Problem of Evil

“Evil at Odds with Itself (Matt. 12:22-29): Demonising Rhetoric and Deconstructive Potential in the Matthean Narrative,” Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary Approaches 3 & 4 (double issue) (2003): 503-14

by Bruce Longenecker

Deconstructive analysis assumes that every text inevitably contains within itself the seeds of its own rhetorical... more Deconstructive analysis assumes that every text inevitably contains within itself the seeds of its own rhetorical self-destruction. The Matthean Gospel threatens to undermine its own rhetorical legitimisation in its depiction of evil, the cohorts of evil and evil's strategic incoherence. In Matt. 12:22-29 the story's central protagonist (Jesus) and his main antagonists (the Pharisees) are shown to hold different views on the character of evil. Within the course of the Matthean narrative, the view of the antagonists proves itself to be accurate, with the protagonist's view proving itself to be deficient. The reliability of the protagonist's discernment of things central to his own career and identity is thereby undermined. Comparison of the Matthean narrative with that of Mark suggests that this deconstructive tendency is to be credited to the Matthean evangelist in his efforts to demonise the synagogue of his contemporaries by means of a rhetoric of evil.

Review of ‘Political Evil in a Global Age: Hannah Arendt and International Theory’ by Patrick Hayden.

by Kirsten Ainley

Review of ‘Political Evil in a Global Age: Hannah Arendt and International Theory’ by Patrick Hayden. Abingdon: Routledge. 2009. 145pp. £76.00/ £23.50 (paperback). ISBN: 978 0 415 45106 2 hbk/ 978 0 203 88253 pbk. Published in International Affairs, 2011, 87(2), pp. 467-468.

Individual Agency and Responsibility for Atrocity

by Kirsten Ainley

Published in Renee Jeffery ed. Confronting Evil in International Relations Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, ISBN: 978-0230602632

The chapter traces the philosophical and legal history of the contemporary concept of the evil individual in... more The chapter traces the philosophical and legal history of the contemporary concept of the evil individual in International Relations. The individual as an actor has become increasingly important in both the practice and study of international relations since 1945, and there has been a marked shift in international political and legal discourse away from assigning responsibility to states for extremes of political violence or atrocity, and towards assigning responsibility – specifically criminal responsibility – to individuals. Those accused of atrocities (now framed as international crimes) are often labeled as evil. However, the concept of the ‘international’ individual agent is highly problematic, and the chapter explains why this is so, before considering the political implications of the rise of the evil individual. These implications include the legitimation of state violence through the categorization of all intolerable or “atrocious” violence as the action of deviant individuals, the temptation to understand conflict in dualist terms of “good” and “evil”, and a blindness towards instances of great suffering which cannot be framed as caused by intentional human action. The position also gives apparent support to the mistaken assumption that evil cannot be predicted or prevented, only punished after it has occurred.

Can we choose evil? A discussion of the problem of radical evil as a modern and ancient problem of freedom

by Mark Coeckelbergh

Royce and Bernstein on Evil

by claudio viale

Sympathy for the Devil: The Hero is a Terrorist in V for Vendetta

by Margarita Carretero González

Published in the book Promoting and Producing Evil. Ed. Nancy Billias. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi, 2010: 207-218

… Change and the Politicisation of Science in Michael Crichton's State of Fear.

by Margarita Carretero González

Wicked Women: The Menace Lurking Behind Female Independence

by Margarita Carretero González

Co-authored with María Elena Rodríguez-Martín, published in the book Something Wicked This Way Comes. Essays on Evil and Human Wickedness. Eds. Colette Balmain and Lois Drawmer. Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi, 2009.

Etología del mal y autobiografía delirante: La vida secreta de Salvador Dalí

by antonio dominguez leiva

You'll Get What is Coming to You: Why is the Just-World Hypothesis Cognitively Conjoined with Afterlife Beliefs

by K. Mitch Hodge

This paper was submitted to Religion, Brain, and Behavior on 05 March 2012 in slightly revised form.
(manuscript in production) DO NOT CITE OR QUOTE WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.

In the decade since Bering (2002) revealed that humans intuitively believe in an afterlife, a growing body of research... more In the decade since Bering (2002) revealed that humans intuitively believe in an afterlife, a growing body of research has contributed to understanding the nature of that belief. What has received little-to-no attention is why the afterlife, cross-culturally, is imagined to be a just place. In this article, the author offers experimental and theoretical evidence which supports a cognitive explanation for this phenomenon. The author argues that the conjunction of the just-world hypothesis (that people get what they morally deserve) with afterlife beliefs is over determined by a number psychological and cognitive mechanisms.

