The Positive Function of Evil

This collection explores the controversial and perhaps even abject idea that evils, large and small, human and natural, may have a central positive function to play in our lives. For centuries a concern of religious thinkers from the Christian tradition, very little systematic work has been done to explore this idea from the secular point of view.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors Introductory Remarks; P.A.Tabensky Love and the Problem of Evil; R.M.Adams Wrong that is Right? The Paradox of the Felix Culpa ; G.Scarre Love and Emotional Reactions to Necessary Evil; T.Metz Shadows of Goodness; P.A.Tabensky 'Moral Beauty Happens'; R.Bell Murdochian Evil and Striving to Be Good; H.Widdows Tragedy and Reparation; E.Galgut The Psychology of Evil: A Contribution from Psychoanalysis; M.Lacewing Good Citizens and Moral Heroes; A.Morton The Moral Significance of Evil; J.Kekes The Virtues of the Useless: On Goodness, Evil and Beauty; S.Vice References and Bibliography Index

About the Author :
ROBERT MERRIHEW ADAMS is a Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, Mansfield College, Oxford, and Visiting Professor of Philosophy in the University of Oxford, UK RICHARD H. BELL is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, The College of Wooster, Ohio, USA ELISA GALGUT teaches in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa JOHN KEKES is retired Professor of Philosophy now works as an independent author. MICHAEL LACEWING is Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Heythrop College, London, UK THADDEUS METZ is Professor of Philosophy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa ADAM MORTON holds a Canada Research Chair in Epistemology and Decision Theory at the University of Alberta, Canada GEOFFREY SCARRE is Professor of Philosophy, Durham University, UK SAMANTHA VICE is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Rhodes University, South Africa HEATHER WIDDOWS is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, UK

Review :
"An unusual and stimulating collection. The presence of evil in our world, so often discussed from a religious viewpoint, is here tackled from a largely secular perspective. The papers open up a fascinating array of ethical and psychological questions about the human moral predicament." - John Cottingham "It is perhaps no surprise that the country which gave the world the Truth and Reconciliation Commission should also play host to creative and unorthodox work in moral philosophy. Welcome evidence of the fact comes in the shape of this stimulating volume of essays, which explore various aspects of the question whether human life is made better by the presence in it of evil." - Edward Harcourt, University of Oxford, UK