philosophy - problem of evil

human evil (moral evil)

evil which comes from human choices

natural evil (non moral evil)

evil and suffering which comes from natural sources such as earthquakes or disease or volcanoes

deductive arguments 

the arguments premises logically entail its conclusion e.g., all humans have skin, ruby has skin, so ruby is a human 

-logical problem of evil 

inductive arguments

conclusion is not guaranteed, just likely e.g., occam’s razor 

-evidential problem of evil 

inconsistent triad

god is all powerful, god is all loving, evil exists

-only two can exist at the same time

1. if god exists, god=omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent

2. if god is omnipotent, he has the power to stop all evil

3. if god is omnibenevolent, he has the desire to stop all evil

4. if god is omniscient, he knows evil exists

5. evil exists

so either god doesn’t exist or god exists not as we understand him

theodicy

an attempt to justify the goodness of god given the fate of evil/ an attempt to reconcile god’s existence with the existence of evil

-’if god makes that which is not good, he makes it good, but in it’s own way’

soul deciding theodicy - augustine

-if everything god made was good, augustine concludes that evil must be the going wrong of something itself made good

-augustine concluded that evil is just a privation of good, an absence of the good in which we made 

-this was caused by original sin (fall of man and fall of angels)

-we chose to reject god 

human vs natural evil (augustine)

human/moral evil is due to the fall and disorder of the world 

-free will: god allows evil as it is loving, humans created ‘imago dei’ with free will, in order to be truly free we need to be able to choose both good and bad, if i could only choose good my free will would be limited 

natural/non-moral evil is due to original sin and seminal presence in adam 

-consequence of the corruption of the world through original sin

-this world, with evil in it, is the world we ‘chose’

soul making theodicy - irenaeus

-evil and suffering exists to help us develop as human beings 

two stages of our creation: ’let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’

1. image; first stage, we share core features with god e.g., conscious and moral

2. likeness; second stage, all humans must develop our moral natures to be like god 

-humans develop morally through suffering

-if we live in a perfect world there would be nothing for humans to learn from or overcome (evil)

-the world was created flawed but good, with evil 

-examples of soul making e.g., compassion, courage 

soul making theodicy - hick

-universalist (all go to heaven)

-must choose god to go

-improving our understanding and knowledge of the world is important, free will is important

-must improve our moral development and our intellect

epistemic distance

distance god maintains from us so that we remain uncertain of god’s existence

-maintains the ‘regularity of nature’

-if god intervened every time there was going to be pain without a purpose, then nature would have no regularity

-humans wouldn’t be able to learn the laws of nature 

instrumental good

occurs when something is good for something; such as a good toaster is good for toasting

• -evil and suffering are not good in and of itself, they are good because of the good things they help bring out

• -hick describes the world as a ‘vale of soul making’

• -world was still created good by god, just good for its purpose and this involves evil

dysteleological evil

evil which serves no purpose e.g., suffering which does not help people to develop but just causes suffering

universal salvation 

• hell is eternal damnation which is not coherent with an idea of ‘soul making’

• hell is not restricted by the same laws of nature as the world 

• hell is a dysteleological pain/evil which god has chosen to create free from the limits of epistemic distance

augustine - strengths

• if evil is a ‘privation of good’, god couldn’t have created it, as its not ‘something’ but a lack of something; god and evil are not ‘co-existing’

• human free will is important in theodicy, we need free will in order to choose evil

augustine - weaknesses

• where did evil come from within a perfect world?

• relies on literal reading of the bible

• scientifically inaccurate (seminally present)

• a just, loving god would not blame all humanity for the sin of adam 

• augustine argues we are all ignorant, to be punished with evil for ignorance is unjust

• augustine’s explanation of natural evil is at odds with modern science (fall of the angels)

• ’privation of good’ doesn’t explain why evil exists in the world, augustine is letting god off the hook 

irenaeus - strengths

• reconciles god and evil, maintaining the epistemic gap is required for free will and also not intervening with evil

• evil does allow for good virtues to be developed, after natural disasters for example, compassion and bravery are demonstrated by many