O Mal
Bush insiste: as razões para invadir o Iraque estavam erradas mas ele teve razão em mandar invadir o Iraque. Confuso? Só se mantiver o pressuposto de que as justificações de Bush se baseiam na razão.
No discurso do Presidente norte-americano a comoção e a fé há muito substituíram a razão. No plano da retórica, define-se como uma imagem ao espelho dos seus inimigos. Daí a categorização desse inimigo como o “eixo do Mal”, daí a transformação da (inevitável) conflitualidade internacional numa luta de vida ou de morte entre o Bem e o Mal.
Este apelo ao absoluto, partilhado por Bid Laden e George W. Bush, constitui o tema do livro hoje sugerido.
The Abuse of Evil
The Corruption of Politics and Religion since 9/11
de Richard Bernstein
(New School University, Nova Iorque)
Cambridge, Polity, 2005, 144 pp.
Índice «Preface / Introduction / 1. The clash of mentalities: the craving for absolutes versus pragmatic fallibilism / 2. The anticipations and legacies of pragmatic fallibilism / 3. Moral certainty and passionate commitment / 4. Evil and the corruption of democratic politics / 5. Evil and the corruption of religion / Epilogue.»
Citação (da apresentação do editor) «Since 9/11 politicians, preachers, conservatives and the media are all speaking about evil. In the past the discourse about evil in our religious, philosophic and literary traditions has provoked thinking, questioning and inquiry. But today the appeal to evil is being used as a political tool to obscure complex issues, block serious thinking and stifle public discussion and debate. / We are now confronting a clash of mentalities, not a clash of civilisations. One mentality is drawn to absolutes, moral certainties, and simplistic dichotomies of good and evil. The other seriously questions an appeal to absolutes in politics and criticizes the simplistic division of the world into the forces of evil and the forces of good. […] the post 9/11 abuse of evil corrupts both democratic politics and religion. The stakes are high in this clash of mentalities in shaping how we think and act in the world today — and in the future.»
