This paper critiques the use of the term ‘evil’ in philosophical discussions of the problem of evil. We argue that what is commonly identified as ‘evil’ in this debate is better as ‘misfortune.’ The division between moral and natural evil equivocates between agentic and non-agentic ‘evil,’ undermining its coherence as a unifying concept. Evil events are necessarily caused by evildoers, which are non-existent in events of natural evil. By contrast, ‘misfortune’ places the focus on the victim regardless of the source, better capturing what philosophers intend with the prior term ‘evil.’ Our more precise definition of ‘evil’ satisfies Jean Nabert’s notion of evil as the unjustifiable while also being sufficiently distinct from badness. What distinguishes ‘evil’ from mere badness is moral erasure, which is the perception of other human beings as objects unworthy of moral consideration. While a bad person causes misfortunes as a trade-off in pursuit of a perceived good, an evil person is either completely indifferent to their victim’s misfortunes, or malicious by deliberately causing misfortunes for pleasure’s sake. Our distinction between ‘misfortune’ and ‘evil’ clarified as (im)moral, indifferent, or malicious challenges the assumption that evil, as traditionally framed, poses a direct contradiction to God’s existence.

Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, was crushed by Antarctic sea ice and sank in November 1915. Since then, it has been widely considered that Endurance was the strongest polar ship of its time and was lost because ice tore away the rudder. Based on expedition diaries, Shackleton’s correspondence, and structural analysis, this paper shows that Endurance was not among the strongest ships of its time and that the rudder was not the main cause of the vessel sinking. While the final reason was tearing off the keel, Endurance sank because the vessel was simply crushed in compression by ice. This is not surprising, Endurance was not designed for compressive conditions in the Antarctic pack ice, but for easier conditions at the ice edge in the Arctic. The weakest part of its hull was the engine room area, which was not only larger than in other early Antarctic ships but also lacked beams to give strength against compression by ice. Comparison with other wooden polar ships is not favourable for Endurance: ships designed for compressive pack ice were stronger. It is also evident from archive research that Shackleton was well aware of the weaknesses of Endurance even before his expedition set sail for Antarctica.

This paper examines trends in wage, income, and consumption inequality in Turkey from 2002 to 2023, a period marked by unorthodox economic policymaking before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using microdata from the Turkish Statistical Institute’s Household Budget Survey and the Survey of Income and Living Conditions, we document several salient distributional patterns. Wage inequality declined steadily over two decades, including during the recent episode of policy experimentation – coinciding with sustained minimum wage hikes and a rising share of university-educated workers. Income inequality also fell, though less markedly, before reversing in recent years due to widening disparities in capital and entrepreneurial income. In addition, consumption inequality rose dramatically during the unorthodox policy period, exceeding income inequality growth and driven primarily by a surge in durable goods consumption among top-decile households. These findings reveal the complex and multi-dimensional distributional consequences of unconventional economic policy in emerging markets and highlight the importance of examining inequality across multiple dimensions when evaluating policy effectiveness.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine profoundly disrupted Arctic governance, challenging the long-standing notion of Arctic exceptionalism and creating enduring turbulence. While scholarly debate has largely focused on geopolitical and institutional consequences, the local-level impacts remain underexamined. This study investigates adaptive governance (AG) responses to the war’s effects in Norway’s northernmost counties, Troms and Finnmark, which share a direct border with Russia. The analysis draws on the concepts of crisis, turbulence, and AG, situating them within broader scholarship on how decision-making сenters respond to crises and turbulence and political adaptation. It examines stakeholder responses across four key domains: civilian preparedness, international cooperation, infrastructure development, and the economic repercussions of sanctions. Based on 19 semi-structured interviews, policy documents, and media analysis, the study reveals both adaptation and persistent challenges shaped by pre-existing governance structures, demographic and economic conditions, and past cooperation with Russia. The study contributes to AG literature by unpacking the interplay between strategies, highlighting structural constraints, and demonstrating how geopolitical disruptions shape local governance in strategically significant environments.