The aim of this module is to introduce students to the philosophical and theological discussion of good and evil. Throughout the course, we will be connecting these philosophical problems to their real-life implications and consequences, ending with the question of how evil and suffering could be ethically represented. We will start with popular representations and understandings of good and evil in philosophy and art, and then turn to an analysis of The Book of Job, which, being a thorough theological investigation into the universal theme of unjust human suffering, is often regarded as one of the biblical answers to the problem of evil.
\n This will be followed by discussing the theological problem of evil \u2013 the question of how God can allow so much evil and suffering in the world \u2013 as well as attempts at defending the idea of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God. We will look at mediaeval dualist heresies and then jump to an existentialist interpretation of the Book of Job in modernity by the 19th-century Danish philosopher S\u00f8ren Aabye Kierkegaard. We will then discuss the moral implications of an atheistic, Godless world: can modern moral philosophies have the same normative grounding as divine laws? We will go \u201cbeyond good and evil\u201d by consulting Friedrich Nietzsche, discuss how literary approaches to the absurd respond to the radical violence in the 20th century, and face the banality of evil and the problems it poses to the idea of free will and ethical choice, as explored by Hannah Arendt.<\/p>\n
Module leader: Semashyna Mariia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the philosophical and theological discussion of good and evil. Throughout the course, we will be connecting these philosophical problems to their real-life implications and consequences, ending with the question of how evil and suffering could be ethically represented. We will start with popular representations and understandings of good and evil in philosophy and art, and then turn to an analysis of The Book of Job, which, being a thorough theological investigation into the universal theme of unjust human suffering, is often regarded as one of the biblical answers to the problem of evil.
\n This will be followed by discussing the theological problem of evil \u2013 the question of how God can allow so much evil and suffering in the world \u2013 as well as attempts at defending the idea of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God. We will look at mediaeval dualist heresies and then jump to an existentialist interpretation of the Book of Job in modernity by the 19th-century Danish philosopher S\u00f8ren Aabye Kierkegaard. We will then discuss the moral implications of an atheistic, Godless world: can modern moral philosophies have the same normative grounding as divine laws? We will go \u201cbeyond good and evil\u201d by consulting Friedrich Nietzsche, discuss how literary approaches to the absurd respond to the radical violence in the 20th century, and face the banality of evil and the problems it poses to the idea of free will and ethical choice, as explored by Hannah Arendt.<\/p>\n
Module leader: Semashyna Mariia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"department":[],"division":[32],"terms_years":[190],"level":[243],"class_list":["post-11045","modules","type-modules","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","division-arts-human","terms_years-2023-2024","level-orientation"],"yoast_head":"\n