1st Edition

The History of Evil in the Early Twentieth Century 1900–1950 CE

By Victoria Harrison Copyright 2018
    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    The fifth volume of The History of Evil covers the twentieth century from 1900 through 1950. The period saw the maturation of intellectual movements such as Pragmatism and Phenomenology, and the full emergence of several new academic disciplines; all these provided novel intellectual tools that were used to shed light on a human capacity for evil that was becoming increasingly hard to ignore. An underlying theme of this volume is the effort to reconstruct an understanding of human nature after confidence in its intrinsic goodness and moral character had been shaken by world events. The chapters in this volume cover globally relevant topics such as education, propaganda, power, oppression, and genocide, and include perspectives on evil drawn from across the world. Theological and atheistic responses to evil are also examined in the volume.



    This outstanding treatment of approaches to evil at a determinative period of modernity will appeal to those with interests in the intellectual history of the era, as well as to those with interests in the political, philosophical and theological movements that matured within it.  



    Contents

    Editors and contributors

    Series Introduction

    Introduction

    Victoria S. Harrison

    1. Pragmatism and Evil: Charles Peirce and William James

    David L. O’Hara

    2. Education and Approaches to Evil

    Nel Noddings

    3. Phenomenology

    Eric Chelstrom

    4. Psychology and Evil: from Freud to Skinner
    Rachel B. Blass

    5. Science and Evil

    Christopher Southgate

    6. Theological Currents

    Russell Re Manning

    7. Death of God

    Balázs M. Mezei

    8. Suffering and Liberation

    Xue Yu

    9. Philosophical Perspectives on Suffering and Evil in Colonial India

    Nalini Bhushan

    10. Pacifism and Non-Violent Resistance

    Timothy Paul Erdel

    11. Power and Freedom
    Jeffery A. Smith

    12. Genocide

    Raimond Gaita

    13. Anarchism and Evil

    Jan Narveson

    14. Marxism, Stalin, and the Question of Evil

    Bill Martin

    15. The Maoist Perspective on Evil

    Xiufen Lu

    16. The Charisma of Evil: Hitler and Propaganda

    Rhett Gayle

    17. Representations of Evil in Early Film

    Mara Naselli

    Index

    Biography



    Victoria S. Harrison is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Macau, China.



    Chad Meister is Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Bethel College, USA.



    Charles Taliaferro is Professor of Philosophy at St Olaf College, USA.

    "Covering a period perhaps more terrible than any other for the amount of evil suffered and perpetrated, this wide-ranging volume offers a variety of perspectives, philosophical, theological, moral and political, for reflecting on the horrors of our all too recent history." John Cottingham, University of Roehampton and University of Reading, UK

    A rich, lucid and wide-ranging collection, offering refreshingly new perspectives on evil and suffering in the early 20th century. Anyone interested in gaining insight into the nature of evil, its metaphysical, theological, psychological or political foundations, and the inspiring attempts to defeat it throughout the globe, from East to West, using educational, socio-political, scientific or contemplative means, will find rich food for thought in this superb collection. Nehama Verbin, Tel Aviv University, Israel.