Holy Cross Lecture to Reconcile Faith in the Face of Evil

Notre Dame philosopher Robert Audi will give a lecture titled “The Problem of Evil: Can Faith Be Rational in the Face of the Horrific Evils of this World?” on Thursday, April 18 at 4 p.m. in Rehm Library, Smith Hall at the College of the Holy Cross. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Audi is the John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, where he also is professor of management for the Mendoza College of Business. In this talk, he argues that moral wrongs and natural disasters are possible under God. Rather than focusing on the human perspective on the problem of evil, he proposes a theocentric approach: Could a combination of good and evil in the world be of value to God’s experience?

Audi is author of 16 books, including “Moral Perception” (Princeton University Press, 2013), “Rationality and Religious Commitment” (Clarendon Press, 2011), “The Good in the Right: A Theory of Intuition and Intrinsic Value” (Princeton University Press, 2004) and “Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge” (Routledge, 1998). He also has written more than 200 papers appearing in journals and edited volumes and has served as general editor of the First Edition (1995) and Second Edition (1999) of “The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy.” 

He is a past president of the American Philosophical Association and the Society of Christian Philosophers.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture and the philosophy department at Holy Cross. Learn more and watch lectures online at www.holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

About the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College’s commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.