Philosophy of Evil

by Lars Svendsen, Kerri A Pierce (Translator)

Overview

"It's normal to be evil," writes Lars Svendsen, in this latest contribution to contemporary philosophy; the problem is, we've lost the vocabulary to talk about it. Despite its overuse in movies, political speeches, and news reports, the word "evil" is generally seen as either flagrant rhetoric or else an outdated concept: a medieval holdover with no bearing on our complex everyday reality. In A philosophy of Evil, however, acclaimed philosopher Lars Svendsen argues that evil remains a concrete moral problem: that we're all its victims, and all guilty of committing evil acts. Taking up this problem—how do we speak about evil? A Philosophy of Evil treats evil as an ordinary aspect of contemporary life, with implications that are moral, political, and above all, practical. Because, as Svendsen says, "Evil should never be justifies, should never be explained away—it should be fought."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781564785718
Publisher:	Deep Vellum Publishing
Publication date:	04/01/2010
Series:	Norwegian Literature
Pages:	306
Sales rank:	617,282
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lars Svendsen is professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, Norway. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Kerri A. Pierce is the translator of Mela Hartwig's Am I a Redundant Human Being? for Dalkey Archive Press. She translates from German, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Norwegian, and Swedish.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Introduction: What is Evil and How Can We Understand It? 17

I The Theology of Evil 39

Theodicies 43

The Privation Theodicy 46

The Free Will Theodicy 48

The Irenaean Theodicy 51

The Totality Theodicy 55

History as Secular Theodicy 60

Job's Insight-Beyond Theodicy 70

II The Anthropology of Evil 77

Are People Good or Evil? 77

Typologies of Evil 82

Demonic Evil 88

Evil for Evil's Sake 91

Evil's Aesthetic Seduction 96

Sadism 101

Schadenfreude 103

Subjective and Objective Evil 106

Kant and Instrumental Evil 110

The Impossibility of a "Devilish" Will 111

The Paradox of Evil 114

Moral Rebirth 119

The Evil is the Other-Idealistic Evil 122

"Us" vs. "Them" 124

Violent Individuals 132

Arendt and Stupid Evil 137

The Evil and the Stupid 140

Radical and Banal Evil 143

Eichmann, Höss, and Stangl 148

Normal People and Extreme Evil 163

Thinking as Opposition 187

Evil People 193

III The Problem of Evil 197

Theory and Praxis 197

Ethics of Conviction and Ethics of Responsibility 209

Politics and Violence 214

Evil as a Concrete Problem 227

Conclusion 231

Notes 235

Bibliography 283

Editorial Reviews

"Svendsen has a way with words, and, unlike many writers of philosophy books, is also blessed with a sly wit and a thorough knowledge of popular culture." — Phil Miller, The Glasgow Herald

“He has a light touch and a playful attitude.” — Tom Hodgkinson, New Statesman

“Another outstanding, well-written book from the young Norwegian philosopher.”  — Politiken

From the Publisher

Another outstanding, well-written book from the young Norwegian philosopher.

Politiken

He has a light touch and a playful attitude.

Tom Hodgkinson - New Statesman

He has a light touch and a playful attitude.— Tom Hodgkinson

New Statesman

Svendsen (philosophy, Univ. of Bergen, Norway; A Philosophy of Fear) is painfully aware of the world's atrocities, but he doesn't think the main problem is "demonic" evil, by which he means deliberate intent to oppose someone's "living a life both meaningful and worth striving for." His argument about human actions that impinge on meaningful and worthwhile life is much involved with Hannah Arendt's concept of stupid evil, but he ultimately agrees with the long Christian tradition that evil is a privation, a lack of something—mostly rationality and the universality that a common rationality fosters. Svendsen adequately illustrates the role played by irrationality in the evils that make today's news, but he does not carry his thesis through to what looks like its logical conclusion: the world is divided between those who think evil can be stamped out with guns and jails and those who take the privation doctrine seriously and think evil can be dealt with only by finding out what is missing and repairing it. VERDICT An intelligent, well-written book that makes a good start at addressing the problem of crime via a philosophy of evil.—Leslie Armour, Dominican Univ. Coll., Ottawa, Ont.

Library Journal