Discussing his latest book, Evil Men, a collection of interviews with war criminals from the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), James Dawes shares what he learned about the limits of our rhetoric regarding evil:
Talking about evil is hard. It involves at least two paradoxes. Here’s the first. On the one hand, to denounce evil is an ethical act. It is to affirm our deepest values and to commit ourselves to preventing acts that dehumanize others. On the other hand, to denounce evil can be an unethical act. It is a way of demonizing; it is, precisely, to dehumanize another. Here’s the second paradox: On the one hand, we need to the concept of evil to philosophically and ethically distinguish acts that shock our consciences, acts that are not adequately encompassed by words like bad, wicked, or wrong. The concept of evil clarifies. On the other hand, the concept of evil confuses, prevents thinking. We imagine evil is other than human, beyond understanding, almost mystical. This lets us off the hook, lets us deny our own capacity for evil, and stops us from analyzing the very human, very common causes of it.
(Photo: Young people view images of survivors of the Nanjing Massacre in the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in China. By Kevin Dooley)
The Dish 