Despite its neglect by most contemporary moral philosophers, the problem of tragedy is the most important philosophical problem facing the twenty-first century. More important than the problem of consciousness, more important than the problem of relativism, and even more important than the problem of justice. I say this despite the fact that the problem of justice has dominated the thought of moral and political philosophers since John Rawls published A Theory of Justice in 1971. That these problems, including the problem of justice and several others, are both pressing and challenging is clear. But we stand at a pivotal point in history in which our values and the conditions under which we try to guide our lives by them have pressed us to limits previously only dimly understood and now frightening to behold.

Soldiers witnessing nuclear tests in the desert of the American Southwest during World War II were warned against looking into the explosion. The results, they were advised, could be devastating. Staring into the sun is something not long endured, but even a glimpse at close range of the explosion at Hiroshima would have meant instant blindness. Consider in this regard what it would have been like to have been among the first liberators to arrive at Auschwitz. The emotional impact could have been well-nigh nuclear in magnitude.