UNDERSTANDING EVIL IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF PAUL RICOEUR, JEAN NABERT AND GABRIEL MARCEL (Ujecie zla w filozofii Paula Ricoeura, Jeana Naberta i Gabriela Marcela)

The author discusses the problem of evil defined by Paul Ricoeur, Jean Nabert and Gabriel Marcel as the basic aspect of human existence. The aim of the article is to analyse the writers' definitions of evil, its origins, how it is possible, ways of reacting on evil and dealing with it. The author compares the viewpoints present in the works of the philosophers under discussion. Paul Ricoeur, the representative of existential phenomenology and hermeneutics, combines philosophical antropology and the analysis of human activity with the problem of human possibilities and weaknesses. He saw evil as the manifestation and result of an individual's freedom. Gabriel Marcel, philosopher and playwright, did an phenomenological analysis of an individual set against today's mass world with evil as one of its components. Jean Nabert, the representative of reflective philosophy, discussed human consciousness, especially an individual's negative experiences, sin and absolute evil. The three standpoints seem to make up one concept, as all of the writers understand an individual as the victim or cause of evil.