Description
Paul W. Kahn's book is one of the deepest meditations on evil that I have read. It is insightful, rich, and original. Its main merit is the particular existential line of inquiry that it offers--uncovering the root of evil in the human condition itself. It therefore avoids the sort of investigation that is so common concerning evil, which concentrates on the social and political conditions that trigger evil. Kahn weaves this existential inquiry through an interpretation of the Genesis myth of the fall, postulating the source of evil in the human condition of knowledge, shame, and death. It is one of the most compelling modern readings of Genesis that I have encountered. -- Moshe Halbertal, Hebrew University, Jerusalem Out of Eden is an extraordinary, deeply original reflection on the nature of evil. -- David Luban, Georgetown University
About the Author
Paul W. Kahn is the Robert W. Winner Professor of Law and the Humanities at Yale Law School and director of the Orville H. Schell, Jr., Center for International Human Rights at Yale University. His books include "Putting Liberalism in Its Place" (Princeton), "Law and Love", "The Cultural Study of Law", "The Reign of Law", and "Legitimacy and History".
Reviews
"A book which begins with the sentence 'Evil makes us Human' must surely compel attention. This is no ordinary account of what is usually meant by the problem of evil... Instead, Paul W. Kahn's aim is to explore the nature of evil itself... A rich and fascinating book full of unusual conjunctions and insights."--John Habgood, Times Literary Supplement "Kahn makes a powerful case for the reality of good (which he calls 'love') as a form of self-sacrifice, and of its opposite, evil, which constitutes a denial of one's finitude."--Whitley R. P. Kaufman, Philosophy in Review "Brilliant and essential... [Kahn] establishes an enormously clarifying political theology of modernity, one that investigates the limits of our contemporary imagination."--Igor Webb, Common Review "In Out of Eden, Paul W. Kahn ... argues that the human condition--rather than political or social conditions--is the locus of evil. Using the lenses of political and cultural theory, law, and philosophy, Kahn takes a hard look at modern forms of evil, namely slavery, torture, and genocide. Evil, Kahn posits, in an existential problem."--Yale Law Report
Book Information
ISBN 9780691148120
Author Paul W. Kahn
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press
Weight(grams) 369g