The Problem of Evil -- Course Schedule:

The Problem:

  • Read "Introduction" from The Problem of Evil (hereafter PE), pp 1-24: 1/21
  • Read the Book of Job: 1/24 - 1/28

    • The Analytical Approach:

  • Read "Evil and Omnipotence" (PE), pp 25-37: 1/31
  • Read "Divine Goodness and the Problem of Evil" (PE), pp 69-82: 2/2
  • Read "God, Evil, and the Metaphysics of Freedom" (PE), pp 83-109: 2/4
  • Read "The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism" (PE), pp 126-137: 2/7
  • Read Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion: 2/7 - 2/16
  • Read "Hume on Evil" (PE), pp 38-52: 2/16
  • (No Class on 2/18)
  • Turn in Book Review and Discuss Wolterstorff's Lament for a Son: 2/21

    • The Art of Temptation:

  • Read Doctor Faustus: 2/23
  • Read "The Grand Inquisitor," from The Brothers Karamazov: 2/25

    • The Art of Suffering:

  • Read The Night: 3/28 - 3/3
  • View and Discuss The Sweet Hereafter: 3/6 - 3/10
  • (Spring Break: 3/13 - 3/17)
  • Turn in Book/Film Review and Discuss Smiley's The Age of Grief and The Sweet Hereafter: 3/20
    • Mid-Term Exam: 3/22
  • Read Powers of Horror: 3/24 - 4/5
  • (No Class on 4/7)

    • The Ethics of Overcoming:

  • Read "Natural Evil and the Love of God" (PE) pp 189-208: 4/10
  • Read "Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God" (PE) 209-221: 4/12
  • Read "Soul-Making and Suffering" (PE), pp 168-188: 4/14
  • Read Beyond Good and Evil: 4/17 - 4/26
  • Read John Caputo's Radical Hermeneutics, Part Three: 4/28 - 5/1
    • Final Papers Due: 5/5