The Metaphysics Of Good And Evil

The Metaphysics of Good and Evil

The Metaphysics of Good and Evil is the first, full-length contemporary defence, from the perspective of analytic philosophy, of the Scholastic theory of good and evil – the theory of Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and most medieval and Thomistic philosophers. Goodness is analysed as obedience to nature. Evil is analysed as the privation of goodness. Goodness, surprisingly, is found in the non-living world, but in the living world it takes on a special character. The book analyses various kinds of goodness, showing how they fit into the Scholastic theory. The privation theory of evil is given its most comprehensive contemporary defence, including an account of truthmakers for truths of privation and an analysis of how causation by privation should be understood. In the end, all evil is deviance – a departure from the goodness prescribed by a thing’s essential nature. Key Features: Offers a comprehensive defence of a venerable metaphysical theory, conducted using the concepts and methods of analytic philosophy. Revives a much neglected approach to the question of good and evil in their most general nature. Shows how Aristotelian-Thomistic theory has more than historical relevance to a fundamental philosophical issue, but can be applied in a way that is both defensible and yet accessible to the modern philosopher. Provides what, for the Scholastic philosopher, is arguably the only solid metaphysical foundation for a separate treatment of the origins of morality.

Beyond Good and Evil

A deluxe, high-quality edition of Friedrich Nietzsche’s seminal work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the final books by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This landmark work continues to be one of the most well-known and influential explorations of moral and ethical philosophy ever conceived. Expanding on the concepts from his previous work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche adopts a polemic approach to past philosophers who, in his view, lacked critical sense in accepting flawed premises in their consideration of morality. The metaphysics of morality, Nietzsche argues, should not assume that a good man is simply the opposite of an evil man, rather merely different expression of humanity’s common basic impulses. Controversial in its time, as well as hotly debated in the present, Nietzsche’s work moves beyond conventional ethics to suggest that a universal morality for all human beings in non-existent – perception, reason and experience are not static, but change according to an individual’s perspective and interpretation. The work further argues that philosophic traditions such as “truth,” “self-consciousness” and “free will” are merely inventions of Western morality and that the “will to power” is the real driving force of all human behaviour. This volume: Critiques the belief that actions, including domination or injury to the weak, can be universally objectionable Explores themes of religion and “master and slave” morality Includes a collection of stunning aphorisms and observations of the human condition Part of the bestselling Capstone Classics Series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon,this collectible, hard-back edition of Beyond Good and Evil provides an accessible and insightful Introduction by leading Nietzsche authority Dr Christopher Janaway. This deluxe volume is perfect for anyone with interest in philosophy, psychology, science, history and literature.

The Metaphysics of Good and Evil According to Suárez