Is there such a thing as evil?

In her third Reith Lecture, Dr Gwen Adshead asks if there is such a thing as evil? In a career spanning nearly 40 years the forensic psychiatrist has heard many of her patients ask: “I have done evil things but does that make me evil?”

Ideas about what evil is a complex interplay between the social and the individual. Dr Adshead says that we have often confused 'evil' with mental illness. She argues that in certain circumstances we all have capacity for 'evil' and says we need to find ways to cultivate societal and individual 'goodness'. The programme is recorded at the V&A in Dundee, Scotland, in front of an audience and includes a Q and A after Dr Adshead's lecture.