Good and Evil - by Andrew Irwin (Hardcover)

About the Book

*Introduced by Rory Stewart*

What makes a person good? What does it mean to be evil? And what does it tell us about being human?

Book Synopsis

*Introduced by Rory Stewart*

What makes a person good? What does it mean to be evil? And what does it tell us about being human?

Philosophers have been grappling with these questions for thousands of years, and they remain as pressing as ever in our present moment. Here we explore twelve thrillingly different approaches to this fundamental human predicament, each written by a different world expert. From Hannah Arendt's banality of evil to Nietzsche's embrace of suffering, from John Stuart Mill's happiness principle to the ruthless realism of Machiavelli and the generous, attentive spirit of Simone Weil, alongside less familiar thinkers, there is an answer for readers of all persuasions. This is the book for anyone trying to understand how humans can sometimes behave so badly, and how we can all be better.

About the Author

Rory Stewart is the co-host with Alastair Campbell of the UK's leading podcast The Rest Is Politics. His books include Politics on the Edge, the runaway #1 Sunday Times bestseller, and New York Times bestseller The Places in Between. He previously served in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development. Earlier in his career he was briefly in the British Army, before serving as a diplomat in Indonesia, the Balkans and Iraq, establishing a charity in Afghanistan, and holding a chair at Harvard University. Stewart is now a Senior Advisor at the non-profit organisation GiveDirectly, and a visiting fellow at Yale's Jackson School.

Andrew Irwin is Philosophy editor at the TLS.