Publication at Protestant Theological Faculty |
2015
Abstract
The article focuses on the problem of evil, understood as guilt, in its relation to human freedom. It was Immanuel Kant who developed, on the philosophical basis, the ethical concept of evil; albeit his conceptualisation of evil with the help of paradox reveals that he reached the limits of consequent ethicalisation of evil.
These limits are explored by Paul Ricœur, who points out the irreducibility of the tragic aspect of evil. Integration of the tragic element into the conception of evil does not necessarily lead to the loosening of the bond between evil and freedom or even to the denial of human freedom but indicates the limits of the understanding of freedom merely as autonomy.