Average customer rating:
|
The Nature of Evil
Daryl Koehn
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Ethics & Morality
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Good & Evil
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Metaphysics
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Religious
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Philosophy
| Theology
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 1403968942
Release Date: 2005-02-24 |
Book Description
In The Nature of Evil, Daryl Koehn takes us on a sweeping tour of different interpretations of evil. In this timely and serious discussion she argues that evil is not intentional malice, but rather violence that stems from a false sense of self. Violence is not true evil but a symptom of the underlying evil of our failure to really know who we are. Koehn examines situations in which good intentions can have horrific results. She explores such works as The Talented Mr. Ripley, Dante's Inferno, and The Turn of the Screw to illustrate the origins of evil and suffering. The Nature of Evil offers an insightful and engaging exploration at a time when we are all struggling to understand the roots of violence and suffering.
Customer Reviews:
A guide for living........2005-07-05
I have always believed in being a good person, but the mechanics of goodness have always eluded me. There are several theories on what is right, in action and in thought, but most are contradictory and ambiguous. The Nature of Evil is a philosophical book of literary criticism that feels at times like a self-help reference.
It explores evil through the works of fiction, by bringing the reader to the level of the characters, each experience becomes real, the author brings a new interpretation of old works, each containing a different view of evil. A way to recognize the forms that evil takes and how to prevent it through example.
This is a book for anyone whit an inquiring mind who wants to take a different look at his belief system, it advocates no religion, only the perfecting of self through understanding what evil is, an ambiguous concept that Daryl Kohen clarifies by showing us what it isn't.
Perfect for those who want to lead a good life, but aren't sure how because the motivation books are too insubstantial to give real meaning.
Book Description
God and the Problem of Evil considers the question of whether the amount of seemingly pointless malice and suffering in our world counts against the rationality of belief in God, a being who is understood to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good.Beginning with historically significant essays by Leibniz and Hume, the book then focuses on contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. The volume concludes with three important articles that sketch an explanation of why God might need to permit the terrible evils that abound in our world.The study of these essays and replies will provide students with a thorough understanding of the central issues involved in the problem of evil.
Amazon.com
Celebrity psychic Sylvia Browne offers this third installment in her Journey of the Soul series. Readers familiar with Browne's beliefs of Gnostic Christianity (The Society of Novus Spiritus) know that she is an advocate of studying questions rather than dogma. As she has with the other two books in the series (God, Creation, and Tools for Life, Soul's Perfection), Browne uses her own voice as well as the channeled voices of her spirit guides Francine and Raheim. Fans of Browne's are already comfortable with the notion of benevolent spirit guides and shifting narration. What they may find disappointing, however, is the disjointed structure of the book, which seems to follows Browne's stream of consciousness instead of an organizing intelligence. As a result, it's hard to glean the gems within this tangential book. The discussion is at its best when it hones in with a question-and-answer format, such as the section when Francine answers the following questions: Did [dark entities] have a leader? "No, and they never will...." And, Can we judge the darkness? "Oh, we can judge darkness, and we must...."
Book Description
This book gives you the philosophical framework to understand the nature of good and evil. When you see how evil originated, and why it thrives in our world, you are more prepared to face it and overcome it. Knowledge is power, and this book gives you an enormous power boost to see the bigger picture of God's plan.
Customer Reviews:
ok.......2007-03-27
In this third book of the Journey of the Soul series I feel that Sylvia got a little off track from the title. But still enjoyed the message. I throughly enjoyed the first two books of the series and gleaned much enlightening information and a new found understanding of myself. Overall I feel it was a Journey of MY Soul!!!
Always Informative.......2005-09-10
I have to tell ya...sylvia is just one of my favorite people on the planet...I am bit biased....hehehe..i have read 10 or more of her books and i just love them all:)))
Great Book!.......2002-02-23
This is a great book for those who want to know about life. When you read her books it really makes you think. I have read just about all of her books and one thing I have learned is to ask questions, especially when it comes to the bible. In regards to the review below, I think Syliva was trying to tell you that the bible is written in parables. Not all of it is true to the fact. Some parts are and some parts are just down right ridiculous. You have to think. It's like the story of Adam and Eve. Did the world come from just the two of them? Of course not!! Most people read the bible and take it for it's word. Think of how you tell a story in a room full of people. Is it exactly the same when it gets back to you? Most of the time the answer is no. So now think of the bible being written by many other people, and then it being passed on for thousands of years. Yes, I believe that we have a mother and father god. It is logical. We exists as male and female. Why wouldn't we have a male and female god? Also, she-mother god- is mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls that the churches have tried to hide from the public. These Scrolls were written way before the first bible was written. Anyway, the book is great! I would recommend all her books to anyone who wants to find out the truth about life, and how to deal with it while we are here to fulfill our contract with god.
