Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception

412 Pages·2004·1.68 MB·English

by  Raimond Gaita

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GOOD AND EVIL
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8 Reviews of the first edition
9 ‘I would not have believed that a work in moral philosophy could,
in our present age, have such depth, brilliance and force.’ Norman
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Malcolm
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‘An outstanding contribution to moral philosophy.’ Alasdair
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MacIntyre
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‘Profound, moving ... the book is full of splendidly original and
4 insightful discussions.’ Antony Duff, Philosophical Books
5 ‘Subtle, profound and immensely valuable ...’ Paul Standish, Journal
6 of Moral Education
7 ‘... one of the deepest works of ethics I have read.’ Lars Hertzberg,
Philosophical Investigations
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‘It is a marvellous work, one which ought to change the tone as well
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as the focus of much contemporary moral philosophy.’ Bernadette
20111 Tobin, The Australian
1 ‘... a superb, richly textured discussion which engages directly with
2 real people and their deeply serious moral concerns.’ Brenda Almond,
THES
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‘One can only acknowledge the justice and admire the acuteness of
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many of its critical contributions to contemporary debates in moral
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philosophy.’ A. D. M. Walker, Journal of Applied Philosophy
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‘Gaita’s book is very important and needs to be addressed.’ Michael
7 McGee, The Philosophical Quarterly
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Raimond Gaita’s Good and Evilis one of the most important, original and
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provocative books on the nature of morality to have been published in
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recent years. It is essential reading for anyone interested in what it means
1 to talk about good and evil. Gaita argues that questions about morality
2 are inseparable from the preciousness of each human being, an issue we
3 can only address if we place the idea of remorse at the centre of moral life.
Drawing on an astonishing range of thinkers and writers, including Plato,
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Wittgenstein, George Orwell and Primo Levi, Gaita also reflects on the
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place of reason and truth in morality and ultimately how questions about
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good and evil are connected to the meaning of our lives.
7 This revised edition of Good and Evilincludes a substantial new preface
3811 and afterword by the author.
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GOOD AND EVIL
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An Absolute Conception
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6 Raimond Gaita
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2 First published 1991
by Macmillan
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This new edition first published 2004
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by Routledge
5 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
7 by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group
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20111 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
1 “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
2 collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
3 © Raimond Gaita, 1991, this edition 2004
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
5 reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
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invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
7 information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
8 writing from the publishers.
9 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
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from the British Library
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
2 A catalog record for this title has been requested
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ISBN 0-203-48912-8 Master e-book ISBN
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6 ISBN 0-203-57458-3 (Adobe eReader Format)
7 ISBN 0–415–33288–5 (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–33289–3 (pbk)
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31 For Martin Winkler,
4 teacher and friend
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Contents
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31 Preface to the first edition ix
4 Preface to the second edition xi
5 Acknowledgements for the first edition xxxvii
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8 1 EVIL AND UNCONDITIONAL RESPECT 1
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20111 2 THE SCOPE OF ACADEMIC MORAL PHILOSOPHY 11
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2 3 MORTAL MEN AND RATIONAL BEINGS 24
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4 4 REMORSE AND ITS LESSONS 43
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6 5 EVIL DONE AND EVIL SUFFERED 64
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8 6 NATURALISM 74
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4 9 INDIVIDUALITY 141
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6 10 ‘AN ATTITUDE TOWARDS A SOUL’ 164
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3811 11 GOODNESS 189
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CONTENTS
1111 12 ETHICAL OTHER-WORLDLINESS 207
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3 13 ‘THE REPUDIATION OF MORALITY’ 229
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51 14 ETHICS AND POLITICS 245
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7 15 MORAL UNDERSTANDING 264
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9 16 TRUTH 283
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1 17 FEARLESS THINKERS AND EVIL THOUGHTS 308
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4 Afterword 331
5 Notes 342
6 Index 367
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Preface to the
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31 This book began as a PhD thesis under the supervision of R. F.
4 Holland. I owe very much to him as will be evident to anyone who
5 knows his work. I also owe much – probably more than I am any
6 longer able to tell – to many years of critical but sympathetic discus-
7 sion with Peter Winch and Marina Barabas.
8 Also, but again in ways that are hard to specify, I owe much to
9 the students at the University of London, especially those at King’s
20111 College, who, since 1977, suffered my explorations of the themes
1 of this book and who helped me to formulate my thoughts more
2 clearly.
3 I am grateful to Paul McLaughlin for his comments on the final
4 draft.
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