Review by Choice Review
This latest in a surge of books on evil, written by Flescher (Stony Brook Univ.), serves in part as a good review of many of its predecessors--by authors including Claudia Card, Susan Neiman, Carl Goldberg, and John Kekes. Flescher organizes theories of evil into four categories: evil as a rival to goodness in the world (as in Manicheanism); evil as a precursor or as necessary for goodness (as in theodicies); evil as simply a human perspective (as in Nietzsche); and evil as an absence of goodness (as in Augustine). These categories help him create order out of a wide range of competing theories, but also tend to conflate significant differences, in particular, the pain and suffering that come from natural disasters and the moral evil that results from free will. This conflation comes back at the end of Flescher's analysis when he argues for the moral evil in the tsunami that devastated Japan, creating a nuclear nightmare. It also appears in his thesis linking Augustine and Aristotle. This book is valuable for its comprehensiveness and will be useful for all philosophers and nonphilosophers interested in why there is evil in the world. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. S. C. Schwarze Cabrini College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
How does one understand, and cope with, the idea of evil in a world that civilized people devoutly wish was good? How does the presence of deity factor into this world and this wish? These and other questions are answered in this dense, sometimes difficult, work by a fine scholar. Is moral evil simply the absence of good, or is it embodied by deliberative acts and attitudes? The author challenges readers to consider the problem of evil from many perspectives, bringing to his study the thoughts of multiple and varied philosophers and theologians. Flescher, director of the masters program in Compassionate Care, Bioethics, and Medical Humanities at Stony Brook University, takes the reader through a series of four possible models for comprehending moral evil. Along the way, he lays out ways for ethicists and philosophers to come to grips with the sometimes conflicting prescriptions for understanding and change. At times the author creates more questions than answers, but he never fails to fascinate. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Flescher (preventative medicine, Stony Brook Univ.; The Altruistic Species: Scientific, Philosophical, and Religious Perspectives of Human Benevolence) examines four and a half answers to the questions: What is evil, and how should one respond to it? While acknowledging a fair amount of interplay among the various stances, Flescher provides a lucid overview of the dualistic or Manichean (religious and philosophical) view of evil, evil as good in disguise (a defense of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil), good and evil as illusions, and evil as a privation of goodness (as in the philosophy of St. Augustine). What is more remarkable is the text's deft movement between theological and secular interpretations of these conceptions. Flescher's critique of each of these views centers less on the philosophical consistency of each position (though there is that) and instead focuses on the adequacy of how one encounters and confronts what we generally take to be evil; his book is so arranged that latter conceptions address the inadequacies of former ones. Flescher prefers the Augustinian view but expands upon it with Aristotle's virtue ethic, though as he explores the issue, it feels more like Augustine rounding out Aristotle. VERDICT An engaging work for almost anyone for whom the nurturing of moral goodness is important.-James Wetherbee, Wingate Univ. Libs., NC (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
