A short treatise on the metaphysics of tsunamis
In 1755 the city of Lisbon was destroyed by a terrible earthquake. Almost 250 years later, an earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean unleashed a tsunami whose devastating effects were felt over a vast area. In each case, a natural catastrophe came to be interpreted as a consequence of human evil. Betwe...
| Main Author: | |
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| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subito Delivery Service: | Order now. |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
East Lansing, MI
Michigan State University Press
2015
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| In: | Year: 2015 |
| Reviews: | [Rezension von: Dupuy, Jean-Pierre, 1941-, A short treatise on the metaphysics of tsunamis] (2020) (London, Daniel DeForest)
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| Series/Journal: | Studies in violence, mimesis, and culture
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Natural catastrophe
/ Psychic trauma
B Girard, René 1923-2015 |
| Further subjects: | B
Catastrophes - Aspect moral
B Catastrophes - Aspect social B PHILOSOPHY - General B Disasters Social aspects B Disasters - Social aspects B Disasters - Moral and ethical aspects B Disasters Moral and ethical aspects |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | In 1755 the city of Lisbon was destroyed by a terrible earthquake. Almost 250 years later, an earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean unleashed a tsunami whose devastating effects were felt over a vast area. In each case, a natural catastrophe came to be interpreted as a consequence of human evil. Between these two events, two indisputably moral catastrophes occurred: Auschwitz and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And yet the nuclear holocaust survivors likened the horror they had suffered to a natural disaster-a tsunami. Jean-Pierre Dupuy asks whether, from Lisbon to Sumatra, mankind has really learned nothing about evil. When moral crimes are unbearably great, he argues, our ability to judge evil is gravely impaired, and the temptation to regard human atrocity as an attack on the natural order of the world becomes irresistible. This impulse also suggests a kind of metaphysical ruse that makes it possible to convert evil into fate, only a fate that human beings may choose to avoid. Postponing an apocalyptic future will depend on embracing this paradox and regarding the future itself in a radically new way. The American edition of Dupuy's classic essay, first published in 2005, also includes a postscript on the 2011 nuclear accident that occurred in Japan, again as the result of a tsunami |
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| Item Description: | Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Physical Description: | 1 Online-Ressource |
| ISBN: | 978-1-60917-472-9 1-60917-472-0 |
