Philosophy Department

Evil, Vice, and Sin
(PHLV 3186)

Chris Cullen

This seminar will approach morality by focusing on phenomena commonly called “evil,” “vicious,” or “sinful.” Students will begin by a phenomenological examination of specific, recent examples of “evil” and the suffering or diminishment that is found in these examples. Specifically, the class will examine the so-called "horrendous" evils of the twentieth century, and ask how these could happen in light of the optimism and promise of the Enlightenment.

The seminar will ask such questions as: Are there universally recognizable evils? Are there certain phenomena that are so horrendous that one is compelled to call them evil, vicious, or sinful? If so, can this judgment help us in the difficult task of recognizing the good? If there are evils, how can evil exist in a good universe? Why do the good suffer and wicked prosper? How can a good God permit evil? If not, are “evil,” “vice,” and “sin” antiquated terms, relics from a benighted and superstitious age? Are nihilists right in their claim that calling something “evil” is a covert power-grab? Or emotivists that such labeling is merely an expression of personal distaste? The seminar will be structured as a debate around the central question of whether there is evil. Students will thus enter into the debate between traditional understandings of evil and these contemporary challenges to them. [The affirmative will be given a brief rebuttal to respond to the modern critiques. The last weeks of the class will examine sin and vice as important categories for understanding human experience to those who think that evil exists. The last question that the class will examine whether there must be justice for the wicked in a fundamentally good and just universe.]

Photo credit: "Seven deadly sins" by H. Bosch

Arthur Schopenhauer