The logical and evidential problem of evil Flashcards
What is moral evil?
Harm or suffering that free agents are responsible for
What is natural evil?
Harm is suffering that free agents are not responsible for, which is caused by natural events and processes.
What is the logical problem of evil?
If god is Omnibenevolant he would be opposed to evil and would eliminate this evil. He would be able to do this because he is omnipotent. Because of his omniscience, he would know that evil exists or is going to. Because evil does exist, this means God does not. God’s existence is logically impossible.
What kind of argument is the logical problem of evil?
It is deductive. (Premises are true, then conc must be true)
What is the evidential problem of evil?
If a triadic God exists, then there must be a morally good reason why evil exists. We do not know of any morally good reason that would justify the existence of certain evils that exist. If we don’t know one, then there probably isn’t one. Therefore, for some evil events, there probably isn’t a morally good reason for some of these events. Therefore, God probably doesn’t exist.
What kind of argument is this and a little extra
It is an inductive argument (meaning it is probabilistic) and a posteriori (based on empirical data)
What types of evil is Hume considering in the evidential problem?
Natural Evil, Moral Evil
What does Rowe add to the evidential problem?
Speaks about unnecessary suffering (suffering that doesn’t serve a purpose) E.G. animal suffering (long and slow deaths). He argues that a good god would see that unnecessary suffering and would want to stop it.
What is Hicks soul making theodicy
Hick argues that the existence of evil allows creatures the ability to improve morally. God creates allows this evil because this chance for moral development is morally valuable that it is worth the existence of the evil that enables it. Therefore, God has done the morally right thing in allowing evil and still is omnibenevolent despite its existence
What is Plantinga’s defence
Plantinga argues the following is a possible justification of evil that is compatible with theism. He argues that Evil is the result of the free will of human beings. God has created creatures with free will because it is so morally valuable that it is worth giving despite the amount of evil it might lead to. Therefore, God has done the morally right thing in giving us free will and it is us who are to blame for evil, not God.
