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Philosophy and Ethics > The Problem of Evil > Flashcards

The Problem of Evil Flashcards

1
Q

Is Evil a theoretical problem?

A
  • Reality of pain is always suffered on an individual level
  • Millions die in African famine, million individual agonies and the grief of those who live to mourn them
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2
Q

What is Moral Evil?

A
  • Evil that comes from human choices
  • Why does God permit humans to act the way that they do?
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3
Q

What is Non-Moral Evil?

A
  • Evil that follows from natural sources, e.g natural sources, such as famine, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes and much illness
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4
Q

Can you separate the two types of evil?

A
  • Not always easy to
  • If you live in an earthquake zone voluntarily there is an element of moral evil I have brought upon myself
  • If you are poor and had no choice then you didn’t really CHOOSE to live there
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5
Q

Who posed the inconsistent triad and what was it?

A
  • Posed by Epicurious, David Hume would return to it
  • If God were all powerful, he would be able to abolish evil
  • If God were all-loving, then he would wish to abolish evil
  • Evil exists
    Therefore God is not all-powerful, not all-loving, or both
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6
Q

Is the Inconsistent Triad an objection to God?

A
  • Not an objection to God, not an objection to a deist creator
  • Aristotles self-regarding God is indifferent to human suffering
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7
Q

Why would a Deist creator not be an explanation for the inconsistent triad?

A
  • One could imagine a God who injected pain and anguish to amuse himself and to see these little people panic
  • However the God of Abraham is a God who is bound to his creation, he loves and cares for it
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8
Q

What is an objection to the inconsistent triad that Abrahamic Religions would condemn?

A
  • Christ of Church Scientist argues for the illusory nature of evil
  • Not considered a Christian Church and not accepted to the World Council of Churches
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9
Q

How does the Bible present evil?

A
  • Old Testament is filled with famines, massacres, murders, all kinds of evil, natural and human
  • If the suffering of Christ was illusory his death would offer no redemption
  • New Testament shows his death in bloody and real terms
  • Crucifixion was used by Romans because it was evil, hideous and terrifying
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10
Q

What can be said to be a trivial response to the problem of evil?

A
  • You need evil to appreciate the good
  • There are real victims to this evil
  • To say Jews and Gypsies suffered for a good they could not experience says nothing about their suffering
  • D.Z Phillips said this type of response has added to the evil in the world, it displays callousness to the suffering of others
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11
Q

What would Häns Kung say in relation to Jesus?

A
  • God suffered on the cross so that he could look suffering humanity in the face
  • Does not explain Epicurious question of why God allows evil in the first place
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12
Q

What was the Manichees doctrine? (St Augustine was one when he grew up)

A
  • Perversion of Platonism, Plato believed the material was inferior to the spiritual but material is good if it contributed to the Realm of the Forms
  • Manichees believed matter and spirit had two different origins, coming from two different Gods
  • Task of believer was to liberate the good spirit from wicked matter, in practice led to suicide
  • The most extreme heresy to make up Gnosticism
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13
Q

What was the main idea behind Gnosticism?

A
  • Physical matter is evil
  • If God is good, he cannot be responsible for matter
  • If Jesus was truly the Son of God, he could not have a material body
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14
Q

Quote St Augustine on the universe being Good

A

“God saw everything that he made… it was very good”

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15
Q

What is Augustines view on everything being good? (Quote)

A
  • He says everything is good but in its own way, a stone is not good in the same way a cat is good, a stone is a building material and a cat is a pet
  • Creation of such a variety of things entails the creation of beings more or less good in different ways
  • Evil must be the going wrong of something that was made good
    “but they remain good”
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16
Q

What is Augustines view on evil?

A
  • Evil is a privation in something itself good
  • A sinful person is more good because they are more fully human, not a puppet
  • Adolf Hitler was in himself good, he chose to reject it and disobey God
  • The possession of human gifts is still more valuable than not having them at all, regardless of whether they are used
17
Q

What two events does Augustine focus on when discussing why evil exists?

A

The Fall of Angels
- Certain angels led by Lucifer chose to reject God, in their choice they introduced evil and fell into hell
The Fall of Man
- Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and suffered by living ‘by the sweat of the brow’ with anguish of child birth

18
Q

Why is Augustines theodicy a soul-deciding theodicy?

