Evil in Modern Thought : An Alternative History of Philosophy

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Summary: Timey Context to Discuss Evil
Review: There are already many books about 9/11, but I have read nothing that manages to be so relevant and so historically sharp. Evil in Modern Thought puts 9/11 in the context of three centuries of thinking about evil, and revitalizes our thinking about both of them. This book is not only deep and informative; it gives you courage.

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Summary: A Grand Tour of the Thought about Evil
Review: This book offers an extraordinary odyssey for the mind: Neiman gives us a grand tour of western philosophy, from the book of Job to Hannah Arendt, from Albert Camus via Rousseau and Sade, but does not explore these authors with the standard queries of philosophy (epistemology or metaphysics). Neiman examines how these various authors have raised what are perhaps the most burning questions of our times: Why do we suffer? What is evil?
This is an exhilarating book which philosophers and non-philosophers alike can only enjoy.

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Summary: brilliant evil
Review: This is the kind of book you want to buy for all your friends so you can argue about it. It's the kind of book you want to get an extra copy of so your spouse can read it at the same time and you can talk your way through it. It's the kind of book that will be a required text of most philosophy 101 classes in ten years' time, and the one text you reread ten years after graduating. It is witty without being glib, accessible without being remotely condescending. It's both brilliant and brave because it dares to remind us why anyone was interested in philosophy in the first place and why we need it.