基本信息出版社：Thomas Dunne Books
页码：224 页
出版日期：2004年10月
ISBN：0312312814
International Standard Book Number：0312312814
条形码：9780312312817
EAN：9780312312817
版本：1st
装帧：精装
正文语种：英语
内容简介 "Today our nation saw evil." - President George W. Bush, September 11th 2001
Evil! Like a zombie back from the grave, it has arisen--a word many of us had long ago relegated to Sunday sermons, video games and horror flicks. But of course, evil is not old fashioned, nor has it ever gone away, and may be as robust as ever.
So what is evil? Does it exist? Veteran journalist Bill Hart tries to drag evil out of the darkness and hold it up to the light. In doing so, he has written a very readable account of 5,000 years of philosophy, theology and human history as it reflects and refines its notion of evil.
More than an explanation of why bad things happen, Evil: A Primer is a tour through the nether regions in search of what we really know.
From the Inside Flap
"William Hart's Evil: A Primer is an engaging survey of the very complex problems that litter the conceptual geography of evil. He invites us to look at a roots of the concept and its relationship to religious beliefs and geopolitical issues. He explores the black depths of our intellectual and social history and reveals for us, in a clear and concise fashion, what we all need to be thinking about when politicians, religious leaders, and terrorists use the term 'evil' to describe their enemies. We have heard a great deal in recent years of evil empires and 'the axis of evil,' of evil people and evil actions. William Hart's book provides a foundation for all of us to put such evocations of evil in a proper context."
- Professor Peter A. French, Lincoln Chair in Ethics, Arizona State University and author of Cowboy Metaphysics and The Virtue of Vengeance
作者简介 William Hart is a former long-time newspaper reporter and editor who specialized in the coverage of criminal justice and mental health. He currently works as a public policy research analyst at Arizona State University and lives in Phoenix. This is his first book.
媒体推荐 "William Hart's Evil: A Primer is an engaging survey of the very complex problems that litter the conceptual geography of evil. He invites us to look at a roots of the concept and its relationship to religious beliefs and geopolitical issues. He explores the black depths of our intellectual and social history and reveals for us, in a clear and concise fashion, what we all need to be thinking about when politicians, religious leaders, and terrorists use the term 'evil' to describe their enemies. We have heard a great deal in recent years of evil empires and 'the axis of evil,' of evil people and evil actions. William Hart's book provides a foundation for all of us to put such evocations of evil in a proper context."
- Professor Peter A. French, Lincoln Chair in Ethics, Arizona State University and author of Cowboy Metaphysics and The Virtue of Vengeance
专业书评 From Booklist
The concept of evil has been much bandied about of late, so it is refreshing to see an attempt to bring a discussion of its machinations to the public forum. Hart begins by groping for a workable definition of evil and uses his starting point--specifically, that evil is an "intentional human act that causes extreme harm to innocents and attacks our basic moral order"--to set up a philosophical, historical, and literary tour of Bad Things. Condensing 4,000-odd years of human grappling into a book that is brief and, yes, lighthearted enough to be airport fare is difficult, and Hart deserves praise for presenting a broad range of complex ideas so concisely and accessibly. He also gets credit for having the guts to remind us that we like doing evil things, or at least naughty things. Concision has its flip side, however, and this book's often-flippant eclecticism borders on superficiality; the short shrift that Hart grants unintentional, systemic, banal evil is particularly troubling. As a primer, Hart's book has its qualities. Brendan Driscoll
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