Evil in Judaism
The Philosophy of Why Bad Things Happen to Good People
with Prof. Steven Nadler
Dec. 3 and 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Registrants also receive recordings of live classes
Why do bad things happen to good people (and good things to bad people)?
The problem of evil is often framed in these familiar terms. A more precise description of the problem is this: Why is it that in a world created by an omnipotent, omniscient, wise and good God there are any imperfections at all? Why is there disaster, suffering and sin in God’s creation?
Over the course of two online classes with leading philosophy expert Steven Nadler, we will look at several classic Jewish philosopical approaches to this problem.
Starting with the Book of Job, we will then consider the solutions proposed by Philo of Alexandria, Saadya ben Joseph, Maimonides and Spinoza.
You'll come away from class with a new understanding of Judaism, good and evil, and your place in an ever-evolving modern world.
Class sessions are one hour long. There are no refunds for this course.
About Your Teacher
Steven Nadler is Vilas Research Professor and the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is also director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities and affiliate faculty with the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies. His books include A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age (Princeton, 2011); Spinoza: A Life (Cambridge, 1999; 2nd ed. 2018, winner of the 2000 Koret Jewish Book Award); Menasseh ben Israel: Rabbi of Amsterdam (Yale, 2018); Rembrandt’s Jews (Chicago, 2003, which was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize); and, most recently, Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die (Princeton, 2020). In 2020, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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