Synopses & Reviews
Intriguing, and occasionally unsettling,
In Defense of Sinis a refreshingly frank exploration of some real facts of life. Portmann gathers an on-target collection of great writers on transgressions large and small. Read about defenses for promiscuity, greed, deceit, gossip, lust, breaking the golden rule, and more--and use this unusual guide to decide for yourself if sin has a place in our contemporary, and virtually unshockable, society.
Provocative and illuminating, this book may change how you think about sin, morality, and what's right.
Contributors include Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, Anthony Ellis, Jane English, Ludwig Feuerbach, Sigmund Freud, Bernard Mandeville, Jerome Neu, Friedrich Nietzsche, David Novitz, Joyce Carol Oates, David A.J. Richards, Seneca, Jonathan Swift, Richard Wasserstrom, and Oscar Wilde.
Review
"Just what we frail and fallen mortals need--a book defending lust, gossip, deceit, and prostitution, and a book that is finally more moral than William J. Bennett's
The Book of Virtues." --Stanley Fish, author of
There's No Such Things as Free Speech
Synopsis
Intriguing and occasionally unsettling, In Defense of Sin is a refreshingly flank exploration of some real facts of life. Portmann gathers an on-target collection of great writers' reflections on transgressions both large and small. Readers can devour defenses for promiscuity, greed, deceit, gossip, lust, breaking the golden rule, and more -- and use this unusual guide to decide if sin has a place in this contemporary, and virtually unshockable, society.
Provocative and illuminating, this book may change how people think about sin, morality, and what's right.
About the Author
John Portmann is the author of
When Bad Things Happen to Other People.He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia and his forthcoming book is
Sex and Heaven. Table of Contents
The Half-Life of Sin by John Portmann * In Defense of Idolatry by Ludwig Feuerbach * In Defense of Blasphemy by Friedrich Nietzsche * In Defense of Dismissing Mother and Father by Jane English * In Defense of Murder by Jonathan Swift * In Defense of Adultery by Richard Wasserstrom * In Defense of Deceit by Oscar Wilde * In Defense of Greed by Bernard Mandeville * In Defense of Breaking the Golden Rule by Sigmund Freud * In Defense of Refusing to Forgive by David Novitz * In Defense of Pride, the Worst of the Seven Deadly Sins * In Defense of Gossip by Aaron Ben-Ze'ev * In Defense of Lust by John Portmann * In Defense of Promiscuity by Anthony Ellis * In Defense of Prostitution by David A. J. Richards * In Defense of Despair by Joyce Carol Oates * In Defense of Suicide by Seneca