Sin and Evil: Moral Values in Literature

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Sin and Evil: Moral Values in Literature by Ronald Paulson, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ronald Paulson ISBN: 9780300135206
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: October 1, 2008
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: Ronald Paulson
ISBN: 9780300135206
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: October 1, 2008
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English
The confusion of sin and evil, or religious and moral transgression, is the subject of Ronald Paulson’s latest book. He calls attention to the important distinction between sin and Evil (with a capital E) that in our times is largely ignored, and to the further confusion caused by the term “moral values.” Ranging widely through the history of Western literature, Paulson focuses particularly on American and English works of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries to discover how questions of evil and sin-and evil and sinful behavior-have been discussed and represented.
The breadth of Paulson’s discussion is enormous, taking the reader from Greek and Roman tragedy, to Christian satire in the work of Swift and Hogarth, to Hawthorne’s and Melville’s novels, and finally to twentieth-century studies of good and evil by such authors as James, Conrad, Faulkner, Greene, Heller, Vonnegut, and O’Brien. Where does evil come from? What are “moral values”? If evil is a cultural construct, what does that imply? Paulson’s literary tour of sin and evil over the past two hundred years provides not only a historical perspective but also new ways of thinking about important issues that characterize our own era of violence, intolerance, and war.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
The confusion of sin and evil, or religious and moral transgression, is the subject of Ronald Paulson’s latest book. He calls attention to the important distinction between sin and Evil (with a capital E) that in our times is largely ignored, and to the further confusion caused by the term “moral values.” Ranging widely through the history of Western literature, Paulson focuses particularly on American and English works of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries to discover how questions of evil and sin-and evil and sinful behavior-have been discussed and represented.
The breadth of Paulson’s discussion is enormous, taking the reader from Greek and Roman tragedy, to Christian satire in the work of Swift and Hogarth, to Hawthorne’s and Melville’s novels, and finally to twentieth-century studies of good and evil by such authors as James, Conrad, Faulkner, Greene, Heller, Vonnegut, and O’Brien. Where does evil come from? What are “moral values”? If evil is a cultural construct, what does that imply? Paulson’s literary tour of sin and evil over the past two hundred years provides not only a historical perspective but also new ways of thinking about important issues that characterize our own era of violence, intolerance, and war.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book Farming the Red Land by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Does Altruism Exist? by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Almost Home by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book On Toleration by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Inglorious Revolution by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Devotion by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Private Property and the Constitution by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book The Battle for the Arab Spring by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Spiritual Defiance by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Saints and Sinners by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Colour of Paradise: Emeralds in the Age of the Gunpowder Empires by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Class, Race, and Inequality in South Africa by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book The Rise and Fall of Communism in Russia by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry Is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth by Ronald Paulson
Cover of the book Jewish Materialism by Ronald Paulson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy