Nic Bommarito (NYU): On Understanding Evil

People often find evil incomprehensible. When confronted with radical immorality we often say things like, "I just can't understand how someone could do that." I defend an explanation of why this can be morally virtuous. The nature of certain types of explanation make it impossible for those with certain moral commitments. When those moral commitments are good, a lack of understanding can reflect well on one's moral character. This helps to distinguish this phenomenon from false friends like certain types of moral naivety, close mindedness, sanctimoniousness, and morally irrelevant types of understanding.

Date & time

Tue 09 Aug 2016, 4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location

Coombs Seminar Room A

Event series

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