Evil and suffering Flashcards
What is the problem of evil?
A philosophical issue that questions how an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent God can exist alongside evil.
Mackie’s Inconsistent Triad
What is natural evil?
Give example
-That which the world does to us.
-Evil that occurs within nature, without human interference.
-2008 Sichuan earthquake killed about 70,000 people and left around a million or more homeless.
-Permian-Triassic extinction ‘The Great Dying’ (250 million years ago) made around 90% marine species and 79% land species disappear.
What is moral evil?
Give example
-Moral evil refers to any action where an individual uses their will to bring about morally bad consequences.
The Holocaust killed over 6 million Jews.
What is the Augustinian Theodicy?
-Augustine’s response to the problem of evil.
-Claims evil and suffering does not disprove the existance of an all-loving God.
-God’s good was ruined by human sin.
Main themes of the Augustinian Theodicy
-Evil is an absence of good
-God is good and created a perfect world
-Evil came from humans who chose to misuse their free-will and turn away from God, it did not come from God
-Humans are made in God’s image
-Humanity has true moral autonomy (this led to the Fall)
Evidence supporting Augustinian Theodicy
-“God saw all that he had made, and it was good” (Bible)
-Original Sin (Bible)
-“Seminally present in Adam”
What are criticisms of the Augustinian Theodicy?
-F.Schleirmacher = if God created a perfectly good world then it could never go wrong + evil had to have existed in the first place if humans were able to choose it.
-God is unjust for allowing humans to be punished for one human’s sin.
-Hell is a place of eternal pushishment and suffering (contradicts omnibenevolent God).
-God designed the world so that suffering is needed for survival.
-Inconsistent Triad
Irenaeus’ argument
-Soul-making theodicy
-God deliberately created an imperfect world so that humans could, through trial and adversity, develop into perfect beings.
-Evil and suffering is part of God’s plan for humanity.
-Humans can develop from the ‘image’ of God, to the ‘likeness’ of God.
-God’s ultimate goal is for humans to develop into mature and virtuous individuals who choose to love and follow God freely.
Free will.
Criticisms of Irenaus’ argument
-Suffering doesn’t always result in positive human development
-Suffering can produce misery, resentment, anger etc.
-Why are there such extremes of suffering?
-“love can never be expressed by allowing suffering to happen” - Philips
-God is omnipotent so could’ve created humans to be perfect in the first place.
What is the Evidential problem of evil?
What kind of argument is it?
-There are known facts about evil that are evidence against the existance of God.
-The evidential problem of evil is made worse by the problem of God’s omniscience.
-There are two main types of evil which supply such evidence: evil is overwhelming in quantity and quality + evil is pointless because it serves no useful purpose.
A posteriori (sensory) + inductive (not dispproving but shows illogical)
Argues that God’s existence is highly unlikely.
What does William Rowe say about the evidential problem of evil?
-There is pointless evil.
-Uses the example of a fawn dying a slow and painful death in a natural fire, where no humans ever see it.
-It is pointless because no good comes from it; it doesn’t preserve human free will or promote virtuous actions because it goes unseen by humans.
What is Hume’s evidential argument against evil?
-Animals did not commit original sin and cannot go to heaven, yet God still allows them to suffer on Earth.
-Nature has excessive and pointless suffering.
-God doesn’t intervene.
We only have evidence of an imperfect world consisting of evil, therefore we are justified in believing God cannot be infallible.
These are incompatible with God’s existence as the creator in the Bible.
Hume quote
“I conclude that however consistent the world may be…with the idea of such a God, it can never provide us with an inference to his existence…there can be no grounds for such an inference when there are so many misfortunes in the universe, and while these misfortunes could…easily have been remedied.”
Evidence to show natural evil is overwhelming in quantity and quality.
-‘The Great Dying’ - mass extinction 251-252 million years ago, 90% marine species and 79% of land species disappeared as a consequence of natural disasters.
-Perpetrator appears to be God as he is Creator and therefore responsible for the evolution of life on Earth.
Evidence to show natural evil is pointless.
-William Rowe
-Uses example of a fawn trapped in a forest fire. The fawn’s suffering is seen as useless because it dies alone and no human ever knows about it.
-No eventual good comes from it and it neither preserves human free will nor develops human character and virtues.
What is the Logical problem of evil?
-The existance of evil is logically incompatible with the existance of an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God.
-Epicurus says “Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God”, referring to God’s response to evil.
What is Mackie’s Inconsistent Triad?
There is clear evidence and experience of evil; either God is not powerful (can’t stop evil) or God is not loving and good (doesn’t love/care for us enough to stop it).
What is John Hick’s Theodicy?
-God created humans imperfect so they can learn from mistakes to become good people and learn to love him. Humans are ‘children of God’, and no parent can force their child to love them.
-‘Two-step process’ of creation and development:
* Step 1 God creates the human race ‘Bios’ (biological life of humans).
Step 2 God allows it to develop itself until every being develops the likeness of Christ ‘Zoe’ (human state is perfected/completed).
-The world is a place of soul-making where everyone becomes a ‘child of God’.
-Humans are at an epidemic distance from God. If they knew God existed, their freedom would be lost as they would do whatever God wanted them to do. We must be free to choose the good.
The Augustinian Theodicy is no longer credible. “Utterly unacceptable” (Hick)
Criticisms of Hick’s theodicy
-‘End justifies means’, is the goal of heaven worth the level of suffering? e.g. Karamazov Brothers (book).
-Animals suffer but don’t go to heaven.
-Goes against mainstream/official doctrines e.g heaven/hell
-Epistemically distance - why is God inconsistent with keeping his distance (sometimes steps in/sometimes doesn’t).
Karamazov Brothers = Ivan argues to Alosha that God demands too high a price for heaven, and it is no longer worth it.
Mackie quote
“The obviously better possibility of making beings who would act freely but always go right”
Platinga’s argument
-Mackie’s free-will defence doesn’t work
-There can be no world where humans are always free and always make good choices
-In a world with no evil, humans wouldn’t be truly free at all
Epistemically distance
-John Hick
-God intentionally conceals his full prescence and power in order to give humans the freedom to choose and develop their character.
what are problems with Hick’s theodicy?
-Doesn’t explain animal suffering.
-Some argue heaven is not worth the level of suffering.
-Idea of universal salvation diminishes the importance of Jesus’ sacrifice.
-Mackie argues ‘the obviously better possibility of making humans who act freely but always go right’.
Free Will Defense (FWD)
-God granted humans free will.
-For moral choices to have genuine meaning, they must be made freely.
-In order to be truly free, humans must be able to choose evil.
-Humans can learn from their choices and develop virtues and maturity.
Mackie’s criticisms of the FWD
-Logical inconsistency - why does God pick and choose when to intervene?
-God should be able to grant humans free will but make it so that they don’t choose to do evil.
-Less effective at explaining natural evils.
-Doesn’t explain excessive or unnecessary suffering.
Define pantheism and panentheism
Pantheism = God is everything/everything is God
Panentheism = everything is within God/God is a part of everything. ‘All in god’.
What is Process Theodicy?
-Griffin’s argument
-Suggests God is not omnipotent and therefore doesn’t have the ability to control or destroy evil.
Arguments against Process Theodicy.
“Good though he may be, Griffin’s God is too small” - John Roth
“If he is neither able nor willing? Then why call him God” - Epicurus
-Often criticised for having little/no eschatology (no doctrine about what will happen when we die/end of the universe).
