Constructivism and Evil
Constructivism and Evil
This chapter argues that a notion of evil represents a necessary limiting conception for a defensible politics. Much of contemporary liberal theory is constructivist in a way that is usually taken to rule out categorical moral judgements that draw on notions of objective good and evil. In contrast, this chapter explores the role that a properly developed conception of evil can play in liberal constructivism. Firstly theories of evil are an important basis for a cross-cultural understanding of wrongness that can be framed in a liberal manner. Second, the content of theories of evil appears much less partial than ideas of the good that predominate in liberal discussion. Liberal constructivism, often castigated for offering an inadequate understanding of human goods, is thus well placed to outline a sparser notion of human evil that can anchor discussions of value.
Keywords: theories of evil, contemporary liberal theory, liberal constructivism, wrongness, moral judgements
Edinburgh Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
