Vessels of Evil: American Slavery and the Holocaust

by Laurence Thomas

Overview

Two profound atrocities in the history of Western culture form the subject of this moving philosophical exploration: American Slavery and the Holocaust. An African American and a Jew, Laurence Mordekhai Thomas denounces efforts to place the suffering of one group above the other. Rather, he pronounces these two defining historical experiences as profoundly evil in radically different ways and points to their logically incompatible aims.

The author begins with a discussion of the nature of evil, exploring the fragility of human beings and the phenomena of compartmentalizing, unquestioning obedience to authority, and moral drift. Citing compelling examples from history and contemporary life, he characterizes evil acts in terms of moral agency, magnitude, and intent.

With moving testimony, Thomas depicts the moral pain of African Americans and Jews during their ordeals and describes how their past as victims has affected their future. Without invidious comparison, he distinguishes between extermination and domination, death and natal alienation, physical and mental cruelty, and between being viewed as irredeemable evil and as a moral simpleton. Thomas also considers the role of blacks and Jews in the Christian narrative.

In Vessels of Evil, Thomas also considers the ways Jews and blacks have gone on to survive. He analyzes the relative flourishing of Jews and the languishing of blacks in this country and examines the implications of their dissimilar tragedies on any future relationship between these two minorities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566391009
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	10/13/1993
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Laurence Mordekhai Thomas, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science Affiliate at Syracuse University, is also the author of Living Morally (Temple).

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I: On Becoming an Evil Self
1. Two Faces of Evil: An Introduction
2. The Human Condition
Good and Bad • Immoral Rapprochement • Understanding Obedience to Authority • Obeying Authority and Becoming Morally Sullied
3. The Moral Community
Common-Sense Morality • Moral Drift • The People of Le Chambon
4. Characterizing Evil
Acts of Evil
5. The Psychology of Doubling
The Problem • Doubling and Multiple Personality Disorder • The Psychology of Doubling • Moral Disassociation

Part II: The Institutions
6. American Slavery and the Holocaust
Conception of the Victims • The Institutions
7. Murderous Extermination and Natal Alienation
Doing Justice to the Difference • Ultimates in Evil: Alienation and Extermination • Self-Hatred

Part III: Surviving into the Future
8. After the Ashes
Jews • Blacks • Historical Contexts • Group Autonomy
9. The Fate of Blacks and Jews
The General Problem of Cooperation • Neither Coercive nor Affirming Cooperation • Cooperation and Having a Narrative • Blacks and Jews

Name Index
Subject Index

Editorial Reviews

"This text is an admirably lucid and cogently argued comparison of two profoundly evil institutions, one that recognizes the differences between the Jewish and African American experiences of oppression without offering invidious comparisons.... An important and engrossing book."
—Publishers Weekly

"...a readable, even absorbing philosophical examination of the many faces of evil....This study deserves a wide readership."
—Library Journal

"This rich and interesting work is an important contribution to the philosophical study of moral psychology. Although a number of philosophers have explored moral issues raised by the Holocaust or by American Slavery, so far as I know, Thomas is the first important philosopher to undertake a large-scale comparison of the two."
—David Blumenthal, Professor of Philosophy, Georgia State University

From the Publisher

Philosopher Thomas ( Living Morally ) is probably uniquely qualified to write a comparative essay on the Holocaust and American slavery, being both Jewish and African American. This text is an admirably lucid and cogently argued comparison of two profoundly evil institutions, one that recognizes the differences between the Jewish and African American experiences of oppression without offering invidious comparisons. He does so in elegant, oddly Victorian-sounding prose that never loses itself in a welter of jargon. Delving into a basic understanding of human behavior, Thomas demolishes the notion that humankind is innately evil, offering in its place a theory of modest goodness in the context of a human fragility that may prevent the development of moral sensibilities. He goes on to offer a devastating critique of ``common-sense morality,'' which requires only that one do no harm, not that one actively help another person in trouble. He uses slavery and the Holocaust as guides to understanding the comparative states of Jews and blacks in America, with some very tentative suggestions on where the tenuous relationship between these two groups could go. An important and engrossing book. (Dec.)\

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Instead of a ponderous tract on two very different events, Thomas (philosophy & political science, Syracuse Univ.) provides a readable, even absorbing philosophic examination of the many faces of evil. Thomas views each of the catastrophic events of slavery and the Holocaust as unique, though he argues that they disclose a troubling aspect of human beings to compartmentalize evil and to be easily swayed from what is moral and ethical. Beginning with a discussion of the nature of evil, Thomas moves into concrete examples of suffering by both Jews and blacks. The final chapters address the present-day fates of these victimized peoples. This study deserves a wide readership. Recommended for most libraries.-- Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., Ill.\

Library Journal