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philosophy of religion > the problem of evil > Flashcards

the problem of evil Flashcards

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1
Q

natural evil

A

workings of natural world like natural disasters and disease
-god designed and created natural world which seems to make god responsible for the evil and suffering

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2
Q

moral evil

A

evil caused by human action
-murder/ torture
-why doesnt god intervene to stop this

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3
Q

logical problem of evil argument

A

evil and god of classical theism omnibenevolent and omnipotent cant exist together

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4
Q

Epicurus problem of evil argument

A

-is god wiling but not able to prevent evil- not omnipotent
-god able to prevent evil but not willing- not omnibenevolent
-gods both able and willing why is there evil
-is god neither able or willing why call him god

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5
Q

Mackie reformulation of problem of evil argument

A

-inconsistent triad
-god of CT cant exist if evil exists
P1- omnipotent god has power to eliminate evil
P2- omnibenevolent god has motivation to eliminate evil
P3- nothing can exists if being with power and motivation to eliminate it
C1- evil power love forms inconsistent triad

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6
Q

development of a priori to a posteriori problem of evil argument

A

P4- evil exists because we experience evil in the world
C2 - therefore god does not exist

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7
Q

is logical problem of evil inductive or deductive

A

deductive because if premised true conclusion must be true

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8
Q

evidential problem of evil

A

a posteriori argument that evidence of evil makes belief in god unjustified
-evidence against logical possibility of evil and perfect god existing together

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9
Q

what type of argument if evidential problem of evil

A

inductive argument
-regards evil as evidence against gods existence
-doesnt try to claim evil logically proves gods non existence

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10
Q

Hume and evidential problem of evil argument

A

Animal suffering- nature should be created so animals feel small or not pain
-creatures have limited abilities to ensure survival and happiness
-why does nature have extremes that make happiness and survival hard
-why does god intervene to prevent individual natural disasters

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11
Q

humes argument deducitve form

A

P1 - only justified in believing what evidence suggests
P2- only have evidence of imperfection
C1- only justified in believing that imperfection exists
C2- belief in perfectly good being not justified

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12
Q

origin of augustines theodicy

A

contemplated original sin
-sin that humans committed contradicts gods loving nature
-humanity to blame and genesis as evidence

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13
Q

augustine on biological basis of reproduction

A

some sort of intangible and invisible power located in the secrets of nature
-all of human race were located in loins of adam so we are all responsible for sin

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14
Q

augustine on humans being born with sin

A

existed in seminal nature from which we were merely begotten
-then we became vitated through sin
-deserve punishment of living in fallen world
-god not responsible but free will of angels and humans fault

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15
Q

augustine on what evil is

A

evil doesnt exist
-privation of good
-as humans fell from god we fell from his goodness
-evil has no positive existence only a negative one

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16
Q

platingas free will theodicy

A

possible for god and evil to exist because evil result of free will

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17
Q

platinga on free will explaining natural evil

A

-free will of demons and satan
-free will of adam and eve justifying god in allowing natural evil in the world as a punishment

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18
Q

platinga response to why god gave us free will

A

if we didnt have free will our universe would have no value
-no matter how much negative value free will results in if there wasnt any value wouldnt be possible without

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19
Q

platinga premise conclusion argument

A

P1. Evil is the result of the misuse of free will.
P2. God cannot remove evil without removing free will (that would be logically impossible).
P3. Life would be valueless without free will, so it is better to have free will despite the evil its misuse can lead to.
C1. It is therefore better for evil to exist than not to.
C2. An omnibenevolent and omnipotent God therefore would allow evil.

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20
Q

strength of augustines theodicy

A

seems logically possible that god allows evil because its sin or punishment for sin or work of satanic energies

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21
Q

weakness of augustine theodicy

A

its not our fault we have original sin
-followers of pelagius rejected adam sin our fault
-incompatible with all loving god
-children with cancer

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22
Q

evaluation defending augustine

A

augustine says secret yet just judgment of god
-we cant understand gods judgment
-psalms 25:10 -all paths of lord are mercy and truth, neither his grace unjust nor his justice cruel
-children suffering could be work of demons ( natural evil)

23
Q

evaluation criticizing augustine

A

case of innocent child suffering natural evil defeats argument
-could maintain argument adults deserve natural evil as punishment even though original sin not their fault
-not logically coherent for children to suffer

24
Q

strength of augustine- evidence for doctrine of OS

A

-can be evidenced from observing human behaviour and society
-GK chesterton- could see evidence of OS in the street
-Niebuhr- OS one of the empirically verifiable doctrines of christianity

25
Q

weakness- augustine scientifically wrong about fall

A

geneticists claim we have genetic diversity- not possible for humanity to have come from 2 people
-evolved not created
-homunculus theory wrong

26
Q

evaluation defending augustine

A

-still right human nature corrupted by OS
-if you doubt OS exists as yourself how you would act is city was in war
-inclination to self love and away from others is OS
-stanford prison experiment, human corruption

27
Q

evaluation criticizing augustine

A

-pelagius- augustines observations reflect his society not human nature
-we are raised badly and it appears in out nature because of how corrupted we are - educated in evil
-MLK steven pinker- power of human reason violence decreased
-average human life more secure

28
Q

irenaeus theodicy

A

fall necessary stage in development of humans towards perfection
-adam and eve go astray because lack sufficient reason to do whats right
-punishment helps children mature

