tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post5968934807056760471..comments2024-01-31T04:29:38.858-06:00Comments on The Outfit: A Collective of Chicago Crime Writers: What is Evil?Sean Chercoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00939494866272006802noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-27804337986842254122007-08-19T10:10:00.000-05:002007-08-19T10:10:00.000-05:00Mr. Plato, who ran an Outfit of his own, said that...Mr. Plato, who ran an Outfit of his own, said that intention determined the moral quality of the act. I don't think anybody has topped his one-liner.<BR/>"The Stranger" is good book about the random nature of evil, and "The Woodsman," it seems to this person who has never bothered to see it, is testimony to how any Leni Reifenstahl wannabe can use film to make evil sexy.<BR/>But much of the real Larry Randhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08864957604952118814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-66742402097423855652007-08-13T07:39:00.000-05:002007-08-13T07:39:00.000-05:00Addendum to my earlier post:Chinese toy exec at ce...Addendum to my earlier post:<BR/><BR/>Chinese toy exec at center of huge recall commits suicide<BR/>August 13, 2007<BR/>BEIJING -- The head of a Chinese toy manufacturing company at the center of a huge U.S. recall has committed suicide, a state-run newspaper said today.<BR/>Zhang Shuhong, who ran the Lee Der Industrial Co. Ltd, killed himself at a warehouse over the weekend, days after China Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915856879939505890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-12111210277853663392007-08-08T10:49:00.000-05:002007-08-08T10:49:00.000-05:00The most evil character I've read in a novel - als...The most evil character I've read in a novel - also, the greatest villain - Garrett Lockman in Roderick Thorp's serial killer novel, River.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13859096508069444349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-40593367251559365412007-08-06T20:55:00.000-05:002007-08-06T20:55:00.000-05:00The most frightening evil is not that of the psych...The most frightening evil is not that of the psychopath or sociopath; it is what ordinary men and women are capable of when they're not careful.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-49182993422000522452007-08-06T07:49:00.000-05:002007-08-06T07:49:00.000-05:00One more thought: JRR Tolkien got this right in "L...One more thought: JRR Tolkien got this right in "Lord of the Rings" when Smeagol finds the Ring of Power and keeps slipping it on, believing it to be a good. But the ring's power is illusory (the power is real, but its promise is false) and self-destructive, and the more Smeagol chooses it, the more he becomes the pathetic Gollum he ends up being fully. Frodo is tempted by the same thing. This isjohnny dangeroushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155587617175255684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-65949147095820879412007-08-06T07:39:00.000-05:002007-08-06T07:39:00.000-05:00Saint Augustine said that evil, in itself, does no...Saint Augustine said that evil, in itself, does not exist. Evil is hollow, empty. What we call 'evil' is a good gone wrong. It is doing the right thing in the wrong way or at the wrong time. The 'evildoer' does not believe he/she is doing evil but achieving some good. The worst evil is confusing evil with good, as Isaiah said, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil." The bad guy, more johnny dangeroushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155587617175255684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-75231875807227850492007-08-03T21:59:00.000-05:002007-08-03T21:59:00.000-05:00Libby, such a tough question. Don't we like to pu...Libby, such a tough question. Don't we like to put "evil" into a box so that we can act as though it's something alien to us--when Rwanda, Abu Ghraib, even lynch mobs, show how easy it is to take part, how hard to stand outside? It's always been my biggest fear, that I would/am a collaborator--not an active perp, but the one who collaborates in the vileness. I think it's why V I is so outraged Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-2365948615864263852007-08-03T13:45:00.000-05:002007-08-03T13:45:00.000-05:00When I first read Libby’s blog entry I was thinkin...<I>When I first read Libby’s blog entry I was thinking pedophiles. No one could ever humanize a pedophile. No publisher would touch a book attempting such a thing.</I><BR/><BR/>There was a Kevin Bacon movie a few years ago called <A HREF="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361127/plotsummary" REL="nofollow">The Woodsman</A> (I think it was originally a play) that attempted to do just that, and in an Kevin Guilfoilehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08239157460247794910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-31708874752371325822007-08-03T07:00:00.000-05:002007-08-03T07:00:00.000-05:00My candidate for evil in recent times is Charles G...My candidate for evil in recent times is Charles Graner, the organizer of the Abu Ghraib torture parties. More on him later.