Description
The code of conduct for a leading tech company famously says "Don't Be Evil." But what exactly is evil? Is it just badness by another name--the shadow side of good? Or is it something more substantive--a malevolent force or power at work in the universe? These are some of the ontological questions that philosophers have grappled with for centuries. But evil also raises perplexing epistemic and psychological questions. Can we really know evil? Does a victim know evil differently than a perpetrator or witness? What motivates evil-doers? Satan's rebellion, Iago's machinations, and Stalin's genocides may be hard to understand in terms of ordinary reasons, intentions, beliefs, and desires. But what about the more "banal" evils performed by technocrats in a collective: how do we make sense of Adolf Eichmann's self-conception as just an effective bureaucrat deserving of a promotion?Evil: A History collects thirteen essays that tell the story of evil in western thought, starting with its origins in ancient Hebrew wisdom literature and classical Greek drama all the way to Darwinism and Holocaust theory. Thirteen interspersed reflections contextualize philosophical developments by looking at evil through the eyes of animals, poets, mystics, witches, librettists, film directors, and even a tech product manager.Evil: A History will enlighten readers about one of the most alluring and difficult topics in philosophy and intellectual life, and will challenge their assumptions about the very nature of evil.
Table of Contents
IntroductionAndrew P. ChignellChapter 1. Evil, Unintelligibility, Radicality: Footnotes to a Correspondence between Hannah Arendt and Karl JaspersAndrew P. ChignellChapter 2. Kakology: A Study of Some Evil WordsAntonia RuppelChapter 3. Evil in the Hebrew Bible: The Case of the Wisdom LiteratureCarol A. NewsomReflection: The Early History of Satan: Before the satan Was EvilEsther HamoriReflection: Meat and EvilMatthew C. HaltemanChapter 4. Explaining Evil in Plato, Euripedes, and SenecaRachana KamtekarChapter 5. Explaining Evil in Late Antiquity: Plotinus and his CriticsDominic J. O'MearaChapter 6. Augustine on EvilPeter KingReflection: Hell as a Problem of Evil in Medieval Women MysticsClark WestChapter 7. ... "but draw not nigh this tree": Evil in Early Islamic ThoughtNadja GermannChapter 8. Evil and Late Medieval ThoughtBrian DaviesReflection: Dante and the Evil of Treachery: Narrative and PhilosophyEleonore StumpReflection: Calvinism and the Demonic in the DivineDerk PereboomReflection: Feminine Evil and WitchcraftSarah PinnockChapter 9. Evils, Privations, and the Early ModernsSamuel NewlandsReflection: Is Don Giovanni Evil?Elaine SismanReflection: Kant's Journey on EvilGeorge HuxfordChapter 10. Evil in Classical German Philosophy: Selfhood, Deception, and DespairAllen WoodReflection: Leopardi, "Everything is Evil"Silvia De ToffoliChapter 11. What Happened to Evil?Susan NeimanChapter 12. Evil, Natural Science, and Animal SufferingEric Martin and Eric WatkinsReflection: Cinematic EvilChristy Mag UidhirReflection: The Banality of EvilJennifer GeddesChapter 13. Evil after the HolocaustGabriel MotzkinReflection: Satanically Great Instigators and Banal CompliersAvishai MargalitReflection: On Google and Not Being EvilWesley ChanIndex
