OSHER 277 - "Evil"

Descriptions of human tragedy remain steeped in notions of personal and collective responsibility, attaching painful effects to malevolent or negligent causes. While modern secular societies tend to move beyond archaic concepts like inherited guilt, and to dispense with words like 'sin' and 'vice', the concept of evil remains a potent figure within the modern imagination confronted by human suffering. We will compare different attempts to explain evil, from nature to culture and from theodicy to anthropodicy, while considering the potential value (and harm) of such explanations. We will pursue questions about what is deemed "evil," who feels capable (empowered) to define it, how it originates, where it leads, and whether it remains a valuable concept within our modern society.