French Literature Reviews - 2026

The Asymmetry of Good and Evil
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

We are indebted to Stéphane Chauvier for helping us rediscover the moral philosophy of Jules Vuillemin in Le juste et le bien. Essais de philosophie morale et politique (Agone). He has now published a personal essay in the "Moments philosophiques" series by Vrin publishers: Bonté gracieuse. Essai sur l’asymétrie du bien et du mal, which takes its departure from a few straightforward questions: why does it seem morally more serious to abandon one's children than to fail to adopt orphans? Why is it morally more serious to force someone to listen to music they utterly detest than to fail to play them the music they love most? Why, more generally, is the obligation not to do harm either perceived as, or actually, more imperative than the obligation to do good? Is this asymmetry a constitutive feature of all morality, a logical consequence of what good and evil are, or is it rather a peculiarity of our own morality—at least the one most common or familiar to us? Could we not only conceive of, but actually adopt, a morality that treats the obligation not to do harm and the obligation to do good with complete symmetry? Could we live under a regime of stern goodness?

(Illus.: Franz Marc, Rehe im Schnee, ca. 1911, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich)

Stéphane Chauvier's inquiry engages with enduring questions in normative ethics concerning the relative weight assigned to beneficence and non-maleficence. The text considers whether the apparent priority given to the duty not to cause harm over the duty to promote well-being is a structural necessity of ethical systems or a historically contingent feature of familiar moral frameworks. By examining everyday scenarios involving familial obligations and personal autonomy, the essay reflects on how duties are prioritized in practical reasoning and whether an alternative framework of symmetrical obligations remains conceivable. Readers interested in contemporary moral philosophy and the structure of ethical obligations may find this short essay relevant to their study of how philosophical inquiry addresses the asymmetry between good and evil.