Escape from Evil? Notes on Capacity, Tragedy, Coding and Non-Destructive Immortality Projects

Authors

  • Ronnie Lippens Keele University

Keywords:

Ernest Becker, evil, non-destructive immortality projects, human capacity, coding as tragedy, mal, proyectos de inmortalidad no destructiva, capacidad humana, codificación como tragedia

Abstract

Like James Hardie-Bick’s (2015) contribution this paper elaborates on the importance for socio-legal studies of Ernest Becker’s (1924-1974) work on the destructive consequences of human … all too human forms of death denial. With Becker, it makes an attempt to think through the question, ‘Is it possible, in the light of the human condition, to escape evil?’ Terminally ill by the early 1970s, Becker himself was left no time to complete his thoughts on this matter. Focussing on the point where Becker left the discussion when he died in 1974 we make an attempt here, still with an eye on the aforementioned question, to explore the work of a number of philosophers whose work we know Becker was familiar with: Benedictus de Spinoza, Henri Bergson, and Albert Camus. In their work, it is argued here, one could find elements towards thinking through the question of evil, and the (im)possibility of escaping it.

Al igual que el artículo de James Hardie-Bick (2015), este artículo profundiza en la importancia que tiene para los estudios sociojurídicos el trabajo de Ernest Becker (1924-1974) sobre las consecuencias destructivas del ser humano… y la tan humana negación de la muerte. Con Becker, se realiza un intento de reflexionar sobre esta pregunta: “Es posible, a la luz de la condición humana, escapar del mal? Enfermo terminal a comienzos de los años 70, el propio Becker no tuvo tiempo de completar sus pensamientos sobre este asunto. Centrándonos en el punto en el que Becker dejó el debate, cuando murió en 1974, y sin perder de vista esta pregunta, se intenta analizar el trabajo de una serie de filósofos, con el que estaba familiarizado Becker: Benedictus de Spinoza, Henri Bergson y Albert Camus. Se defiende que en su trabajo se pueden encontrar elementos que hacen pensar sobre la cuestión del mal, y la (im)posibilidad de escapar de él.

DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2619429

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Author Biography

Ronnie Lippens, Keele University

Ronnie Lippens is Professor of Criminology at Keele University. His research interests include critical and visual criminology, and focus in particular on the study and analysis of expressions of emerging forms of life/governance in what could be called 'prophetic' works of art. Keele University. School of Sociology and Criminology. Keele. Staffordshire. ST5 5BG. United Kingdom. r.lippens@keele.ac.uk

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Published

03-11-2014

How to Cite

Lippens, R. (2014) “Escape from Evil? Notes on Capacity, Tragedy, Coding and Non-Destructive Immortality Projects”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 5(3), pp. 862–873. Available at: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/452 (Accessed: 28 March 2024).