GOD: Problem of evil (logical and evidential) Flashcards
What is the aim of the logical problem of evil?
To prove that God, as normally defined, cannot exist.
What is The Logical Problem of Evil? (Standard form).
P1: If God exists then God is omnibenevolent and so would be opposed to evil and would eliminate evil as far as it could.
This is because omnibenevolence requires always commanding and desiring morally good things, and desiring an end to suffering would ostensibly be considered a morally good thing (and not desiring it would be morally bad).
P2: If God exists, then God is omnipotent and so would be able to eliminate evil.
This is because omnipotence requires the ability to complete all tasks, and ending suffering would therefore be a task God could complete.
P3: If God exists then God is omniscient and so would know that evil exists and/or that it is about to come into existence.
This is because omniscience requires possessing knowledge of all true propositions, and this would encompass propositions about the existence of suffering.
C1: Therefore, if God exists then evil would not exist (God would know about it, want to get rid of it and be able to do this)
This is stating the the existence of God is logically incompatible with the existence of evil - it is impossible for them to co-exist.
P4: But evil exists.
We have plenty of a posteriori evidence to back this up.
C2: Therefore, God does not exist.
What type of argument is the logical problem of evil?
This argument is deductive.
This is because the relationship between the premises means that if they are true, the truth of the conclusion is entailed by necessity.
This is because it presents the existence of God as being logically incompatible with the existence of Evil, so if one exists the other must not.
It also claims that we have clear evidence of the existence of evil, necessitating the non-existence of God.
What are examples for the logical problem of evil?
P4- moral evil (e.g. murder) and natural evil (e.g. earthquakes).
minor examples of suffering like papercuts - to explain the deductive nature of the argument, as it states the existence of God is logically incompatible with the existence of any amount of suffering, even things like paper-cuts.
What is the aim of the evidential problem of evil?
It aims to prove that the existence of evil means it’s unlikely that God (as normally defined,) exists
What is the evidential problem of evil? (Standard form).
P1- If God exists then God is omnibenevolent.
P2- If an omnibenevolent being exists, then any evil that exists must exist for a morally good reason. This is due to God’s omnibenevolence.
P3 - We don’t know of any morally good reason that would justify the existence of certain evil events that exist. Extreme examples provided by Rowe make this clear, such as the example of bambi. Some forest lightning strikes hitting a tree and resulting in a forest fire, making a fawn horribly burned and lying in agony until death. There is no good reason for this evil to happen, if God were real this would not happen.
P4: If we don’t know of any morally good reason for many evil events, then there probably isn’t a morally good reason for at least some of these events.
C1 - Therefore, for at least some evil events, there probably isn’t a morally good reason that would justify them.
C2 - Therefore, God (probably) does not exist.
What is the type of argument for the evidential problem of evil?
Non-deductive
Shown through Rowe’s analogy of an elderly man with arthritis winning a marathon, this is extremely unlikely but not impossible.
This relates to the evidential problem of evil as the conclusion is probable but not certain.
What is an example of a deductive argument? (logical problem of evil)
The normal definition of God is logically incompatible with the existence of evil, so the conclusion must be true.
An example of a deductive argument would be if it had rained this morning the ground would be wet, If the ground is not wet it has not rained.
What is the gist for the distinction between moral evil and natural evil?
There are two types of evil: evil/suffering intentionally caused by free beings (i.e. moral evil), and evil that is not and is instead caused by natural/physical events.
What is Moral evil?
Harm or suffering that free agents / beings are responsible for e.g. murder.
What is Natural evil?
Harm or suffering not caused intentionally by free human beings caused by natural/physical events and processes.
E.G. Volcano eruptions - No immoral intent/decision to erupt but is a natural disaster.
