Male radicale

This paper reconstructs the genesis of the concept of “radical evil” starting from the biblical and theological tradition, showing how the metaphor of the root of evil precedes its philosophical formulation. The analysis then focuses on the transformation carried out by Kant, who reworks this notion in terms of freedom and imputability, excluding any naturalistic interpretation. The essay concludes with a comparison with some twentieth-century interpretations, in particular those of Jaspers and Arendt, highlighting both the persistence and the transformation of the problem in contemporary philosophy. Keywords: Root of Evil, Original Sin, Radical Evil, Moral Evil, Free Will, Banality of Evil.