"Understanding Evil - At Last".......2001-12-16
This is the first of Sylvia's I have read. It really opened my mind and my heart. I realized through her knowledge and enlightenment that I was more spiritual than I thought. It surprised me. I believe Sylvia is the "real thing". I do not detect one word of insincereness. She can make you laugh without making "fun" of the subject at hand. I believe more in God and the Holy Spirit the way she does. She put into words what I had been feeling but not knowing why. So, if you want to search your soul - READ THIS! Evil is everywhere, you must protect yourself from it. This book shows you how. Sylvia can provide the comfort your soul may be seeking.She did mine. I don't live in fear any more. THANK YOU SYLVIA!!! A MUST READ FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN SPIRITUALITY.
Sylvia Strikes Again.......2001-09-26
I loved this book. Because of it I pray to Azna more and talk to my spirit guide more. I enjoyed reading about Nuvo, where my best friend is from.
Book Description
This is a reissue of a book which is an exploration and defence of the notion of modality 'de re', the idea that objects have both essential and accidental properties. It is one of the first full-length studies of the modalities to emerge from the debate to which Saul Kripke, David Lewis, Ruth Marcus and others have contributed. The argument is developed by means of the notion of possible worlds, and ranges over key problems including the nature of essence, trans-world identity, negative existential propositions, and the existence of unactual objects in other possible worlds. In the final chapters Professor Plantinga applies his logical theories to the clarification of two problems in the philosophy of religion - the Problem of Evil and the Ontological Argument.
Customer Reviews:
valuable and not at all wrong, but importantly incomplete.......2006-09-28
Plantinga's aim at the outset of this book is to defend the notion of de re (of objects) necessity against those (most notably Quine) who contend that all necessity is de dicto (of words). His strategy is not unlike that of his apologetics-style work in philosophy of religion such as _Warranted Christian Belief_ (25 years later!) in that he takes the more limited tack of meeting opposing arguments rather than positively establishing his own considered position. As in _WCB_, in _NN_ it is the de jure question of "is this not on all fours" rather than the de facto "is it true".
In the matter of Christian faith, this is a more or less fruitful and appropriate _philosophical_ route to take (since the de facto question in this case would be one that properly goes beyond human reason and philosophy), but in the case of this book it makes for an incomplete study, to my mind, of a topic that is philosophically important through-and-through. Plantinga gives no clue as to how we would actually _find out_ what the essential and what the accidental properties of a thing are, and the ongoing implicit assumption at work seems to be that our untutored intuitions are entirely reliable in this capacity. Plantinga's own approach does nothing to stave off any suspicions that his own procedure for picking out some properties as essential and other as accidental is any less "invidious" than Quine thought. For example, the favored example of an accidental property is Socrates as "snubnosed," but how is this to be played out? Assuming Socrates' snubnosedness is hereditary and not the result of an unfortunate encounter with a wall, it must be taken to be possible that Socrates' genetic makeup be different than it was. If that is granted (instead of saying, as I would, that counterfactual genetic difference in Socrates would have made for a person other than Socrates himself), then there's no bar to almost any feature of Socrates one would care to name coming out accidental, except the stipulation that he be "Socrates" (the referent of the proper name, in actual fact). Indeed, Plantinga actually takes seriously and even countenances the possibility of a reptilian Socrates! (Presumably, Plantinga would take the "conceivability" of Socrates as an alligator to be an argument for dualism--to anyone who thinks that, I direct you straight to Mark Johnston's "Human Beings"--but I'm getting off topic.)
That said, there is a lot of valuable work done here on the structure of modality de dicto and de re, from Plantinga's "kernel function" of expressing de re modal ascriptions in terms of the de dicto, through the nature of essence, worlds, "books," and so forth. One interesting quirk is that Plantinga seems to think the accessibility relation has some heuristic value for describing epistemic relations, but has no objective reality. This is a bit contentious, really, and he does not acknowledge other views on the subject. For that matter, this book is not at all a treatise on modal logic per se: you'll get no explorations of the various systems, S4, S5, etc., and their metaphysical implications to the system presented here. There are a lot of good points made about David Lewis's counterpart theory (the one rival to the "received" modal metaphysics Plantinga expounds on here), though, and some devastating criticisms of it on semantic grounds, especially.
The last few chapters see an application of the foregoing to some important topics in philosophical theology, and the results are a valuable resource for students of these topics. Plantinga's exploration of versions of the Ontological Argument I found especially interesting. The appendix examines, in somewhat greater detail than in the body of the book, various views on de re modality, and it's helpful to those who may want to look at the issue carefully.
This is one of the more difficult and technical philosophy works that I've read, but I found it (yes, you guessed it) valuable and helpful.
