Theory’s proper object is evil and suppression, not the good

Evidence

Washing, ironing, sweeping, routing out tufts of dust in the dark places behind the wardrobe, this is holding away death but also refusing life: for in one movement time is created and destroyed; the housewife only grasps the negative aspect of it. Hers is the attitude of a Manichaean. The essence of Manichaeism is not only to recognize two principles, one good and one evil: it is also to posit that good is attained by the abolition of evil and not by a positive movement; in this sense, Christianity is hardly Manichaean in spite of the existence of the devil, because it is in devoting oneself to God that one best fights the devil and not in trying to conquer him. All doctrines of transcendence and freedom subordinate the defeat of evil to progress toward good. But the wife is not called to build a better world; the house, the bedroom, the dirty laundry, the wooden floors, are fixed things: she can do no more than rout out indefinitely the foul causes that creep in; she attacks the dust, stains, mud, and filth; she fights sin, she fights with Satan. But it is a sad destiny to have to repel an enemy without respite instead of being turned toward positive aims; the housewife often submits to it in rage. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1225 (#expands, via linked claim)

And if it is true that in the final stages of totalitarianism an absolute evil appears (absolute because it can no longer be deduced from humanly comprehensible motives), it is also true that without it we might never have known the truly radical nature of Evil. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 13 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Positivist psychology traditions block the study of evil; Absolute evil is evil detached from any humanly comprehensible motive — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 13; Analyzing and explaining evil may itself contribute to banalizing it (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Negativity lies in repelling evil rather than pursuing positive aims #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1225
• Positivist psychology traditions block the study of evil #expands (0.80)
• Absolute evil is evil detached from any humanly comprehensible motive #expands (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 13
• Analyzing and explaining evil may itself contribute to banalizing it #complicates (0.72)
• Extreme evil can stem from meticulous order rather than its breakdown #qualifies (0.70) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 430