James Sias 
The Meaning of Evil 

In this book, James Sias investigates the psychologies of those who have acted in ways widely regarded as evil, and uses this psychological data as a basis for developing his own theory of evil. Sometimes, he claims, an action is so horrific and despicable that a term like “wrong” seems to fall short of capturing its moral status. Likewise, occasionally a person’s character is corrupt in such a way that ordinary trait terms like “selfish” or “insensitive, ” or more general labels like “bad” or “immoral, ” seem inadequate. In such cases, we often resort to calling the person or action “evil.” But what does this term mean? What is it that makes a person or action morally evil? Taking a cue from Hannah Arendt, Sias argues that this sort of evil is essentially a matter of regarding others as “morally superfluous.” In other words, evil is a matter of utter moral disregard. In the course of developing and defending this view, Sias also describes and critiques a number of prominent theories of evil proposed by philosophers in recent years.

Table of Content

1. An Introduction to Evil






Part I. The Psychology of Evil: Some Case Studies






2. Serial Murder, Psychopathy, and Objectification


3. Genocide, Ideology, and Dehumanization




4. Money, Greed, and Commodification












Part II. The Philosophy of Evil: Puzzles, Problems, and Theories






5. Three Puzzles about Evil


6. Theories of Evil Personhood




7. A New Theory of Evil 

About the author

James Sias is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Dickinson College, USA. His research focuses primarily upon issues in ethics and moral psychology.