Submitted by Jason Pappas, Jan 17, 2007 12:52

Your review brings to mind the above excuse for human evil. As you note it "is troubling — because it denies the force of evil any human agency." That's it exactly. It is what is missing in the Nature vs. Nurture false dichotomy. Human agency, i.e. free will, and human responsibility once resulted in moral praise or blame. That an evil such as Hitler should arise and be embraced by a nation isn't odd, it's human evil. That we don't believe in evil is obvious given how people can't see the threats facing us today.

One wonders why, after Stalin, Pol Pot, Castro, and many other communist dictators, evil isn't understood. Even today, most writers portray American supporters of Stalin as persecuted idealists. Perhaps evil is closer to home than Mailer realizes. Perhaps he should look in his own backyard for the answer.

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