REL 102 - Sin, Danger, Darkness and Disease: Conceptualizing Evil and Misfortune in the Abrahamic Traditions

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

Religion

Description:

How do religious traditions cope with the problem of evil when they conceptualize their God as beneficent, omniscient and omnipotent? This classic question haunts every monotheism. This course will focus on this problem in Judaism and Christianity, with some attention to Islam as well, and will also consider post-religious variations on the theme. We will consider both philosophical accounts beginning in the Hebrew Bible with Job and Ecclesiastes and move forward through rabbinic texts and Saint Augustine; taking stock of the medievals in all three traditions, moving into early modernity with Leibniz and will treat as well modern transformations of this question in thinkers such as Kant, Hegel, Kafka, Blanchot and Susan Sontag.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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