Classic Studies on the Problem of Good and Evil (6 vols.)

Considering all of human language, literature, science, thought, and action to be dominated by the opposing ideas of good and evil, Daniel Greenleaf Thompson embarks on a study to “fix more exactly and accurately the meanings of good and evil.” Thompson surveys how the problem of evil has been addressed in religious, political, and social institutions. This nineteenth-century study is a valuable resource for studying the philosophical climate at the turn of the century and provides thoughtful insights about the history of how humankind has sought to explain and eliminate evil.

Josiah Royce, a major proponent of objective idealism, collects 12 of his essays on good and evil. As he investigates how good and evil have been discussed, Royce examines literary and historical cases such as Job, Pilgrim’s Progress, and the Sacramento Squatters’ Riot, as well as the work of Alfred Tennyson, Jean Marie Guyau and Meister Ekchart.

Reviving the ancient dialogue form, G. Lowes Dickinson presents a summary of various philosophies of what is good, “more desirous to set forth various points of view than finally to repudiate or endorse them.” Dickinson’s work provides a thorough understanding of each viewpoint.

In every age, the problem of evil and suffering has been perceived as an obstacle to faith. Arguing against the view that “he who makes a free use of his understanding must necessarily reject Christianity,” M. Ernest Naville presents his solution to the problem of evil in religious philosophy. Naville’s treatise surveys the classic answers to the problem of good and evil, provides insight into the philosophical climate of the nineteenth century, and defends the orthodox Christian perspective on good and evil in the modern age.

The meaning of good and evil is a central question in moral philosophy and ethics. Taking on the difficult task of condensing centuries of thought on this most complex of questions, Hastings Rashdall writes this introduction to what people have thought to be good and evil. No prior knowledge in the field is necessary, as Rashdall elegantly presents the arguments of a variety of classic texts in the field. The first volume includes the first book of Rashdall’s work, “The Moral Criterion.”

The meaning of good and evil is a central question in moral philosophy and ethics. Taking on the difficult task of condensing centuries of thought on this most complex of questions, Hastings Rashdall writes this introduction to what people have thought to be good and evil. No prior knowledge in the field is necessary, as Rashdall elegantly presents the arguments of a variety of classic texts in the field. This second volume features the Rashdall’s second and third books, “The Individual and the Society” and “Man and the Universe.”