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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 RADICAL GOODNESS/RADICAL EVIL: MARTIN BUBER'S PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN CONTEMPORARY TIMES by Susan Lecin Polinsky A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education Greensboro 1992 Approved by Di APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dissertation Advisor Z Committee Members l-( • A, v /L Co-Chair jA^Zg. A , ^ OmJI £ November 18. 1992 Date of Acceptance by Committee November 18. 1992 Date of Final Oral Examination u ®, 1992, by Susan Lecin Polinsky POLINSKY, SUSAN LECIN, Ed.D. Radical Goodness/Radical Evil: Martin Buber's Philosophical Anthropology in Contemporary Times. (1992) Directed by Dr. R. Fritz Mengert. 337 pp. This philosophical and historical investigation into the nature of radical evil includes a discussion of the history of radical evil that culminates in a twentieth century perspective on radical evil based on Martin Buber's philosophical anthropology and his biblical/Kabbalistic interpretation of the sources of evil and the ultimate redeemability of the individual human person. An historical-philosophical portrayal of the concept of radical goodness concludes with an interpretation of Buber's / and Thou in light of the post-Holocuast modern world's ethical struggles. The central thesis is that post-modern society accepts varying occasions and degrees of radical evil because, in part, it has experienced the radical evil of the Holocaust and consequently evaluates the acceptability of evil in comparison to the ultimate evil known by people within this century. Accepting some evil, not striving toward goodness, has become the route by which humankind considers behavior, government, rules, deviance, and social policy. Concomitant to this thesis of societal acceptance of evil in comparison to the radical evil of the Holocaust is the critical importance of the individual person as the source of both radical goodness and radical evil. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS If a piece of my life remains with every student I have taught and with every teacher from whom I have truly learned, then it seems probable that my spirit has been enriched by the task of writing this dissertation. The ever-renewing spirit of Martin Buber's Judaism has brought me here, now. Without his voice that spoke directly into my heart, I could not be here, now. It has been my father's presence and spirit that has shown me that even though he could fight in France and liberate concentration camps in Poland, I must--I have ro—know that here and now within every human being there is a redeemable spirit of goodness that may, from time to time, resemble evil. Fritz Mengert, the embodiment of the spirit of love and caring in this and every moment, has shown me that it is O.K. to be smart, to talk philosophy, and to enjoy myself. My mother and my sisters have joined to provide assurance that no matter what I may do, they will always be there for me, whether that involves proof-reading yet another chapter or picking up the take-out to feed my family while I sat glued to the computer. Danny and Lauren have put up with my need to monopolize the family computer and willingly gave up their time with me as well as their need for me so that I could finish just "one more section," and showed that they loved me anyway through it all. My "brother," Steve, understood and believed in me. He was there to talk and with open arms for one hug, and another one, and yet another when I really needed them. And David, my lawyer/partner/friend/lover/WP51 expert waded mercilessly through the manuals and solved every problem while he ordered pizza for the kids and gave me back, without too iii much complaining but always with a calmness that overwhelmed and saw through my stress and pressure, the opportunity of three years that I once gave him for law school. The men, women, and children without names but with numbers on their forearms marched steadily through my mind as I struggled with their journey. I believe I have walked along with them and their spirit has been permanently imprinted within me. I am the better for it. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page APPROVAL PAGE ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii CHAPTER I. DEVELOPMENT OF RADICAL EVIL 1 The Duality of Good and Evil: Ancient Religions 1 Evil: The Christian View 6 Evil in the Ages of Science and Enlightenment 8 Evil in the Age of Psychology 12 Buber's Philosophical Anthropology: Good, Evil, Radical Evil ... 23 Classical Kabbalistic View of Good and Evil 35 Buber's Biblical Foundation of Evil 39 Two Stages of Evil 41 Radical Evil 49 The Eclipse of God 57 II. HASIDIC AND KABBALISTIC INTERPRETATIONS OF RADICAL EVIL 60 The Ba'al Shem Tov 60 Isaac Luria and Kabbalism 62 Buber's Interpretation of Hasidic and Kabbalistic Thought 68 Buber's Recounting of Hasidic Parable 75 III. DEVELOPMENT OF RADICAL GOODNESS 77 Martin Buber's Unity of Good and Evil 77 Early Civilizations' Conceptions of Radical Goodness 97 Hedonism 97 Buber's Perspective on Hedonism 103 Stoicism and Cynicism 106 Buber's Perspective on Stocism and Cynicism Ill Self-Realization: The Good Life 113 v Buber's Perspective on Self-Realization 126 Scholasticism 130 Buber's Perspective on Scholasticism 136 Utilitarianism Through Rationalism 140 Utilitarianism 140 Rationalism 146 Buber's Perspective on the Utilitarians and Rationalists . 152 Eastern Thought 155 Bhagavad-Gita 155 Buddhism 156 Buber's Perspective: The Teaching of the Tao 157 Reformation Through Intuitionalism 160 Reformation of Aroused Conscience 160 Buber's Perspective on the Protestant Reformation 168 Deontological Intuitionalism 171 Buber's Perspective on Deontological Intuitionalism 183 Buber's Perspective on Ethical Naturalism 191 Ethical Evolutionism 197 Buber's Perspective on Ethical Evolutionism 201 Ethical Pessimism 204 Buber's Perspective on Ethical Pessimism 213 Modern Philosophy 218 Pragmatism 218 Buber's Perspective on Pragmatism 224 IV. MODERN RADICAL PHILOSOPHY: THE I AND THOU 229 The I and Thou 229 The Threshold of Meeting and Dialogue 229 Buber and Dialogue 235 Meeting 237 The Sphere of It 239 The Eternal Thou 242 Dimensions of Evil 249 What Is Man? 249 Distance and Relation 251 The Nature of Evil 256 Conscience and Guilt 259 Mythology and the First Stage of Evil 261 Mythology of the Second Stage of Evil 269 The Second Stage of Evil 272 vi Coming to Radical Evil 274 Background 274 Radical Evil 276 The Eclipse of God 280 Modern Responses to Radical Evil 287 BIBLIOGRAPHY 293 APPENDIX A: EPILOGUE 311 APPENDIX B: THE VOICE OF THE CRICKET 317 APPENDIX C: COMMENTARY 336 vii 1 CHAPTER I I. DEVELOPMENT OF RADICAL EVIL This study will investigate the way in which we have come to know evil as the opposite of good and offer an alternative paradigm based on the thinking of Martin Buber for coming to know evil. Using the metaphor of the Holocaust and style of Hasidic parable, my goal is to engender a new understanding for recognizing radical evil by investigating the radical goodness that emerged in epochs of philosophizing human society throughout history. The following material is descriptive of the dissertation and of the literature search and narrative that I will undertake. The Duality of Good and Evil: Ancient Religions The question of good and evil has generated a paradigm of duality throughout history. A considerable number of authors from the realms of philosophy, psychology, literature, history, and religion have imagined the notions of good and evil as opposites, locked in an eternal struggle for domination of one by the other or the calling for the emergence of good to triumph over its demonically-inspired counterpart (Russell, 1988). Evil, the less philosophically desirable but nonetheless the more forceful of the two forces, can be described as existing in three types: moral, natural, and metaphysical.