Evil and Suffering Flashcards
Give an example of moral evil
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Give an example of natural evil
The triassic extinction (some 200 million years ago an increase in atmospheric CO2 caused acidification of the Ocean and global warming that killed off 76% of marine and terrestrial species on Earth)
Which Philosopher was the first to formulate the logical problem of evil?
Epicurus
What is the logical problem of evil?
The existence of God is logically inconsistent with the existence of evil
What kind of argument is the logical problem of evil?
a priori
Who reformulated the logical problem of evil?
Mackie
What did Mackie reformulate the logical problem of evil argument into?
The “inconsistent triad”
What is the inconsistent triad?
The God of classical theism cannot exist if evil exists - either omnipotence, omnibenevolence or evil must not exist since all three are inconsistent
Who put forward the evidential problem of evil?
David Hume
What kind of argument is the evidential problem of evil?
a posteriori argument
What is the evidential problem of evil?
The evidence of evil in the world makes belief in God unjustified. Hume is an empiricist and approaches the problem of evil as such
Hume points out the a posteriori evidence for evil in the world
- Animal suffering
- Natural evil
- God does not intervene to prevent natural disasters
Augustine’s theodicy
Augustine’s theodicy was born from his contemplating of the origin of sin - we are all born with original sin
Augustine evil quote
“All evil is either sin or a punishment for sin”
What did Augustine argue?
Evil does not actually exist and it is merely a privation of good (meaning it is the absence of good)
e.g. darkness does not actually exist as it is merely the absence of light
Irenaeus’ theodicy
Instead of viewing the fall as negative, Irenaeus views it as a necessary stage in the development of humans towards perfection
Adam and Eve were like children who went astray because they lacked sufficient wisdom to do what is right
John Hick’s modern Irenaen theodicy
Hick argued for the epistemic distance:
“Humanity is created at an epistemic distance from God in order to come freely to know and love their maker”
Hick’s soul making theodicy
an attempt to reconcile the existence of evil with the belief in a benevolent God. It proposes that the world was created by God as a place for human beings to develop and grow morally and spiritually, and that this requires a world in which there is the possibility of suffering and evil
What is process theodicy?
The belief that God is not omnipotent, but is instead constantly evolving with the world and that evil exists due to the limitations of the world, rather than due to the will of an omnipotent God
Why is process theodicy a satisfactory response for evil?
- God is bound by natural laws
- God is not omnipotent
- God could not create a perfect world (explains natural evil)
- God could not perfect humans (explains moral evil)
- God is dipolar (partly distinct and immersed in the world)
- A.N. Whitehead = “God is the fellow sufferer who understands”
Provide a critique for your point that process theodicy is a satisfactory response to the problem of evil
Many people would not be willing to accept a God that is not omnipotent since they would not be worthy of worship
Why is process theodicy not a satisfactory response to the problem of evil?
- God is somewhat accountable for evil and suffering
- This is because God was a catalyst for the evolutionary process of creation knowing that he would not he able to control it
- Griffin = “God is responsible for evil in the sense of having urged the creation forward”
Provide a critique for your point that process theodicy is not a satisfactory response to the problem of evil
Would it not have been more evil to have never started the process of creation and not given the opportunity of life?
What does Gil Edwards state?
It is only through suffering that qualities such as courage, trust and tolerance have an opportunity to come out to the fore
