oa [Terrorism, Responsibility, and Radical Evil: Re-Reading Kant’s Religionsschrift, Terrorisme, verantwoordelijkheid en het radicale kwaad: Kants Religionsschrift herlezen]

In recent debates, insufficient attention has been paid to the positive role religions can play in modern societies. Religions offer insights that remain important even in secular societies. Kant’s conception of radical evil is a paradigm of positive engagement with Christian dogmatics. This article argues that Kant cannot formulate his conception of radical evil without falling back on Christian interpretative resources. Kant attempts a combination of Pelagian and Augustinian views on evil and free will. In spite of tensions in Kant’s analysis of evil, it still offers important insights that can help us to better understand, and deal with, contemporary manifestations of evil, like modern terrorism.