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The Nature of Evil

The Nature of Evil. Raises major religious and philosophical questions Raises questions concerning human nature Do you know evil when you see it? What is it? Is it even real?. Different Approaches to Understanding Evil.

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The Nature of Evil

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  1. The Nature of Evil • Raises major religious and philosophical questions • Raises questions concerning human nature • Do you know evil when you see it? • What is it? Is it even real?

  2. Different Approaches to Understanding Evil • Religious: Original sin: Evil as active resistance to reject God’s will and love • Philosophical: meaning and form of evil acts, their causes and results • Psychological: Projection of one’s “Shadow” onto others

  3. Significance to Our Meaning of Human Nature • Are we “Fallen Angels” striving for redemption and salvation? • Or, are we intelligent beasts striving to pull ourselves out of the muck of creation?

  4. Faces of Evil • Children usually see evil in one dimensional terms – evil is demonical; • Evil comes in the form of warped and satirical individuals bent on attacking God, motherhood, the flag, superman.

  5. Battle Between Good and Evil? Ancient Persian religion (books of Zoroastrianism) Evil as Opposite of Good: cosmic battle Angra Mainyu: God of Darkness and Evil

  6. AngraMainyu • Lives in darkness – the place where all those who do evil go after their demise; • Eternal destroyer of good; • Bringer of death and disease; • The one what in Christian religion is called Satan.

  7. Osama Bin Laden: Political manipulation of Evil Face of Evil? Bush: “We will punish the evil doers” “America will lead the crusade against terrorism” “You are either with us or against us”

  8. Martin Buber: Jewish Theologian and Philosopher Evil not the opposite of good Working towards the good: the moral path Falling into evil through an absence of attention One must work to be good, but one happens to be evil.

  9. Hannah Ardendt: The Banality of Evil A Report on the Banality of Evil Nazi Adolf Eichmann There is "a strange interdependence between thoughtlessness and evil."

  10. Evil as Lack of Imagination "The deeds were monstrous, but the doer was quite ordinary.. neither demonic or monstrous." Far from desiring to be seen as a villain, Eichmann sent thousands to their deaths merely because of "a lack of imagination."  His only motive: promotion

  11. Recipe for Evil • Over-identification with a cause (isms): nationalism, liberalism, conservativism • Elevating personal goals over concern for human consequences of decisions • Lack of empathy and compassion for Other.

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