This course will enable students to engage questions regarding evil and suffering from philosophical and religious perspectives. Topics that may be addressed include: Western theodicies and their critics, non-Western (especially Buddhist and Hindu) understandings of the nature of evil and suffering, religious and philosophical dimensions of literary treatments of evil and suffering, and perspectives on care for those who are the victims of evil and suffering. The goal of the course is to provide students with a deepened understanding of our common human fragility and how we might best understand and respond to it.
Semester Offered
Spring even years