Radical evil and the scarcity of hope : postsecular meditations

313 Pages·2008·1.316 MB·English

by  Matuštík, Martin Joseph

Philosophy
Religion
M
Opens a way for hope, forgiveness, redemption, a
R A DIC A L E V IL
t
and love to spring from evil u
š
t
ík AND THE
“In a world fi lled with war, torture, and cruelty, where millions of people

die of diseases related to malnutrition or inadequate health care each year,
R
Matuštík’s book is an important and innovative inquiry into an age-old SC A RCIT Y
A
problem.” —Rabbi Michael Lerner, Tikkun
D

OF HOPE
“Matuštík has drawn a profound and convincing portrait of the possibility I
C
of hope in the face of the excess of radical evil, which he describes, adapting
A
the language of Jean-Luc Marion, as a ‘negative saturated phenomenon.’ Th e
L
book is analytically rigorous and carefully constructed, even as it addresses

the darkest and most imponderable depth of human life. It is rich in erudi- E
tion and passionate in its search.” —John D. Caputo, Syracuse University V
I
L
No one will deny that we live in a world where evil exists. But how are we

to come to grips with human atrocity and its diabolical intensity? Martin A
N
Beck Matuštík considers evil to be even more radically evil than previously
D
thought and to have become all too familiar in everyday life. While we can

name various moral wrongs and specifi c cruelties, Matuštík maintains that T
radical evil understood as a religious phenomenon requires a religious re- H
sponse where the language of hope, forgiveness, redemption, and love can E

take us beyond unspeakable harm and irreparable violence. Drawing upon S
C
the work of Kant, Schelling, Kierkegaard, Levinas, Derrida, and Marion,
this work is written as a series of meditations. Matuštík presents a bold new A
way of dealing with one of humanity’s most intractable problems. R
C
Martin Beck Matuštík is Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University. I
T
He is author of Jürgen Habermas: A Philosophical-Political Profi le and edi-
Y
tor (with Merold Westphal) of Kierkegaard in Post/Modernity (Indiana

University Press, 1995). O POSTSECULAR
F
Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion MEDITATIONS
H
merold westphal, editor
O
INDIANA
P
E
University Press

Bloomington & Indianapolis IN Martin Beck Matuštík
http://iupress.indiana.edu D
I
A
1-800-842-6796
N
A
Cover illustration: A bird sits on a tree during a solar eclipse
in Islamabad, 29 March 2006. AFP PHOTO/Aamir Qureshi.
RADICAL EVIL
AND THE
SCARCITY OF HOPE
IndianaSeriesinthePhilosophyofReligion
MeroldWestphal,editor
Radical Evil
and the
Scarcity of Hope
Postsecular Meditations
MARTIN BECK MATUŠTÍK
IndianaUniversityPress
BloomingtonandIndianapolis
Thisbookisapublicationof
IndianaUniversityPress
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Allrightsreserved
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Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof
AmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences—Permanenceof
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
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Matuštík,MartinBeck,date
Radicalevilandthescarcityofhope:postsecularmeditations/
MartinBeckMatuštík.
p.cm.— (Indianaseriesinthephilosophyofreligion)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-253-35104-3(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-253-21968-8(pbk.:alk.paper)1.Goodandevil.2.
Hope.3.Goodandevil—Religiousaspects.4.Hope—Religiousaspects.
I.Title.
BJ1401.M272008
170—dc22
2007035573
1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09 08
Tomythreematernalgreat-aunts
MurderedinAuschwitzwiththeirhusbandsandyoungchildren
Tomyfirstborngreat-auntwholivedthrough
Auschwitzwithherdaughter
Tomytwogreat-uncleswhosurvivedthewaronthe
RussianfrontandwiththeSlovakpartisans
Tomymaternalgrandfatherandgrandmotherwhooutran
transportsandcaptureinSlovakiawiththeirentirefamily
Ineverknewanyofthem
Yettheirstoriestaughtmeaboutthefacesofevilandhope

Love is as strong as death
—Solomon’s Song of Songs,
chapter 8, verse 6

CONTENTS
 ⁄ xi
Part1.ImpossibleHope 
1.JobatAuschwitz 
2.RedemptiveCriticalTheory 
3.BetweenHopeandTerror 
Part2.TheNegativelySaturatedPhenomenon 
4.JobQuestionsKant 
5.RedemptioninanAntiredemptoryAge 
6.RadicalEvilasaSaturatedPhenomenon 
Part3.TheUncanny 
7.TheUnforgivable 
8.TragicBeauty 
9.TheUnspeakable 
10.WithoutaWhy 
Epilogue:JobQuestionstheGrandInquisitor 
 ⁄ 
  ⁄ 
 ⁄ 