Roots of Evil

John Kekes

Description

"Evil is the most serious of our moral problems. All over the world cruelty, greed, prejudice, and fanaticism ruin the lives of countless victims. Outrage provokes outrage. Millions nurture seething hatred of real or imagined enemies, revealing savage and destructive tendencies in human nature. Understanding this challenges our optimistic illusions about the effectiveness of reason and morality in bettering human lives. But abandoning these illusions is vitally important because they are obstacles to countering the threat of evil. The aim of this book is to explain why people act in these ways and what can be done about it."-John KekesThe first part of this book is a detailed discussion of six horrible cases of evil: the Albigensian Crusade of about 1210; Robespierre's Terror of 1793-94; Franz Stangl, who commanded a Nazi death camp in 1943-44; the 1969 murders committed by Charles Manson and his "family"; the "dirty war" conducted by the Argentinean military dictatorship of the late 1970s; and the activities of a psychopath named John Allen, who recorded reminiscences in 1975. John Kekes includes these examples not out of sensationalism, but rather to underline the need to hold vividly in our minds just what evil is. The second part shows why, in Kekes's view, explanations of evil inspired by Christianity and the Enlightenment fail to account for these cases and then provides an original explanation of evil in general and of these instances of it in particular.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801471315
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Roots of Evil

other books by john kekes

A Justification of Rationality

The Nature of Philosophy

The Examined Life Moral Tradition and Individuality Facing Evil The Morality of Pluralism Moral Wisdom and Good Lives

Against Liberalism

A Case for Conservatism

Pluralism in Philosophy: Changing the Subject

The Art of Life

The Illusions of Egalitarianism

The Roots of Evil

J O H N K E K E S

Cornell University Press

ithaca and london

Copyright © 2005 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2005 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Kekes, John. The roots of evil / John Kekes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0801443687 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Good and evil. I. Title. BJ1401.K435 2005 170—dc22

2004023899

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publish ing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

for J.Y.K.

Contents

Preface

1. Introduction: The Problem and the Approach 1.1 What Is Evil? 1 1.2 Approaches to Explanation 3 1.3 Toward an Adequate Explanation 4 1.4 The Approach 7

Part OneFORMS OF EVIL 2. The Sleep of Reason 2.1 Crusade against the Cathars 10 2.2 Possible Excuses 15 2.3 Appeal to Faith 18 2.4 The Permanent Threat of Faith 22 2.5 Faith and Evil 27 3. Perilous Dreams 3.1 Background 29 3.2 The Terror 31 3.3 The Ideologue 34 3.4 Justification by Ideology 39 3.5 Ideology and Evil 43 4. A Fatal Fusion 4.1 Inferno 47 4.2 The Man 51 4.3 His Responsibility and Choices 55 4.4 His Character 59 4.5 Ambition and Evil 63

vii

xi

1

10

29

47

viii

Contents

5. The Revenge of Ruined Pride 5.1 The Crimes and the Criminal 65 5.2 The Vice 71 5.3 The Motive 75 5.4 The Judgment 78 5.5 Envy and Evil 81 6. Wickedness in High Places 6.1 What Was Done 83 6.2 Why It Was Done 86 6.3 Failed Justification 89 6.4 Condemnation 93 6.5 Honor and Evil 97 7. Disenchantment with Ordinary Life 7.1 The Psychopath 101 7.2 Boredom 105 7.3 Prevalence 107 7.4 The Thrill of Evil 113 7.5 Boredom and Evil 115 8. Taking Stock 8.1 Sources of Evil 118 8.2 Responsibility 121 8.3 Intention 125 8.4 Realism about Evil 128 8.5 The Approach 132

Part TwoEXPLANATIONS OF EVIL 9. External Explanations 9.1 Four Types of Explanation 135 9.2 Evil as Unavoidable 137 9.3 Reasons against Explaining Evil as Unavoidable 139 9.4 Evil as Corruption 143 9.5 Reasons against Explaining Evil as Corruption 146 10. A Biological Explanation 10.1 Natural Goodness and Defect 149 10.2 The Human Good 151 10.3 Practical Reason 156 10.4 What Reason Requires and Allows 158 10.5 Nature and Evil 160

65

83

101

118

135

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Contents

11. Internal Explanations 11.1 Evil as Malfunction 164 11.2 Reasons against Explaining Evil as Malfunction 166 11.3 Evil as Natural 171 11.4 Reasons against Explaining Evil as Natural 173 11.5 Transition to Mixed Explanation 176 12. The Mixed Explanation 12.1 Preamble 181 12.2 The Conditions 182 12.3 The Internal Condition 185 12.4 The External Condition 189 12.5 Reason 194 13. Responsibility 13.1 The Approach 199 13.2 The Account 202 13.3 Excuses 206 13.4 Intention 211 13.5 Shibboleths 214 14. Toward Elementary Decency 14.1 The Secular Problem of Evil 219 14.2 Morality 220 14.3 Internal Reasons 225 14.4 External Reasons 231 14.5 The Permanent Threat of Evil 233 15. Conclusion: What Is to Be Done? 15.1 Changing Internal Conditions 235 15.2 Changing External Conditions 239 15.3 Summary 242

Notes Works Cited Index

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199

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245 253 259