An enduring classic.......2001-01-31
Plantinga's Nature of Necessity is a philosophical masterpiece. Although there are a number of good books in analytic philosophy dealing with modality (the concepts of necessity and possibility), this one is of sufficient clarity and breadth that even non-philosophers will benefit from it.
Modal logic may seem like a fairly arcane subject to outsiders, but this book exhibits both its intrinsic interest and its general importance. If you think there are good and bad arguments, conclusions that follow from some premises but not others, then you ought to be concerned with modal logic. If you're interested in the problem of evil and the ontological argument for the existence of God, you should read this book.
The Nature of Necessity has the added virtue that it maps most peoples' modal intuitions quite well (unlike some modal theories). Perhaps it is for this reason that certain philosophers treat the book a bit snippishly. I've read the book a half a dozen times; and I'll probably read it a few more times before it's all said and done.
Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.......1999-06-10
I am always amazed at how overwhelmingly positive the reception of Alvin's book has been. When sycophantic readers describe this book as one of the greatest works of metaphysics of 'all time' (see above), I take personal effront. Granted, Alvin is a kind and witty man, but his treatment of de re modality and possible worlds theory leaves much to be desired--however 'funny' that treatment may be. Alvin is clear, to be sure--clearly wrong. Nevertheless, as a colleague and friend, I am both professionally and personally obliged to recommend this book unreservedly. I would strongly advise you spend your time reading 'counterfactuals' instead, but, alas, this book is now out of print. Then again, if we are to believe Al, this is just a modal accident.
The classic work on the metaphysics of modality........1997-07-19
Perhaps Peter van Inwagen put it best when he called this book a "treasure trove." Plantinga's _The Nature of Necessity_ contains deep and sophisticated work on some of most important and interesting issues in metaphysics: de re modality, the nature of essences and possible worlds, nonexistent objects, and the Ontological Argument. As far as this reviewer is concerned, Plantinga's work stands as one of the greatest works of metaphysics of *all time*. I cannot recommend it highly enough
Excellent application of Modal Logic to traditional problems.......1997-06-20
Plantinga always amazes me with both the subtlety and clarity of his thought. His application of abstract logical theory to traditional philisophical problems is inspired and inspiring, opening up some new avenues of thought in places we believed too travel-worn to bother with
Book Description
God Owes Us Nothing reflects on the centuries-long debate in Christianity: how do we reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the goodness of an omnipotent God, and how does God's omnipotence relate to people's responsibility for their own salvation or damnation. Leszek Kolakowski approaches this paradox as both an exercise in theology and in revisionist Christian history based on philosophical analysis. Kolakowski's unorthodox interpretation of the history of modern Christianity provokes renewed discussion about the historical, intellectual, and cultural omnipotence of neo-Augustinianism.
"Several books a year wrestle with that hoary conundrum, but few so dazzlingly as the Polish philosopher's latest."—Carlin Romano, Washington Post Book World
"Kolakowski's fascinating book and its debatable thesis raise intriguing historical and theological questions well worth pursuing."—Stephen J. Duffy, Theological Studies
"Kolakowski's elegant meditation is a masterpiece of cultural and religious criticism."—Henry Carrigan, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and thought provoking!.......2006-06-03
The title refers to the Augustinian-Jansenist view according to which human beings are absolutely incapable, through their efforts unaided by grace, to please God and to rightfully expect his mercy. The book consists of two parts: the first part focuses on the five Jansenist propositions that were condemned by the Church; the second part deals with Pascal's "sad religion," and its overly theocentric mentality (to shed tears for the death of on'e loved ones and to laugh are unorthy of a Christian).
The main points the author makes are:
* Jansenius correctly interpreted Augustine's theology of grace. Anybody who says otherwise is in bad faith. (Has anybody gotten a chance to peruse Jansenius's opus magnus, Augustinus? I have! There are HUNDREDS of quotations from Augustine's work: anybody who rejects Jansenius' understanding of Augustine OWES a major production of eveidence to that effect!)
* The Church rightly condemned Jansenius. It had to, in order to survive and avoid holing itself up or to go out of the socio-cultural scene as an obsolete phenomenon. The alternative would have been to turn into a little sect of saints (a la Amish), unable to influence the world at large and to become a cultural oddity. The author concludes that the Church loses out when it lives with a besieged fortress mentality. The all-or nothing mentality is a recipe for disaster.
* The Church therefore rightly condemned some Augustinian theological views.
