Frankenstein in Baghdad: Good or Evil?

By Francesca Federighi, HaYoung Jang, Brian Nguyen, Bryan Tam, and Chloe Tat

The timeline on the bottom will bring you to points on the map. The tabs on the bar on the left brings you to a pop up, which has links to different points in chronological order.

In Frankenstein in Baghdad, the novel explores the gray area that surrounds good and evil. Nothing is clear cut, and this exhibit demonstrates two different perspectives of "good" and "evil" in each event.

Frankenstein in Baghdad repeatedly brings up the idea of moral relativism. Moral relativism is the view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others (Westacott). Whatsitsname’s actions can be viewed through this lense of moral relativism, since the same actions by Whatsitsname can be judged as either good or evil depending on what viewpoint is taken. One perspective that would view his actions as evil is the viewpoint that killing is evil no matter the reasoning. By this moral standard, Whatsitsname is an evil creature. Another perspective, however, might view his actions more favorably. An utilitarian viewpoint that believes that bad actions are acceptable if they are for the purpose of serving a greater good might view his actions of good, even if they involve killing, which is generally agreed upon to be a ba. Moral relativism is also represented by the religious groups in the book. The three religious groups represented, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, all, at least to some extent, accept the ten commandments as a holy doctrine. The seventh commandment states that “you shall not kill.” However throughout history each of these religious groups have engaged in the killing of other people, often as a means to punish those who are not part of their religious group or as a way to dominate as a religious group. This shows how each of these groups have employed moral relativism to justify actions that are immoral according to their religious doctrines.