What is Evil? | Terry Eagleton
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- What is evil? Why does it still exist? One of the world’s most influential literary theorists and critics, Terry Eagleton unravels the mystery behind it.
The prominent Marxist thinker has written extensively on evil, launching a surprising defense of the reality of evil in his book 'On Evil'. Drawing on literary, theological, and psychoanalytic sources he suggests that evil, no mere medieval artifact, is a real phenomenon with palpable force in our contemporary world.
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Terry Eagleton: One of the world’s most influential literary theorists and critics, Eagleton is Professor of English Literature at Lancaster. Eagleton has published over forty books, but remains best known for Literary Theory: An Introduction (1983). He has also been a prominent critic of postmodernism, publishing works such as The Illusions of Postmodernism (1996) and After Theory (2003). He argues that, influenced by postmodernism, cultural theory has wrongly devalued objectivity and ethics. His thinking is influenced by Marxism and by Christian faith.
For more from Terry Eagleton, watch our exclusive interview with him delving into his ideas on evil, the influences behind them and his problem with New Athiesm: • Terry Eagleton | Richa...
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#evil #terryeagleton #marxism #iaitv #philosophy #theory
terry eagleton is brilliant
Maybe, but it wasn’t displayed in this clip.
Thank you for presenting us with your definition of evil, Professor Eagleton; now, could you please define ee-vee-l ?
Nothing more evil than death? The one experience that we all share is 'evil'... Not sure about that. Some people are blessed by a painless release from being alive, when life itself is nothing but suffering. Don't think he's thought this one through
Good point.
That’s not what he’s saying, and he’s thought it out very-very well.
He can't imagine anything more evil than death? A rather absolutist position that can be used to justify Antinatalism if death is a more absolute evil than birth is more of an absolute good. And if birth is an absolute good then anyone who doesn't spend all of their time procreating or attempting to procreate is the worst sort of criminal.
I don't know about birth being an absolute good, but many people find the prospect of death better than, say, being tortured, or having a prolonged and agonizing sickness.
Pure evil can be equated to total madness as it does evil for the sake of it not for any other reason or with any reason behind it.
There's a certain innocence to that, funnily enough.
very true which is where the duality of nature comes into play there is always a touch of good in evil and a touch of evil in good.
Terry forgot to mention the difference between the demonic and the evil which got demonstrated in his book, that's why this video have caused confusions.
Which is?
evil is Everyone like Trump...Hitler. Stalin..Mussolini...White Rascists...Fascism ..Nazism...religion Fundamentalism..and many more..How comes the most EVIL ARE A MAN..??
Richard Dawkins rocks
He's not perfect, but he's got a lot to offer.
WTF?! No! That's not simple. Creation and evil are not two sides of the same coin. Evil is destructive, and it very well can be purposeful. Gratuitous may or may not be present in evil. It would be much easier to define evil as knowingly harming others when it is unnecessary or for personal gain. By his definition genocide isn't evil if the goal is to expand ones own territory. Derp! My definition is better, and doesn't sully creativity with evil, which has nothing to do with it.
My blog: artofericwayne.com/
I dont know what this guy was talking about but let's be real what we call evil/bad is simply the stuff us humans dont like, nothing more nothing less.
Most of that was total baloney.
Yeah, it was. According to him, if you murder someone for their money, it's not evil because it had a purpose and wasn't gratuitous.
He's discussing evil in philosophical terms in case you missed, which you clearly did.
Jibran oh I understood exactly what he was saying he was just wrong and you were sucked into his bs by his use of long complicated words, don’t talk down to me you are obviously the simple minded one easily influenced by others. I understand the true nature of pure evil quite simply it is absolute madness it has no purpose other than to do evil, this is what he was speaking about but he misunderstood it himself. Just because something is evil doesn’t mean these is no reason behind its actions. This is why pure evil turns on itself, because it lashes out everywhere, with no rhyme or reason but that doesn’t mean that other forms of evil have no agenda which can be against itself since these are always fighting for dominance amongst themselves.
@@abigailslade3824 I never said anything regarding his point of view of evil. You just made a lot of assumptions here. People of logic don't do that.
Jibran i didn’t do any such thing you came here and said I didn’t understand I was demonstrating that I do and let me tell you I was making no assumptions I worked it out through the logic you assume I ignored.
So nice.
Drivel
your IQ seems low
Absolute nonsense!
Evil is just a label.
So is "absolute nonsense". Nevertheless, words are the best tools we have to describe reality.
@@EWKification Actually, words is the best thing to describe and create concepts. Our concepts is how we interpret reality.
@@anthonycraig274 Concepts being made up of words.
@@EWKification I don’t mean to split hairs but Concepts are made up by neural mapping and pattern matching within the brain. Words are use to communicate that concept from one mind to another.
@@anthonycraig274 Are you saying the concepts don't exist in language?