Territories of evil / edited by Nancy Ballias.

• Superior document: At the interface/probing the boundaries ; v. 45
• TeilnehmendeR: Billias, Nancy.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: At the interface/probing the boundaries ; v. 45.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (263 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Evil is not only an abstract concept to be analyzed intellectually, but a concrete reality that we all experience and wrestle with on an ongoing basis. To truly understand evil we must always approach it from both angles: the intellective and the phenomenological. This same assertion resounds through each of the papers in this volume, in which an interdisciplinary and international group (including nurses, psychologists, philosophers, professors of literature, history, computer studies, and all sorts of social science) presented papers on cannibalism, the Holocaust, terrorism, physical and emotional abuse, virtual and actual violence, and depravity in a variety of media, from film to literature to animé to the Internet. Conference participants discussed villains and victims, dictators and anti-heroes, from 921 AD to the present, and considered the future of evil from a number of theoretical perspectives. Personal encounters with evil were described and analyzed, from interviews with political leaders to the problems of locating and destroying land mines in previous war zones. The theme of responsibility and thinking for the future is very much at the heart of these papers: how to approach evil as a question to be explored, critiqued, interrogated, reflected upon, owned. The authors urge an attitude of openness to new interpretations, new perspectives, new understanding. This may not be a comfortable process; it may in fact be quite disturbing. But ultimately, it may be the only way forward towards a truly ethical response. The papers in this collection provide a wealth of food for thought on this most important question.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Nancy Billias -- Considering Evil / Nancy Billias -- The Devil You Think You Know: A Psychology of Evil / Christopher T. Burris and John K. Rempel -- How Civilians Became Targets: The Moral Catastrophe of “Collateral Damage” / William Andrew Myers -- Evil and the Loss of Intellect / Wayne Cristaudo -- Bonds of Authoritarianism and the Embodiment of Political Evil: An Interview with President Echeverría / Alejandro Cervantes-Carson -- Warfare, Pacifism, or Sabotage: Eastern Christian Responses to Political Aggression / Stephen Morris -- The Uncanny and the Feminine Sublime in Japanese Political Fantasy / Charles W. Nuckolls -- Demurring to Doom: The Geopolitics of Prevailing / Lee Quinby -- Post-modern Narratives of Evil and 9-11: The Case of Frédéric Beigbeder / Scott M. Powers -- You Are What You Eat: Cannibalism, Autophagy and the Case of Armin Meiwes / Roger Davis -- Adorno and the Guilt of Thinking / Anders Johansson -- As Others See Us: A Critical Reflection of the Role of Humanitarian Landmine Action Organisations / Graeme R. Goldsworthy -- ‘Paedophiles’ in Contemporary Culture / Sarah Dalal Goode -- Terrorism: Within and Without / Nancy Billias -- Born to be Bad or Born to Die? Evil and Finitude in Freud’s Death Drive / Havi Hannah Carel -- Notes on Contributors.