviour and experience; free will versus determinism; the mind/body problem and the distinction between right and wrong. The author draws upon psychoanalytic theory and literature to examine the psychological preconditions for violent behaviour. He argues that in violence the victim is reduced to a thing , and that the smaller this thing can be made, the less guilt will be felt as a consequence. By examining the psychological implications of death, violence and other extremes, both in literature and in case material, this collection highlights many of the concerns of the field of psychotherapy from an eclectic range of source materials.