29
Q

‘gods made humans in his image and likeness’ for irenaeus

A

image is when you look like something on the surface
-likeness if when you actually are like something

30
Q

2 steps of creation for iranaeus

A

first made in gods image where we only have potential for good due to spiritual immaturity
2-achieve gods likeness by choosing good over evil- soul making
-encountering evil makes us become virtuous people

31
Q

biblical example ireanaeus gives

A

-jonah and the wale- jonah disobeyed god and natural evil of storm and big whale helped jonah learn lesson and obeyed god
-evil served good purpose of motivating us to be good

32
Q

hick on humans two step development

A

step 1- spiritually immature - through struggle we develop into spiritually mature beings
-the fall is a result of immature humans who are only in image of god
step 2 - grow into a relationship with god

33
Q

hick arguing for epistemic distance

A

we cannot truly know of gods existence
-we can only grow spiritually and morally if we have faith in god and do whats good because its good
-loving whats good for its own sake is morally superior and most conductive soul making

34
Q

hick on afterlife

A

everyone will be saved since loving god wouldnt send people to hell
-universal salvation but post mortem soul making is needed

35
Q

strength of soul making vs evidential problem

A

-evidence that encountering and overcoming evil develops persons virtue

36
Q

weakness of soul making and evidential problem of evil

A

-distribution of evil we observe in world is decidedly not with soul making requirements of those who suffer from it

37
Q

some evil is dysteleological

A

it has no chance of leading to spiritual development
-eg child who dies of cancer
-to young to understand what happens
-animal suffering same

38
Q

philips and dysteleogical evil point in general commits straw man fallacy

A

-imperfect world and free will would say holocaust required for soul making
-if god known we would break epistemic distance and we would only behave morally out of self interest and unable to develop virtue

39
Q

hicks defence success

A

-because universe is morally ambiguous
-hicks logic is valid
-virtuous character required for salvation only be developed through free and good response to world containing evil
-epistemic distance required this evil appear random

40
Q

evaluation critiquing hick

A

-hicks logic might be valid
-by definition they can be no evidence for epistemic distance
-mere logical possibility and cant be used against evidential evil
-issue remains we have no evidential basis to justify belief in god

41
Q

strength of soul making theodicy

A

creating us fully developed logically impossible
-omnipotence doesnt include power to do logically impossible
-perfect god would create us undeveloped and allow freedom to choose good over evil
-evil needed for soul making and not compatible with gods existence

42
Q

weakness an omnibenevolent god wouldnt have created us in first place

A

-David benatar - anti natalist philosopher- argues creating sentient beings who will suffer is wrong
-morally good god wouldnt create beings who needed evil to develop

43
Q

final judgement defending hick

A

-criticism doesnt apply to hicks theology
-no one ever goes to hell and unlimited attempts to become virtuous in afterlife
-humans will receive eternal good which makes process of suffering worth it

44
Q

final judgement critiquing hick

A

benatars logic undermines hicks argument
-suffering on would making not needed and omnibenevolent god wouldnt be motivated to do it so POE remains

45
Q

strength of soul making

A

-theodicy says evil serves good purpose seems best way to make it with all loving god

46
Q

weakness of soul making- dostoyevskys character ivan

A

-ivans argument is his connection between suffering of innocent children and gain of heaven for others
-no good person or go would design connection into heaven
-process of soul making not morally acceptable

47
Q

final judgment defending hick

A

-response given to ivan is that earthly suffering will pass away in eternity
-william lane craig - suffering children go straight to heaven

48
Q

final judgment critiquing hick

A

hick argues that possibility of soul making world were evil is possible
-ivans point is its not morally acceptable
-not right to accept to heaven for himself for price of suffering innocent children

49
Q

platinga on free will and gods omnipotence

A

developed augustines theodicy into free will defence
-without free will out lives would be pointless and valueless
-its abuse can lead to moral evil and natural evil as punishment

50
Q

god cannot do logically impossible things so for theodicies its not logically possible for god to eliminate evil without

A

-contradicting his divine justice since we deserve punishment for sins
-removing our free will since all evils result of abuse of free will
-removing chances for growth from evil through freely choosing good over evil

51
Q

weakness- challenge that libertarian free will doesnt exist

A

-libertarian free will requires undetermined event which is under control of agent
-A.J Ayer argues our choices are determined or not
-mackie- free will where free choice is when our actions are determined by our character

52
Q

mackie- good god would give good character to theodicies

A

means adam and eve would never disobey god- augustine and platinga lose explanation of natural evil
-all humans moral so augustine and platinga lose explanation of moral evil
-hick loses explanation of why god wouldnt have created us fully or better
-argument attacks logical coherence of libertarian free will and defends logical POE

53
Q

evaluation defending theodicy

A

-not logically possible for god to create where free agents always make good choices
-kant argued that human beings are non physical souls which exist outside realm of cause and effect so we have free will despite world being predetermined

54
Q

evaluation critiquing theodicy

A

-response fails to consider mackies argument for compatibilism
-human free choices involve doing what its in our character to do but we dont choose our character
-even if our character comes from our soul we didnt create it
-god could have given us all good character- would have prevented fall
-free will cant be appealed to when defending gods existence in face of evil

philosophy of religion (10 decks)

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