The Bernard Zeitlyn Memorial Lecture 2015

WED, 21 OCT 2015 AT 18:00

The Bernard Zeitlyn Memorial Lecture 2015


University of Essex Colchester Campus, Colchester, United Kingdom
By: Debbie Stewart

Event Description


Do We Need a Theory of Evil? Coline Covington

The defining characteristic of evil is best described by the German adage, “What may not be cannot be.” Because evil constitutes an action that exists outside the norms of society and outside the boundaries of our belief system, it is often experienced as something inconceivable, as “what ought not to be”. It is like trying to imagine black holes in astronomy; their gravitational pull is so powerful that no particle or electromagnetic radiation can escape and yet it is unobservable except in its destructiveness. Similarly, what may at first appear to be “normal” or “boundaried” behaviour can suddenly tip over into atrocity. When we are aware of the destructive presence of evil, we tend to want to reduce its causation to a single source, e.g., a psychopathic gene, as a way of containing the anxiety it creates in us. Hannah Arendt recognized the essential unthinkableness of evil. In her letter to Gershom Scholem on the subject of radical evil, Arendt wrote, “Thought tries to reach some depth, to go to the roots, and the moment it concerns itself with evil, it is frustrated.”(24 July 1963)

In this talk I will argue that it is precisely our difficulty in conceptualizing evil that calls for the creation of a theory of evil. Although my approach is primarily psychoanalytic, I will also draw on perspectives from philosophy and the social sciences to lay the foundations of what an inter-disciplinary theory of evil might encompass.




Read lessWHENWednesday, 21 October 2015 from 18:00 to 19:30 (BST) - Add to CalendarWHEREUniversity of Essex Colchester Campus - Lecture Theatre Building - LTB 8 Colchester CO4 3SQ GB - View MapTAGSColchester, United Kingdom Events Seminar Spirituality