* The Church began to de-Augustinize itself. "It was a momentous event in the history of the Church when it exploited this occasion, adopting practically the Jesuit (or semi-Pelagian) doctrine in the crucial questions of original sin, grace and predestination, and thereby breaking -tacitly, needless to say - with a very important part of its theological heritage and shaping its teaching accordingly." (p. 31)
Book Description
‘We desire all and only those things we conceive to be good; we avoid what we conceive to be bad.’ This slogan was once the standard view of the relationship between desire or motivation and rational evaluation. Many critics have rejected this scholastic formula as either trivial or wrong. It appears to be trivial if we just define the good as ‘what we want’, and wrong if we consider apparent conflicts between what we seem to want and what we seem to think is good. In Appearances of the Good, Sergio Tenenbaum argues that the old slogan is both significant and right, even in cases of apparent conflict between our desires and our evaluative judgments. Maintaining that the good is the formal end of practical inquiry in much the same way as truth is the formal end of theoretical inquiry, he provides a fully unified account of motivation and evaluation.
Book Description
Why does a loving God allow humans to suffer so much? This is one of the most difficult problems of religious belief. Richard Swinburne gives a careful, clear examination of this problem, and offers an answer: it is because God wants more for us than just pleasure or freedom from suffering. Swinburne argues that God wants humans to learn and to love, to make the choices which make great differences for good and evil to each other, to form our characters in the way we choose; above all to be of great use to each other. If we are to have all this, there will inevitably be suffering for the short period of our lives on Earth. But because of the good that God gives to humans in this life, and because he makes it possible for us, through our choice, to share the life of Heaven, he does not wrong us if he allows suffering. Providence and the Problem of Evil is the final volume of Richard Swinburne's acclaimed tetralogy on Christian doctrine. It may be read on its own as a self-standing treatment of this eternal philosophical issue. Readers who are interested in a unified study of the philosophical foundations of Christian belief will find it now in the tetralogy and in his trilogy on the philosophy of theism.
Customer Reviews:
Swinburnes theodicy.......2005-11-18
Swinburne developed in this book a traditional christian theodicy, i.e. an explanation why there is no contradiction between the existence of God and the tremendous amount of Evil in this world.
He described the theological and philosophical concepts neccessary to grasp the christian image of God very concise and easy to understand. This alone makes this book a good read.
But there are also drawbacks:
His assumption that a omniscient God doesn't know the future of sentient agents with free will shatters the whole concept of God's omniscience (to be fair, Swinburne recognizes this to some extent in citing a different view on this topic). But his free will thesis is a building block of his theodicy and runs into the question whether Swinburnes presupposed image of God is compatible with the christian image of God at all.
Furthermore, Swinburne failed in conclusively showing that the Good outweighs the Evil in the world and that it is morally permissible for God to let an individual agent suffer in order to obtain a "greater" Good not connected to this agent.
swinburne on evil.......2000-02-22
In Providence and the Problem of Evil, Swinburne finally gives us a full-length treatment of evil. Swinburne presents us with an explanation of evil that focuses not just on our free will, but on the importance of mutual responsibility as a prerequisite of free will. Admirably, Swinburne attempts to integrate an account of natural evil into his account of moral evil. Natural evil is ultimately the result of a law-governed world, again a prerequisite for significant free will. Despite the usual intellectual rigor and vivacity of his work, there are some problems which Swinburne has left unresolved. First, his account of evil often falls flat in the face of concrete evil, requiring that we see such things as childhood cancer as a good thing because of the opportunities it affords us to be caring. It rings especially hollow in the face of tremendous evil like the Holocaust. Second, Swinburne does not fully treat a problem raised by J.L. Mackie some 30 years ago--that every opportunity for higher-order good (such as caring, sympathy and the like) are also opportunities for higher-order evil. Lastly, Swinburne never takes seriously the fact that his treatment of natural evil is really no more than the atheist has to say about the issue with the further complication of God and free will being added to the picture. As Swinburne himself in his other works focuses on simplicity as the be-all and end-all of explanation, this lacuna is greatly regrettable. However, despite its problems, Swinburne's book is an excellent attempt to grapple with a serious issue, and thus is time well spent.
Books:
- The Seat of the Soul
- The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman's Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras
- The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Strongest Strong's)
- The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Strongest Strong's)
- The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
- Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 17: Clone Saga
- Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance (from Evil Spirits)
- Violence and the Sacred
- Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction to Its History, Faith, and Worship
- Would You Rather : Over 200 Absolutely Absurd Dilemmas to Ponder
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only
- The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea
- Memoirs of a Space Traveler: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy
- Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Pas
- Open Secret: Gay Hollywood 1928-1998
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, Third Edition
- Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemolo
- Model Tax Convention: Attribution of Income to Permanent Establishments
- Organizing for Success
- How Do You Spell Haagen-Dazs
Jesus of Nazareth
God, Christ And Us (Continuum Icons)
The Good Life
Faith Within Reason
The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St. Andrews in 2003
