Roger Kennedy will talk about the concept of evil and how we can understand and overcome it.
He focuses on the Holocaust and slavery to show how the after-effects of evil lives on in contemporary society.
The Nazi past continues to disturb Western societies, reliant on slavery as a foundation of economic wealth and is haunted by its inability to process slavery’s harsh reality and continuing after-effects. He uses the genius of Shakespeare and his encapsulation of the essential features of how evil can develop and take over a person’s mind.
He explores how those who have stood up to evil and how we can use that knowledge to build a society that can resist the forces of evil. He emphasises the power and influence of unconscious processes underlying human actions, and on the role of inner conflicting and elemental fears and anxieties.
Roger Kennedy
Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and an adult psychoanalyst. He was an NHS consultant in charge of the Family Unit at the Cassel Hospital for nearly 30 years before moving exclusively into private practice. He is a training analyst and sees adults, children, families, and parents at his clinic. He is a past President of the British Psychoanalytical Society and well-known as an expert witness in the family courts. He has published 14 previous books. The Works of Jacques Lacan: Libido, Elusive Human Subject, The Power of Music, Tolerating Strangers, Psychic Home and many others. His latest is The Evil Imagination. Phoenix (2022).
