METAPHYSICS OF GOD: The Evidential Problem of Evil

william rowe

one can see without fail, simply by looking at the world the sheer amount of evil in the world is at odds with the existence of an omnip omben god
- amount and the distribution of evil in the world is substantial to conclude that a good god does not exist

darwin

existence of animals and microorganisms which do nothing but cause pain to other animals
- why would a good god create this

evidential problem of evil

- a posteriori argument, why is there so much evil, and why does it happen to those who do not deserve it
- if a good god existed then there would be less evil and it would be less concentrated on those who do not deserve it
- not logical

william rowe gratuitous evil

deer dies in fire painfully and slowly and it could have been avoided, enduring ita ll is pointless, more reasonable to reject H1 and believe H2

moral evil

evil caused by human action, murder and torture
- why does god not intervene to prevent these things

natural evil

- evil as a result of the natural workings of the world, disease, tsunami
- not caused by human action
- since god created the natural world, seems like he is responsible for all the natural evil in the world
- incompatible with an omnibenev god
- could god have not made a world with no natural evil in

inductive

- does not seek to prove existence of evil guarantees that god of classical theism does not exist
- the existence of evil is strong evidence to support the conclusion that such a god exists

hypothesis derived as a result of evidential evil

- which hypothesis are more reasonable
- H1: infinitely powerful good god created the world
H2: there is no such god

hume a posteriori observations

1) animal suffering - why shouldnt' nature be created in a way where animals experience no suffering
2) why do creatures have such a limited ability to ensure survival and happiness
3) why does nature have such extremes that make survival and happiness more difficult
4) why does god not intervene and prevent natural suffering