Modernity and the Problem of Evil - Softcover

9780253217585: Modernity and the Problem of Evil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 025321758X ISBN 13: 9780253217585

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2005

What motivates human beings to do evil? Is evil simply the sheer perverse desire to do harm or wrong? Can evil be explained or made intelligible, or does it resist all efforts at comprehension? What atrocities are human beings capable of, and what might God allow to occur? Alan D. Schrift and the contributors to this engaging and lively volume explore evil from a postmodern perspective. While giving particular attention to modern evils such as the Holocaust, South African apartheid, the Rwandan genocide, and the events of September 11, 2001, the essays collected here cover broad philosophical and religious ground, as they illustrate how society deals with evil. Readers will find new ways to think about the concept of evil, and discover new tools for sorting out the moral and ethical issues surrounding evil in today's world. The contributors are Debra B. Bergoffen, Tina Chanter, William E. Connolly, Peter Dews, Martin Beck Matustik, William L. McBride, Robert Meister, Adi Ophir, Robert B. Pippin, Alan D. Schrift, Henry Staten, and Edith Wyschogrod. Alan D. Schrift, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for the Humanities at Grinnell College, is author of "Nietzsche's French Legacy: A Genealogy of Poststructuralism".

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Review:

In this collection, contributors enter into the contemporary discussion of evil with all the seriousness missing in the popular parlance. The articles are sophisticated and demanding. Some are focused on exegesis and critique of modern writers' concerns with evil and radical evil. Some are focused on issues closely connected to evil--such as terror and crimes against humanity. A few make a religious assumption; others do not. These essays are rewarding reading for advanced readers. Unfortunately, almost all are too sophisticated to advance the public discussion. Although most of the essays can be enjoyed without specific knowledge of the philosophers' works cited, one must be familiar with modern and postmodern philosophy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty.S. C. Schwarze, Cabrini College "In this collection, contributors enter into the contemporary discussion of evil with all the seriousness missing in the popular parlance.... Highly recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty." --Choice, February 2006

About the Author:

Alan D. Schrift, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for the Humanities at Grinnell College, is author of Nietzsche's French Legacy: A Genealogy of Poststructuralism.

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