<BR/><BR/>Seems to me that novelists just need to identify instances of evil, not necessarily take sides in the Hobbes vs. Rousseau debate about human nature.<BR/><BR/>When I first read Libby’s blog entry I was thinking pedophiles. No one could ever humanize a pedophile. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-3666885750806854442007-08-02T20:38:00.000-05:002007-08-02T20:38:00.000-05:00I would describe evil as the absence of moral obli...I would describe evil as the absence of moral obligation. Since morality, Goodness, it seems, is peculiar to one species, it would be logical to deduce that Evil is peculiar to the same. One cannot exist without the other. That being the case, what exactly causes the absence of moral obligation? Nature? Nurture? Sex? Drugs? Rock and roll? Could it be...SATAN?!!?<BR/><BR/>I don’t think evil can beJude Hardinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994813046526310594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-83302803025261669032007-08-02T10:59:00.000-05:002007-08-02T10:59:00.000-05:00I don't know. I'm not sure I believe in evil. Ev...I don't know. I'm not sure I believe in evil. Evil actions, sure. But evil as a concept? Not so much.<BR/><BR/>For my money, one of the most profound passages in the English language was written by a philosopher and naturalist named Robert Ardrey. It goes:<BR/><BR/>"We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our Marcus Sakeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00327039513043246663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-65408882625104446132007-08-01T21:23:00.000-05:002007-08-01T21:23:00.000-05:00Definitely some evil there chapman, and no end in ...Definitely some evil there chapman, and no end in sight. It's an old debate that asks who is more evil, the perpetrator or those who stand silently by. <BR/><BR/>Often it's easier for us to watch the 'pretend' evil on TV and in movies. Much easier than knowing the real evils. I believe that's what numbs so many of us these days. Even if it isn't in our face, we know how much real evil is going onJean Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01569305699475871520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-32881676998843411832007-08-01T20:31:00.000-05:002007-08-01T20:31:00.000-05:00Frankly, I'm tired of cartoon villains.I'd love to...Frankly, I'm tired of cartoon villains.<BR/>I'd love to read some engaging writing on evil as omission rather than commission. It's easy to identify a terrorist as evil but what about those of us who know that evil is being done and choose to look away? Who decides that it's okay to drop cluster bombs or plant land mines that will blow the arms and legs off of children long after the initial Chapmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08915856879939505890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-84524821664479248272007-08-01T14:12:00.000-05:002007-08-01T14:12:00.000-05:00Thanks for your comment, Jean. I agree. There's no...Thanks for your comment, Jean. I agree. There's nothing more heartbreaking than evil that is perpetrated on children.<BR/><BR/>As far as comments go, I can understand why there may be fewer -- it's the middle of summer; we're on vacation, at the beach, enjoying family time. Who wants to think about evil? It's uncomfortable, to say the least. <BR/><BR/>Or else there's so much of it in our lives, Libby Hellmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10693555214699897283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-90908179315138949702007-08-01T14:05:00.000-05:002007-08-01T14:05:00.000-05:00Evil is still alive and active in many forms;all t...Evil is still alive and active in many forms;all that's changed is the terminology.As society grows more complex and larger we have rated the harm done from lesser to greater but the hurt is still felt,either by a single person all the way to a nation.Malicious gossip,for instance,is as evil as terrorism.Both are designed to make life as unbearable as possible and I do not excuse one because it Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29793018.post-25170431053835551112007-08-01T13:58:00.000-05:002007-08-01T13:58:00.000-05:00Hi Libby, I read your piece and was startled to fi...Hi Libby, I read your piece and was startled to find there were no comments. I immediately thought maybe we couldn't even identify evil anymore. That's pretty scary. Recently I read a not yet published book about children growing up in Nicargua. The horrors they survived stopped my breath and I thought who ever did this to them was truly evil. When I found that the US supported the terrorist thatJean Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01569305699475871520noreply@blogger.com