March 3, 2005

Scholars on evil talk about the problems in the world

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Terrorism, deadly earthquakes and tsunamis have some people wondering why there is evil in the world, and scholars will examine this and related issues April 1-3 at Purdue University's Problem of Evil conference.

The problem of evil is about reconciling the existence of a God who is all-knowing, all-powerful and supremely benevolent with the existence of evil in the world, said Rod Bertolet, professor and head of Purdue's Department of Philosophy.

The conference's talks, presentations and a marathon reading of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" are free and open to the public. Scholars will discuss not only the problem of evil, but also will celebrate the careers of two of the field's top scholars from Purdue – William L. Rowe, professor of philosophy, and Calvin O. Schrag, George Ade Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus. The conference is supported by former Purdue President Arthur G. Hansen. All talks are in Stewart Center, Room 214.

"Professor Rowe is a central figure in the debates over the problems of evil in the philosophy of religion," said Bertolet, who will moderate Rowe's April 2 session from 9-11:30 a.m. "He is known for setting the agenda for the discussion of the problem of evil in analytic philosophy with his work that he began publishing in the late 1970s."

Twentieth century analytic philosophy is rooted in theories that analyze philosophical concepts and statements in ordinary language to eliminate the confusion of traditional philosophical terms.

"The question I will be raising is whether the terrible evils in our world give us some reason to doubt there is such a being as God," says Rowe, who served as head of the department from 1981 to 1991. "Many believe that given God's nature, he will only permit these evils if there is some greater good to come of it.

"But what if lightning strikes a tree in a forest, and the tree falls on a fawn. The fawn suffers for five days before it dies. Clearly God could have prevented the evil but did not. What is the good in the innocent creature's suffering? Some religious philosophers say we shouldn't expect to know what this good could be, or that we don't know enough to know what the good could be. But the lack of knowing also raises the question about God's existence."

Rowe, who is retiring at the end of the year, is the author of five books including "Philosophy of Religion," "Thomas Reid on Freedom and Morality" and "Can God Be Free?" which was published in April 2004.

From 4:30-7 p.m. on April 1, Schrag, who retired from Purdue in 2000, will discuss evil from the point of view of what's known in the continental philosophy of religion.

In continental-European philosophy, radical evil poses the problem not so much to God as to projects of human flourishing, says Martin Beck Matustik, professor of philosophy and conference coordinator. This area of thought is rooted in philosophy from the 1930s to the present and often reflects works by the Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Derrida, but also the Frankfurt School Critical Theory. Schrag also is author of nine books, including "Radical Reflection and the Origin of the Human Sciences" and "God as Otherwise than Being: Toward a Semantics of the Gift."

"The name Calvin Schrag has come to stand for one of the founding and leading voices of contemporary North American continental-European philosophy, particularly his work on the intersection among philosophy and communication, human sciences and deconstruction," says Matustik, who also is director of the English and philosophy doctorate program. "His first work on the Danish religious philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and the German existential philosopher Martin Heidegger, as well as his most recent work, the book 'God as Otherwise than Being,' are milestones in contemporary continental approaches to the philosophy of religion."

In addition to supporting the conference, former president Hansen will present his paper on the problem of evil in the Bible's Book of Job. Sandor Goodhart, associate professor of English and Jewish studies and member of the English and philosophy doctorate program at Purdue, will respond.

"The Book of Job started challenging the idea that good deeds are rewarded with wealth, and those who were miserable did something evil," says William McBride, Arthur G. Hansen Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. "Even though Hansen is a scholar in engineering, he has a great interest and knowledge in the philosophy of religion."

Hansen, Purdue's eighth president (1971-82) earned two degrees from the university – a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1946 and a master's degree in mathematics in 1948. In 1958 he received his doctorate in mathematics from Case Western Reserve University.

Other Purdue and visiting scholars in biblical literature, critical theory, feminism, political philosophy and the philosophy of religion also will talk at the conference. A roundtable discussion of all the speakers will address "Evil-Talk After September 11: Is this the Final End of Theodicy?" from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on April 3. A complete conference schedule is available online.

The English and philosophy doctorate program is organizing the Problem of Evil conference, which also is supported by the departments of philosophy and English, Jewish studies, religious studies and women's studies.

Purdue's philosophy program started as part of the Department of History, Government and Philosophy. There are 18 faculty members and 40 graduate students in the department, which also co-sponsors two interdisciplinary doctorate programs in communication and philosophy, and English and philosophy. Nearly 2,000 students are enrolled in philosophy courses each semester.

Angelica Duran, assistant professor of English, also is organizing a marathon reading of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" on April 1 and April 3 in the Stewart Center Art Gallery. Light refreshments will be provided.

Books 1-6 of the epic, based on the story of human creation in the Book of Genesis, will be read from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 1 by members of the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts, clergy of St. Thomas Aquinas and undergraduates from the English class "Brave New Worlds." Books 7-12 will be read from 1:30-6:30 p.m. on April 3 by English professors, faculty members from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and undergraduates from professor Ann Astell's English class, "Bible as Literature," and Duran's English and comparative literature class. Purdue president Martin C. Jischke will read the final section and make concluding remarks about this interdisciplinary reading.

Writer: Amy Patterson-Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources: William L. Rowe, (765) 494-4283, wlrowe@purdue.edu

Rod Bertolet, (765) 494-4275, bertolet@purdue.edu

Martin Beck Matustik, (765) 496-3501, mmatustik@cla.purdue.edu

William McBride, (765) 494-4285, wmcbride@purdue.edu

Angelica Duran, (765) 496-3957, duran0@cla.purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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