Description
Book SynopsisAt present, there is an enormous gulf between the visibility of evil and the paucity of our intellectual resources for coming to grips with it. We have been flooded with images of death camps, terrorist attacks and horrendous human suffering.
Trade Review"Continental philosophy at its best."
Modern Theology
"Richard Bernstein takes us through the most baffling question of all, the one that in the end defies philosophical understanding, that of evil. The last century put this irresistibly on our agenda, and we cannot avoid it. No-one has the answer, but Bernstein takes us through a number of the most important and insightful thinkers, who can help us in our search. With the admirable clarity and great philosophical sympathy which always characterizes his work, he defines their understanding of evil, and puts them into conversation with each other. One emerges from this work still baffled, but in a much more fruitful way, empowered to go on thinking. This is a striking achievement for a work on this subject. Bernstein has once again pushed the debate forward several steps."
Charles Taylor, McGill University
"Richard Bernstein's work represents the best of an American tradition in philosophy, inspired by pragmatism and the analytical requirements of jargon-free clarity and drawing extensively and powerfully on traditions within Continental philosophy. To my ears Bernstein's is a hugely important voice in contemporary philosophical debate – it is sane and humane."
Simon Critchley, University of Essex
Table of ContentsPreface.
Introduction.
Part I Evil, Will, and Freedom.
Radical Evil: Kant at War with Himself.
Hegel: The Healing of the Spirit?.
Schelling: The Metaphysics of Evil.
Intermezzo.
Part II: The Moral Psychology of Evil.
Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil?.
Freud: Psychic Ambivalence and Ineradicable Evil.
Part III: After Auschwitz: Radical Evil and Responsibility.
Prologue.
Levinas: Evil and the Temptation of Theodicy.
Jonas: A New Ethic of Responsibility.
Arendt: Radical Evil and The Banality of Evil.
Conclusion.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index
