RECONSIDERING EVIL
RECONSIDERING EVIL Confronting Reflections with Confessions PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Dr. D.D. Breimer, hoogleraar in de faculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen en die der Geneeskunde, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op dinsdag 12 september 2006 klokke 15.00 uur door Esther Petruschka Schaafsma geboren te Utrecht in 1975
PROMOTIECOMMISSIE Promotor: Referent: Overige leden: prof.dr. H.J. Adriaanse prof.dr. Th.M. van Leeuwen prof.dr. W.B. Drees prof.dr. P. Kleingeld prof.dr. G.G. de Kruijf Van dit proefschrift is ook een handelseditie verschenen bij uitgeverij Peeters te Leuven onder ISBN-10 90-429-1840-3 ISBN-13 9789042918405 D. 2006/0602/127
Aan mijn ouders
CONTENTS Abbreviations................. XI Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION............. 1 1.1. The Dismantling of Evil........... 3 1.2. Regauging the Notion of Evil......... 8 1.3. The Gauges for this Project.......... 13 Chapter 2. RICŒUR S PROJECT OF A PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO EVIL VIA SYMBOLS............ 19 2.1. Ricœur s Early Work: Towards a Philosophy of Evil. 21 2.1.1. Abstraction from Evil......... 21 2.1.2. From Fallibility to Fault........ 32 2.1.3. The Symbols of Evil.......... 39 2.2. The Circle of Expressions of Evil: Symbols.... 48 2.2.1. Defilement............. 49 2.2.2. Sin............... 53 2.2.3. Guilt............... 57 2.2.4. The Servile Will........... 62 2.3. The Circle of Expressions of Evil: Myths..... 66 2.3.1. The Anthropological Myth of the Origin of Evil. 71 2.3.2. The Three Non-Anthropological Myths of Evil. 74 2.3.3. The Cycle of Myths.......... 82 2.4. From the Symbols to Philosophy........ 90 Chapter 3. KANT S RADICAL EVIL: AN ETHICAL APPROACH TO EVIL 97 3.1. The Characterisation of Kant s View of Evil as Ethical 99 3.2. The Notion of Evil in the Critique of Practical Reason. 104 3.2.1. Freedom............. 105 3.2.2. Good and Evil in Itself......... 109 3.2.3. Self-Love............. 111 3.2.4. The Obvious Character of the Moral Law and the Reality of Evil............ 113 3.2.5. Not a Holy Will........... 118 3.2.6. Hinting at Radical Evil?......... 120
VIII CONTENTS 3.3. Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone and Radical Evil................. 123 3.3.1. The Question of the Moral Nature of Human Beings 125 3.3.2 The Argument for the Evil Moral Nature of Human Beings.............. 126 3.3.3. Innate Evil and its Relation to Religion.... 134 3.4. Radical Evil in a Reflective, Ethical Approach... 142 Chapter 4. EVIL AS FOUNDERING: KARL JASPERS TRAGIC VIEW OF EVIL................ 147 4.1. The General and the Historical in Jaspers Philosophy. 148 4.2. Jaspers Interpretation of Kant s Radical Evil.... 153 4.3. Jaspers on Evil (das Böse).......... 161 4.3.1. Ciphers of Evil........... 162 4.3.2. Ethical Views of Evil?......... 169 4.4. Jaspers Discussion of Themes Related to Evil... 172 4.4.1. Boundary situations.......... 172 4.4.2. Foundering (Scheitern)......... 174 4.5. The Characterisation of Jaspers View of Evil as Tragic 178 4.6. Evil in a Reflective, Tragic Approach...... 182 Chapter 5. KARL BARTH S NOTION OF DAS NICHTIGE AND THE PROBLEM OF KNOWING EVIL......... 193 5.1. Barth s Broken Theology.......... 198 5.2. The Break in the Relationship between Creator and Creature................ 204 5.2.1. God s Negative Relation to Nothingness... 205 5.2.2. God s Struggle and Conquest of Nothingness in Jesus Christ............ 213 5.2.3. The Reality of Nothingness....... 217 5.3. Misinterpretations of Nothingness....... 221 5.3.1. Nothingness is not the Shadowy Side of Creation 221 5.3.2. Nothingness and Human Sin....... 226 5.4. Barth s Claim of Brokenness for his Reflection on Nothingness.............. 235 Chapter 6. THE END OF EVIL............ 241 6.1. The End of Evil in Symbols and Myths...... 244 6.1.1. Great Contrasts in the Symbols of the End of Evil 245
CONTENTS IX 6.1.2. The Coherence between the Beginning and the End of Evil in the Myths.......... 251 6.1.3. Evil, Religion and Hope......... 257 6.2. Religion and a Critical Elaboration of the End of Evil. 262 6.3. Hope in Religion and Ethics......... 266 6.3.1. Hope for Fulfilment and the Danger of Totalisation 267 6.3.2. Radical Evil and Hope for Regeneration... 272 6.4. Deliverance in a Tragic View of Evil...... 279 6.5. The Specific Character of a Religious View of Evil.. 285 Bibliography................. 289 Index of names................. 299 Index of subjects................ 301 Nederlandse Samenvatting............. 303 Curriculum Vitae................ 313
ABBREVIATIONS CD CdI CoI CpR CpureR FM FN FTA FtS GMM GMS HF KD KpV KrV Lect. III PhFaR PhGaO PhGl Phil. I Phil. II Phil. III PsW Rad. Böse RiG RwL SdM SE TA VdW VE VI Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics (English translation of Kirchliche Dogmatik) Paul Ricoeur, Le conflit des interprétations. Essais d herméneutique Paul Ricoeur, The Conflict of Interpretations (English translation of Le conflit des interprétations. Essais d herméneutique) Immanuel Kant, Critique of Practical Reason (English translation of Kritik der praktischen Vernunft) Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (English translation of Kritik der reinen Vernunft) Paul Ricoeur, Fallible Man (English translation of L homme faillible) Paul Ricoeur, Freedom and Nature: The Voluntary and the Involuntary (English translation of Le volontaire et l involontaire) Paul Ricœur, From Text to Action. Essays in Hermeneutics II (English translation of Du texte à l action. Essais d herméneutique II) Paul Ricœur, Figuring the Sacred: Religion, Narrative, and Imagination Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (English translation of Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten) Immanuel Kant, Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten Paul Ricoeur, L homme faillible Karl Barth, Kirchliche Dogmatik Immanuel Kant, Kritik der praktischen Vernunft Immanuel Kant, Kritik der reinen Vernuft Paul Ricoeur, Lectures III Karl Jaspers, Philosophical Faith and Revelation (English translation of Der philosophische Glauben angesichts der Offenbarung) Karl Jaspers, Der philosophische Glaube angesichts der Offenbarung Karl Jaspers, Der philosophische Glaube Karl Jaspers, Philosophie, Vol. 1: Philosophische Weltorientierung Karl Jaspers, Philosophie, Vol. 2: Existenzerhellung Karl Jaspers, Philosophie, Vol. 3: Metaphysik Karl Jaspers, Psychologie der Weltanschauungen Karl Jaspers, Das radikal Böse bei Kant Immanuel Kant, Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft Immanuel Kant, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone (English translation of Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft) Paul Ricoeur, La symbolique du mal Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolism of Evil (English translation of La symbolique du mal) Paul Ricoeur, Du texte à l action. Essais d herméneutique II Karl Jaspers, Von der Wahrheit Karl Jaspers, Vernunft und Existenz Paul Ricoeur, Le volontaire et l involontaire