"Being Evil" presents a philosophical perspective of what it means to be evil, drawing on historical examples from acts of terrorism, murder, genocide and more isolated cases. Luke Russell provides a series of potential definitions. I listened to the audiobook version. Narration by James Cameron Stewart was a little dull, making it more difficult to engage with the material but an excellent sleep aid. The book considers a variety of themes including moral horror and intentional objects, how we use language, comprehension, looking beyond our emotive response and the dangers of dehumanising perpetrators. The evidence is considered and presented in a methodical manner, as in a research project. I felt that the book raised more questions than it answered so it would make an ideal book group choice.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it’s was really well laid out and written. It gave me some interesting information and I learned a lot.

The fun of philosophy is preciseness of language and definitions, thought experiments, and going way way too deep into a topic. The annoying part of philosophy is over fussiness in defining terms, precious or unrealistic thought experiments, and going so far into a topic that it loses all relevance or connection to people's actual lives. This short survey of the philosophy of evil showcased both extremes. On the one had, with a label that has such social impact and consequences as "evil," it's important to really understand and examine what we mean by it so the concept isn't abused. On the other hand, the debates serve to intellectually distance us from the horrors that get the label evil. Interesting, but also sort of pointlessly fussy.

Thought provoking and conversation starting look at evil. What is and is not really "evil" is so subjective but the author handled that in the opening chapter in a way that, while not answering the question, clarified what the parameters could be and would be for the rest of the book. I liked the narrator in this book, as well. He brought a small amount of inflection to a nonfiction book, which is often lacking, without over emoting in a way that would have only been appropriate for a work of fiction or possibly a retelling. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone interested in the over use of this word in a world of exaggeration and social media villainization. I enjoyed how evenly this was written.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 4.5 Pretty interesting book and pretty much what i expected but in a good way. Last book i read like this ended up devoting almost an entire chapter on pedophilia and how it should be legal and not frowned upon....so F-ing happy this book didnt have anything like that

Deep but approachable, this meditation on evil is eye-opening. The author doesn’t give any definite answers, but mostly poses questions and illustrates the main issues with examples that are easy to understand. What is evil? Such a simple question with a complicated answer. Russell doesn’t give one definition, but builds on philosophers’ theories and leaves room for the reader’s own ideas. Terrorists, serial killers and dictators are obvious study subjects here, but what about the bureaucrats that make it possible for many people to lose their lives? What if you were following orders? The book is written in such an easy to follow way that it’s like having a conversation in which the reader is engaged. It really made me think about some of my positions, or “what would I do in such a situation?” scenarios. James Cameron Stewart does a great job narrating the audiobook. This is a weighty subject but a very entertaining book.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/HighBridge Audio!

I have to say I did not enjoy this book much. The audio narrarators voice was monotone. Plus I guess I didn't like the idea of dissecting evil to determine whether it actually exists or not. And if it does it must meet certain criteria. I believe that to be subjective and yet to be fair this is a philosophy book.
I personally didn't care for it. I believe in evil in people, its unfortunate that it excist but it sure does.

This book was definitely thought-provoking. It made me consider evil in ways I had not previously. Interesting.