Moral evil

by Flescher, Andrew Michael

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Title Statements

Full title :Moral evil / Andrew Michael Flescher.

Summary

The idea of moral evil has always held a special place in philosophy and theology because the existence of evil has implications for the dignity of the human and the limits of human action. Andrew M. Flescher proposes four interpretations of evil, drawing on philosophical and theological sources and using them to trace through history the moral traditions that are associated with them. The first model, evil as the presence of badness, offers a traditional dualistic model represented by Manicheanism. The second, evil leading to goodness through suffering, presents a theological interpretation known as theodicy. Absence of badness-that is, evil as a social construction-is the third model. The fourth, evil as the absence of goodness, describes when evil exists in lieu of the good-the "privation" thesis staked out nearly two millennia ago by Christian theologian St. Augustine. Flescher extends this fourth model-evil as privation-into a fifth, which incorporates a virtue ethic. Drawing original connections between Augustine and Aristotle, Flescher's fifth model emphasizes the formation of altruistic habits that can lead us to better moral choices throughout our lives. Flescher eschews the temptation to think of human agents who commit evil as outside the norm of human experience. Instead, through the honing of moral skills and the practice of attending to the needs of others to a greater degree than we currently do, Flescher offers a plausibleand hopeful approach to the reality of moral evil.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:©2013

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):Georgetown University Press
Place of Publication:Washington, D.C
Language:eng
Publication Date:©2013

The Physical Object

Description:1 ressource en ligne.

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:1626160112, 9781626160118
oclc:on1226490758
LC Classification:BJ1401
Dewey Decimal:170

"Evil" and evil -- Evil versus goodness: Satan and other "evildoers" -- Evil as the good in disguise: theodicy and the crisis of meaning -- Evil as "evil": perspectivalism and the construction of evil -- Evil as the absence of Goodness: privation and the ubiquity of wickedness -- Evil as inaction:Augustine, Aristotle, and connecting the thesis of privation to virtue ethics.