No Pain, No Gain. The Understanding of Cruelty in Western Philosophy

by Giorgio Baruchello

2010 Filozofia 65(2): 170-83

Almost daily, we read and hear of car bombings, violent riots and escalating criminal activities. Such actions are... more Almost daily, we read and hear of car bombings, violent riots and escalating criminal activities. Such actions are typically condemned as “cruel” and their “cruelty” is taken as the most blameworthy trait, to which institutions are obliged, it is implied, to
respond by analogously “cruel but necessary" measures. Almost daily, we read and hear of tragic cases of suicide, usually involving male citizens of various age, race, and class, whose farewell notes, if any, are regularly variations on an old, well-known adagio: “Goodbye cruel world.” Additionally, many grave cruelties are neither reported nor even seen by the media: people are cheated, betrayed, belittled and affronted in many ways, which are as humiliating as they are ordinary. Yet, what is cruel? What meaning unites the plethora of phenomena that are reported “cruel”? How is it possible for cruelty to be so extreme and, at the same time, so common? This essay wishes to offer a survey of the main conceptions of cruelty in the history of Western thought, their distinctive constants of meaning being considered in view of a better understanding of cruelty’s role in shaping each person’s selfhood.

Watchers of Satanail: The Fallen Angels Traditions in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch

by Andrei Orlov

"Lightless Shadows: Symmetry of Good and Evil in Early Jewish Demonology"

by Andrei Orlov

Introduction to Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology (Albany: SUNY Press, 2011).

Thomas Flint on Divine Sovereignty, Freedom, and Evil

by Douglas Beaumont

A thomistic analysis of Thomas Flint's position on Divine Sovereignty, Freedom, and the problem of Evil A thomistic analysis of Thomas Flint's position on Divine Sovereignty, Freedom, and the problem of Evil

Il non essere volontario: la concezione del male nella tradizione teologica e ascetica bizantina

by Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi

published in "χώρα • Révue d’études anciennes et médiévales", 6 (2008), pp. 181-210.

Résumé: Cette étude tente de définir la conception du mal dans la pensée patristique orientale et dans la théologie... more Résumé: Cette étude tente de définir la conception du mal dans la pensée patristique orientale et dans la théologie ascétique byzantine en rapport avec la nouvelle vision ontologique élaborée par les auteurs byzantins. Les auteurs considérés aboutissent à une synthèse entre les positions de la philosophie ancienne à l'égard du mal, qui s'efforça de lui trouver une place dans l'ordre cosmique, et la position biblique, qui situait la cause du mal seulement dans le libre choix des créatures rationnelles (hommes et anges). L'élaboration de cette synthèse amènera les Pères orientaux à une systématisation capable de surpasser les limites de l'ontologie cosmologique ancienne et de bâtir une nouvelle vision de la réalité dans laquelle la volonté joue un rôle central. Dans cette nouvelle perspective, issue
de l'anthropologie biblique et des disputes christologiques, les dynamiques du mal trouvent explication dans le contexte de l'économie de la création et en vue du but de la déification trans-naturelle de l'homme, but dans le quel on peut reconnaître
le fondement doctrinal soit de la théologie soit de la vie ascétique byzantine.

Conversation with Steven Nadler on Evil and Early Modern Philosophy

by Hernan D. Caro A.

The fulfilment of man as knowing God: a Christian theodicy concerning the problem of moral evil

by Hin-Tai Ting

I attempt to address the problem that moral evil poses for the existence of God. I begin by examining more rigorous... more I attempt to address the problem that moral evil poses for the existence of God. I begin by examining more rigorous formulations of the problem in chapter 1. In chapter 2 I defend the way in which I answer the problem. In chapter 3, I analyse the Christian doctrine that human fulfilment is found in knowing God personally; from this, I argue that by allowing human moral evil, God leads humans to a greater depth of everlasting human fulfilment than would be possible without moral evil, because moral evil leads humans to a better personal knowledge of God. I argue that this conclusion defeats the problem of moral evil for the Christian God.

'Naming the Demon': The 'Structure'of Evil in Lonergan and Girard

by John Dadosky

Evil, fine-tuning and the creation of the universe

by Dan Dennis

Can theodicy be avoided? The claim of unredeemed evil

by James Wetzel

Anthologized in The Problem of Evil: Selected Readings, ed. Michael L. Peterson (University of Notre Dame Press, 1992).

A typology of approaches to theodicy and an analysis of their shortcomings. A typology of approaches to theodicy and an analysis of their shortcomings.