A Groundwork to a Theory of Evil

Résumé du livre

"Many contemporary scholars wish to eliminate the term "evil" from intellectual consideration. "Evil" is a concept that has, historically, been rooted in Christian theology and has raised problems about the existence and character of God. Hypothetically, if the theological problems of evil were resolved, one problem would remain: presuming that humans have free will and are able make informed choices for which they are responsible, what reasons can be given for choosing evil rather than good as a basis for action? This thesis surveys Immanual Kant's discussion of radical evil and his reasons for claiming that "radical evil" is inscrutable, and Hannah Arendt's investigation of this "inscrutability" through her discussion of totalitarianism and the banality of evil. Both discussions provide reasons to include "evil" in intellectual consideration and provide a reason for continuing to use the term "evil" in a contemporary philosophical analysis"--Abstract.