Evil Actions, Evildoers, and Evil People
| Abstract | Typically, philosophers interested in evil have typically been concerned with reconciling (or not) the apparent existence of gratuitous suffering with the existence of an omnipotent and omniscient and supremely loving and caring Deity. Undeniably, ‘evil’ functions as a mass noun: note the intelligibility of asking “Why is there so much evil in the world?” But ‘evil’ sometimes functions as an adjective and is used variously to describe persons, actions, desires, motives, and intentions; Joel Feinberg even speaks of “evil smells.” In what follows, I shall consider the relationship between evil actions, evildoers—that is, persons disposed to perform evil actions—and evil people. Roughly, I defend the simple thesis that being an evil person just is being an evildoer. | |||||||||
| Keywords | evil evildoer vice | |||||||||
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Similar books and articlesSteven J. Jensen (2010). Good and Evil Actions: A Journey Through Saint Thomas Aquinas. Catholic University of America Press.
Adam Morton (2004). On Evil. Routledge.
Peter Brian Barry (2010). Extremity of Vice and the Character of Evil. Journal of Philosophical Research 35:25-42.
Marcus G. Singer (2004). The Concept of Evil. Philosophy 79 (2):185-214.
John F. Crosby (2001). Is All Evil Really Only Privation? Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 75:197-209.
Michael Gelven (1998). This Side of Evil. Marquette University Press.
Luke Russell (forthcoming). Dispositional Accounts of Evil Personhood. Philosophical Studies.
Lars Fr H. Svendsen (2010). A Philosophy of Evil. Dalkey Archive Press.
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