Pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, sloth: even the names given to what are collectively known as the seven deadly sins' seem dated, and the whole concept related only to a monastic world which has long since passed. Kenneth Slack shows that the insights which led to the categorizing of the seven do, however, retain permanent validity. Moreover, they are insights which penetrate deeply into current moral issues such as the cult of monetarism, and what is known as today's 'permissive society'.