Politics of Hell

A fascinating historical and philosophical exploration of the source of unity and cooperation among the wicked.Individuals motivated by immoral ends can work together to accomplish their joint plans—often more efficiently than other groups. But what accounts for the success of this cooperation? How can we explain that morally bad actors, who may be prideful, disloyal, disobedient, and lacking in empathy, can work together successfully toward some goal? In The Politics of Hell, Daniel Schwartz provides a history of philosophical efforts to solve this puzzle.Schwartz shows that prominent medieval and early-modern thinkers such as Aquinas, Bonaventure, Francisco Suárez, and John Milton tackled the problem of cooperation in evil in their attempts to explain how the paradigmatic evil beings—demons—could efficiently cooperate to pursue their wicked ends. And he engages more recent discussions of the problem of cooperation in evil—more recent instantiations of these demonic political philosophies. For, as Schwartz argues, the disappearance of belief in demons in the modern and contemporary eras did not put the problem of cooperation in evil to rest; it merely resurfaced in other guises. Specifically, he shows that contemporary philosophers have grappled with the persistent problem of cooperation in evil, even if unwittingly, when trying to account for whether members of a criminal association, such as an idealized Mafia, have genuine obligations to one another.From older sources, Schwartz draws lessons about the necessary and sufficient requirements of efficient social cooperation. Combining these with contemporary philosophical discussions of group agency of those in criminal or otherwise malevolent groups, The Politics of Hell is an original addition to the tradition of problem-based history of philosophy, guiding readers through possible understandings of unity among the wicked.