A
  • Evil is the result of sin, or punishment for sin
  • Natural evil is brought about due to the original sin and due to our ancestors
  • Despite this God does not stop loving us and he offers redemption for those who seek it through the work of his son, Jesus
19
Q

What did Augustine believe about free will? (Quote)

A
  • We have will (voluntas) we choose what we of and can reject doing good
  • Free choice is essential to being good
  • If we are to have a genuine love for God, it must be freely given
  • To Augustine a world that has evil that follows from free will is better than one without free will
    “a creature that sins by will is more excellent than one that does not because it has no free will”
20
Q

How would J.L. Mackie question Augustines idea of the free will? (Evil and Omnipotence article)

A
  • Some people have free will and yet will always do the right thing due to their character
  • We call some people trustworthy because of their consistency in doing the right thing
  • If God was omnipotent then he could make creatures with free will but the character he had given them
  • This is not logically impossible hence God could have done this and prevented a great deal of suffering
21
Q

What could be argued against Mackie?

A
  • If God made everyone guaranteed to do the right thing then they would feel free to themselves
  • However they would not be free in the relationship with God which supremely matters
22
Q

What is the problem with Augustine treating Genesis as actual history?

A
  • He depends on very literal readings
  • His science is flawed, the theory of homunculi believed that men contained little people in their sex organs - view is now rejected
  • If we were at Eden, we do not punish families for actions of one member
  • Modern theologians treat the original sin as the inclination in all people to get things wrong and sin
23
Q

What is the issue with Augustine saying everything is made perfect?

A
  • By definition something perfect entails the inability for it to go wrong
  • If God has made hell for the wicked he has made a place of eternal suffering and torment, this means it is not good in itself nor will the inhabitants be good
24
Q

Does Augustines idea of ‘Good’ really make sense?

A
  • Can be said a stone is good for something, but not good in itself, beauty and usefulness is a judgement of someone else
  • Existentialist thinkers would argue that minds value things, a stone has no mind
  • Genesis merely refers to God finding his creation very good and perhaps not intrinsic good to the thing
  • A horse and a stone cannot be compared for good, a horse has a function, a stone just is
25
Q

Is Augustine consistent with his idea of the free will?

A
  • in Book I he supports free will saying responsibility of action lies with the performer
  • Book II he talks of human ignorance saying we cannot overcome out condition, the free will defence becomes unjustifiable if we are ignorant
26
Q

What would Aristotle and Aquinas argue about punishing people for ignorance they can’t control (Adams sin)?

A
  • To be truly responsible for an action we need full knowledge and consent
  • Neither condition is met with Adams sin, sin due to ignorance is not a good enough justification to be punished
  • Would be cruel to thrash a 2 year old for not knowing any better
  • Augustines predestination view weakens free will and he believes election to heaven is solely dependant on God
  • Though used to oppose heresy of Pelagianism, he undermined his own theodicy
27
Q

What is Irenaean Theodicy?

A
  • A theodicy by St Iranaeus, who was born in Turkey but of Greek Origin
  • Soul - making theodicy which emphasises evil in the world is to provide opportunities for people to develop in goodness and character
28
Q

What is the Key text for the approach to Irenaean Theodicy, why?

A
  • Genesis 1:26, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness’ - we are made in God’s image but need to grow to his likeness
  • Treats Adam and Eve at a point of moral immaturity, it is a part of growing up and he does not treat the Original Sin like Augustine does
  • Evil of the world can serve for a purpose
29
Q

What has the story of Jonah got to do with Irenaean Theodicy?

A
  • Jonah learns of repentance in the belly of the whale, without evil we would not know the need for goodness and repentance
  • If everything required no effort there would be no virtue, worthwhile things are gained with difficulty so we understand their value
30
Q

Quote Irenaus on his image of God as a potter moulding his clay

A

“Keep yourself moist so you do not become too hard for his fingers to work” - Against Heresies
- Must give time to god to make his world as he chooses
- Free choice of humanity and work of God are essential together

31
Q

Quote Irenaus on those who do not co-operate with Gods plan

A

“Into this fire he will send those men”
- God made hell as a place of eternal suffering for those who do not co-operate with God’s plan

Philosophy and Ethics (35 decks)

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