Reviews for Do no evil

The average rating for Do no evil based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-02-16 00:00:00 Paul Roth For those who don't already know, this is a sourcebook of original texts dealing with what is alternately known today as divine command theory or theological voluntarism. Since the theory as such is a relatively recent development, the readings contained in this compilation are those that are now recognized as formative contributions to the theory. They range from a Platonic dialogue excerpt (out of the Euthyphro, of course) and bits and pieces from scholastic arguments, Reformation theology, and English moral philosophy, to Early Modern and Enlightenment writings, and a few contemporary journal articles. Except for the contemporary selections (which appear to have been limited by copyright or permission issues), the primary sources included in the book are well chosen and represent not only the most important passages referenced by divine command theorists, but a number of the more significant objections to divine command and voluntarist approaches to morality. The book filled a genuine void when it was first published in 1979--not that the texts weren't otherwise unavailable, but because they were difficult for non-specialists to identify, much less access outside large library collections. But the book has not been updated since it was published, and even at the time it was published the introduction by Idziak was fragmentary and scattershot in its review of both the theory and the texts included in the book. And at this point, the inclusions meant to represent current writings on the topic are in serious need of supplementation and revision. In sum, for both the layman and profession scholar this is a handy compilation of primary sources on divine command and theological voluntarist ethics, and at present really the only book of its kind. But if you aren't a trained philosopher you will definitely need to turn to other sources for an explanation of how the contents relate to each other and have informed the moral theory as it now stands.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-04-26 00:00:00 Louise Moir A masculine mind no doubt (that's Maine's preferred compliment), but the language is dated and cumbersome. Even translated, Jouvenel who continued Maine's work of critiquing popular forms of government, was the more enjoyable to read. Partly the problem is my own; a more familiar relation with comparative governance would draw out more value from this work. "A candidate for Presidency, nominated for election by the whole people, will, as a rule, be a man selected because he is not open to obvious criticism, and will therefore in all probability be a mediocrity." Trump's election has more often resulted in fears of how much further we can collectively travel down the road to Idiocracy, however, one unexpected gift may be the ability for the capable and prestige-worthy person, who would otherwise have been written off for some minor indiscretion, to now be more acceptable to a public who has seen much worse.