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,
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Also by Pedro Alexis Tabensky HAPPINESS: PERSONHOOD, COMMUNITY, PURPOSE JUDGING AND UNDERSTANDING: ESSAYS ON FREE WILL, NARRATIVE, MEANING AND THE MORAL LIMITS OF CONDEMNATION (editor)
The Positive Function of Evil Edited by
Pedro Alexis Tabensky Department of Philosophy Rhodes University
Selection and editorial matter© Pedro Alexis Tabensky 2009 Chapters © their authors 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-21955-7 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-30502-5 ISBN 978-0-230-24226-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230242265 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
To Sally, for her loving support and formidable intellectual presence, and to Noah, for being a superlative brute
Damocles never danced better than beneath the sword. (Albert Camus, citing Nietzsche)
Contents Acknowledgements
viii
Notes on Contributors
ix
Introductory Remarks
xii
1
Love and the Problem of Evil Robert Merrihew Adams
1
2
Wrong that is Right? The Paradox of the ‘Felix Culpa’ Geoffrey Scarre
14
3
Love and Emotional Reactions to Necessary Evils Thaddeus Metz
28
4
Shadows of Goodness Pedro Alexis Tabensky
45
5
“Moral Beauty Happens” Richard H. Bell
66
6
Murdochian Evil and Striving to be Good Heather Widdows
81
7
Tragedy and Reparation Elisa Galgut
98
8
The Psychology of Evil: A Contribution from Psychoanalysis Michael La
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