Formal arguments Flashcards
What is Mackie’s logical form of the problem of evil?
P1: God is omniscient, omnipotent, and supremely god.
P2: If God were omniscient, then he would know how to get rid of evil.
P3: If God were omnipotent, then he would have the power to remove evil.
P4: If he were supremely good, he would want to get rid of evil.
C;: If God exists, he would eliminate evil.
P5: Evil exists.
C: Therefore, God is not perfect in one of more of these qualities, and therefore cannot be God.
What is the formal evidential problem of evil?
P1: There is intense suffering in the world, which could’ve been prevented by an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent being, without losing some ‘greater good’.
P2: An omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent being would prevent pointless suffering.
C: Therefore, that being does not exist, as evil still exists.
What is Mackie’s formal criticism of Plantinga’s free will defence?
P1: It is logically possible that a God could have created a universe still containing free will, but we always choose to do good.
P2: This alternative universe would be better than the one we currently live in.
P3: But this alternative universe does not exist.
C: Therefore, God is either not supremely good, or not omnipotent.
What is Plantinga’s defence of his free will defence against Mackie’s criticism?
P1: God can create sufficiently free agents, but cannot cause them to do what is morally right.
P2: A world containing creatures with sufficiently free creatures is a greater good than a world where creatures are not significantly free.
C1: Therefore, God created a world in which significantly free agents are able to do both, commit moral good, and commit moral evil.
C2: Therefore God is compatible with evil.
What is Hick’s formal soul-making theodicy?
P1: God creates a world where free agents are able to grow and develop, morally and spiritually.
P2: A world where free agents develop and grow is better than a world where all moral agents live in a safe, pleasurable paradise.
C1: Responding to pain allows free agenst to grow morally and spiritually.
C2: Therefore, it is a greater good for God to create a world with pain and suffering.
