Evil as a Dissonance and Existential Meaning in Pragmatic Circles

The article develops a new way of viewing the problem of evil through the pragmatist theory of inquiry. Recent discussions about existential problems of evil show that it arises from the dissonant or shocking experience of evil. Evil offers a dissonant experience, which leads to existential doubt. Evil challenges perspectives for viewing the world as an order of sufficient reasons and undermines world-view practices. Existential doubt is resolved by world-view inquiry and dialogue to assess the capabilities of world-views to come to terms with evil. The threatening nature of evil could however shock the suffering person into an experience of meaninglessness, or a retreat to the method of authority. Both involve the breakdown of inquiries for responding to the world.