Evil: A Primer

The concept of evil has been much bandied about of late, so it is refreshing to see an attempt to bring a discussion of its machinations to the public forum. Hart begins by groping for a workable definition of evil and uses his starting point--specifically, that evil is an "intentional human act that causes extreme harm to innocents and attacks our basic moral order"--to set up a philosophical, historical, and literary tour of Bad Things. Condensing 4,000-odd years of human grappling into a book that is brief and, yes, lighthearted enough to be airport fare is difficult, and Hart deserves praise for presenting a broad range of complex ideas so concisely and accessibly. He also gets credit for having the guts to remind us that we like doing evil things, or at least naughty things. Concision has its flip side, however, and this book's often-flippant eclecticism borders on superficiality; the short shrift that Hart grants unintentional, systemic, banal evil is particularly troubling. As a primer, Hart's book has its qualities. Brendan Driscoll Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Philosophy. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.