Mackie: "Evil and Omnipotence" Flashcards
What is the logical problem of evil? How is it an objection to God’s existence?
The belief that an all-knowing, all-good, and all-powerful God’s existence is incompatible with evil.
What is a theodicy?
The attempt to prove that the existence of evil does not dispose the existence of God.
How does Mackie respond to the theodicy that holds “good cannot exist without evil.”
This places restrictions on what God can do, either God is not all-powerful or there are certain things an all-powerful being cannot do.
How does Mackie respond to the theodicy that holds “evil is due to human free will, which is a greater good.”
Why couldn’t the all-powerful God make it so we only choose the good.
What is the Paradox of Omnipotence?
Can God create rules that binds himself?
-If yes, he is no longer all-powerful
-If no, there has always been something that God cannot do.
What is the conclusion that Mackie thinks the problem of evil leads to? Does he think it demonstrates that God does not exist?
No, just that there cannot be a God that is all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing.
