Genocide, evil, and injustice

competing hells

Thomas W. Simon

pp. 65-77

in: John K. Roth (ed), Genocide and human rights, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005

Abstract

Does philosophy have anything to say about the horrors of the world? Does philosophy matter? On a scale that compares the good and the bad, philosophy goes from one side to the other depending on which philosophers we choose to weigh. More broadly, an overall assessment of philosophy's contribution to civilization eludes philosophers and historians. It proves difficult to demonstrate the effects that philosophy and philosophers have had on history. Did Aristotle, for example, change the course of history when he tutored Alexander the Great? Even in cases where philosophers have achieved considerable fame and notoriety, historians disagree about philosophy's accomplishments overall.

Cited authors

Aristoteles