Why Evil Exists
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Why Evil Exists
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Narrated by:
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Charles Mathewes
About this listen
Whether we view it in theological, philosophical, or psychological terms, evil remains both a deeply intriguing question and a crucially relevant global issue. Now, Professor Mathewes offers you a richly provocative and revealing encounter with the question of human evil - a dynamic inquiry into Western civilization's greatest thinking and insight on this critical subject.
With the inspired guidance of these 36 lectures, you'll engage with how both individual thinkers and larger trends of thought have faced evil, studying the work of major theologians, philosophers, poets, political theorists, novelists, psychologists, and journalists. You'll study the psychology of evil in Islamic theology, as well as the weighty meditations of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm of Lyon, and Martin Luther. And among contemporary views, you'll grasp Arthur Cohen's extraordinary post-Holocaust reformulation of faith in a God whose reality "is our prefiguration" - the promise of what we may become.
Parallel with the theological accounts, you'll also study primary currents of Western secular thinking on evil in the work of key philosophers and social theorists. You'll investigate Thomas Hobbes's proposition that good and evil are invented constructs of human language, and Kant's conception of morality as located in the human will. You contemplate Freud's hypothesis of the "death drive," an innate, destructive force of the psyche, and Hannah Arendt's highly influential analysis of the "moral inversion" of Nazism.
So why does evil exist in the world? Join a deeply insightful teacher in facing this fascinating, primordial question - a chance to bring your own most discerning thought to a crucial challenge for our world.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great CoursesWhat listeners say about Why Evil Exists
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- myra colecliffe
- 06-10-2021
Great interdisciplinary discussion
A very interesting and insightful series by someone who is incredibly widely read and knowledgeable. I wish there were more lectures by him!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David
- 22-02-2023
Excellent!
A very inciteful, helpful set of work. Thankyou for this deeply moving summary of some of the thoughts from our greatest thinkers. On what is a never ending and the universal puzzle. I for one am more at ease with matters for having listened to your effort to explain.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 13-09-2018
alright, but not great.
There were some interesting historical parts earlier (skip the first lecture, it's boilerplate 'welcome' stuff), but I never really got much of an insight to concepts of evil. From about halfway it just shifts into a pretty Christian assumption of what evil is (and sin). it's not proselytising, more that it's just assumed that the Christian view of evil is the natural default.
I kept waiting for the point where he'd really dive into differences between cultures or even between individuals' viewpoints. Or even that evil might be multipolar rather than just a binary. There was some interesting stuff involving the trial of Eichmann that I'd recommend.
Unfortunately, the author betrays a poor understanding of science (and dated knowledge of psychology). Science's purpose is not to make the world better for people; it can't fail at "it's own goal" as the author suggests. Likewise, the Zimbardo and Milgram experiments were not caveated at all, and nothing was really made of more recent commentary and studies on those. it made me question the validity of the rest of the author's inferences. I finished off the whole series, but only really half-listened after this point.
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2 people found this helpful