Description
Book SynopsisOffers a philosophical meditation on the problem of evil. This title uses the Genesis story of the Fall as the starting point for a profound articulation of the human condition. It shows us that evil expresses the rage of a subject who knows both that he is an image of an infinite God and that he must die.
Trade Review"A book which begins with the sentence 'Evil makes us Human' must surely compel attention. This is no ordinary account of what is usually meant by the problem of evil... Instead, Paul W. Kahn's aim is to explore the nature of evil itself... A rich and fascinating book full of unusual conjunctions and insights."--John Habgood, Times Literary Supplement "Kahn makes a powerful case for the reality of good (which he calls 'love') as a form of self-sacrifice, and of its opposite, evil, which constitutes a denial of one's finitude."--Whitley R. P. Kaufman, Philosophy in Review "Brilliant and essential... [Kahn] establishes an enormously clarifying political theology of modernity, one that investigates the limits of our contemporary imagination."--Igor Webb, Common Review "In Out of Eden, Paul W. Kahn ... argues that the human condition--rather than political or social conditions--is the locus of evil. Using the lenses of political and cultural theory, law, and philosophy, Kahn takes a hard look at modern forms of evil, namely slavery, torture, and genocide. Evil, Kahn posits, in an existential problem."--Yale Law Report
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction: The Study of Evil 1 Chapter 1: A Preliminary Meditation on Oedipus and Adam 16 Chapter 2: Evil and the Image of the Sacred 53 Chapter 3: Love and Evil 106 Chapter 4: Political Evil: Slavery and the Shame of Nature 143 Chapter 5: Political Evil: Killing, Sacrifice, and the Image of God 174 Conclusion: Tragedy, Comedy, and the Banality of Evil 211 Index 223
