non-religious & philosophical views on the nature and origin of evil

Question 1

John Mackie - the inconsistent triad

Answer 1

• australian philosopher put forward idea of inconsistent triad based on arguments presented by famous philosophers in the past
  -said catholics believe God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. also said evil and suffering exist. mackie argued these three ideas can’t all be true at the same time. if god is omnipotent she would have the power to end all evil and suffering. if god is omnipotent and omnibenevolent then would both be able to + want to end all evil and suffering
• unfortunately, evil and suffering do exist so god is either not omnipotent, not omnibenevolent or doesn’t exist . “The balance of probabilities….comes out strongly against the existence of a god”
  “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists. There seems to be some contradiction between these three statements”

Question 2

John Mackie rejection of St Augustine and John Hick

Answer 2

• mackie rejected some of the usual answers to the problem of evil that Christians such as st augustine and john hick often give
• augustine said evil is necessary as an opposite of good, mackie rejected this. he argues there is far more suffering than is needed to make a good contrast to the good in the world
• augustine says evil helps us to become better people. mackie doesnt understand why good needs to make us better through experiencing suffering. why can’t god just make us perfect to start with?
• also, often suffering makes people worse, rather than making them better
• both st augustine and john hick rely on the existence of free will to explain why god allows evil to exist. mackie rejects this as a reason because he does nit see why god could not make free human beings who always choose good instead of evil

Question 3

William Rowe and the evidential problem of evil

Answer 3

• william rowe argues the evidence of evil and suffering within the world provides a really strong challenge to god’s existence
• he says that intense “human and animal suffering” makes god’s existence unlikely and improbable
• he used 2 examples: 1) a fawn in a forest fire 2) the abuse of a 5 year old child
• bath examples show there is no purpose or reason for this suffering. this challenges the catholic belief that there is no purpose or reason for evil and suffering within the
  “There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient God could have prevented”