In the logical problem of evil, it is made aware that three things must be true in the contemporary version layout for evil to exist. They are that God is all good, He is all…
In his article “Evil and Omnipotence,” J.L. Mackie explores the various adequate and fallacious solutions to the “problem of evil,” a problem in which “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists” (p. 119). While Mackie discusses, analyzes, and criticizes many solutions, including “good cannot exist without evil” (p. 120) and “evil is necessary as a means to good” (p. 122), my paper will solely focus on Mackie’s response to the fallacious solution that “evil is due to human free will” (p. 123), which begins “first I must query” on p. 124. This paper will formally extract, justify, critically evaluate, and engage with Mackie’s argument that existence of evil due to free will is erroneous. Mackie describes the free will…
The problem of evil follows a set of propositions that are inconsistent with one another. The problem is (i) God is omnipotent, meaning there are no limits as to what ‘God’ can do…
The problem of evil is an atheistic argument, against the existence of God. It is a deductive argument that pits the existence of unjustified evil against the existence of any kind of divine being. Julian of Norwich presents a response to the problem of evil, but there are also some possible holes in Julian’s theory. This paper explores the problem of evil and how it is connected to human suffering, Julian’s theory in response to the problem, and a critique of Julian’s theory. One must assume that an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God exists.…
When one examines religion, one often finds a glaring contradiction between the existence an all knowing, all powerful, all loving God, and evil. This is known as the problem of evil, and it has perplexed theists and atheists for centuries. One 20th century philosopher, J.L Mackie, used a formulation of the problem of evil in an attempt to disprove the existence of God. Over the course of his career, he sought to prove that God could not exist alongside evil. While Mackie’s argument is valid, it is not sound.…
In the “Roundtable Discussion on the Problem of Evil”, Meghan Sullivan, Trent Dougherty, and Sam Newlands discusses the Problem of Evil for theism, as well as defences theists have come up with against the problem. All three people do not take the side of a theist or an atheist, but instead discuss the problem from a mostly objective view. The Problem of Evil is also discussed by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and William Craig in God? A Debate Between a Christian and an Atheist, where Sinnott-Armstrong argues from the atheist’s point of view and Craig argues from the theist’s. In this paper, I will discuss the points made in both sources to make my argument: I shall argue that there is a possibility that God could have made different types of evils…
Peter Van Inwagen’s whole concept of this article was to prove through various points and arguments the conflicts of evil. He brings arguments, and ideas that disagrees with the notion of even believing that evil exists. What he begins with is the problem with believing evil exists is; say evil exists through the many happenings you have witnessed or even only heard about, so how can it not be real right? Inwagen inserts the idea that God, almighty and creator of all, does not exist if large amounts of evil exist through is research from other readings about evil. The mere idea of god existing while evil does will reject the image that is there for God.…
The first idea we face, is the logical problem of evil. What this questions is the possibility of there being an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omnipresent God and why evil still exists. One of the arguments made is, there is a God who is omnibenevolent and supposedly all good eliminates evil as far as it can, but we still have evil existing when there’s a God. By stating all of these, we have to give up one of the statements in order to make the argument true. The one fact that we can more than likely give up, is all good eliminates evil as far as it can.…
This paper states one of many answers to the presence of evil and questioning God’s omnipotence presented by Mackie in his article “Evil and Omnipotence”. Mackie has his own “Inconsistent TRIAD” formula that states: 1. God is omnipotent 2. God is omnibenevolent 3. Evil exists.…
The existence of God, a topic discussed in both William Rowe’s and Robin Collins’ papers, but for two very different reasons. The argument of good vs. evil and the existence of an omnipresent, benevolent being such as God is a topic that many find very difficult to find answers for, and will continue to plague mankind for the rest of our existence. After reading the published works of Mr. Collins and Mr. Rowe, one may find it easier to formulate their own opinion. In the publication by Mr. Collins, he addresses the topic of atheism and theism in respect to physics.…
Epicurus was one of the first philosophers to consider the problem of evil and his question; “if He is both willing and able (to take away all evils), which alone is suitable to God, from what source then are evils? Or why does He not remove them?” , summarises concisely the issue which has been at the forefront of philosophical argument for thousands of years. To explore this question I will first consider what God is. In this essay I will refer to God in the orthodox monotheistic sense of the word as an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent being. Likewise, evil refers to all that is bad in the world.…
One of the most persistence questions we as thinking having often tends to challenge the existence of God. That question is, ‘if God is good and made us in His likeness, then why is there evil in the world?’ This question has plagued both theist and philosophers alike. I personally have encountered this very question in both Religious Quest, as well as Philosophy. While the latter concentrates on the logical problem of evil in order to argue that there can not be a perfect God who could then allow evil, the theist believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God.…
Evil exists because we chose it to. We, as free agents can choose between right and wrong. Through this we can justify our actions. What kind of world would we lead if everything was already decided for us and all we would have to do is perform it? God, although knows how we will choose, plays absolutely no role in our process of choosing.…
Brendan Hansen Mr. Williams Man’s Inhumanities 15 November 2017 The Science of Evil: Book Review INTRODUCTION: The book “The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Evil” by Simon Baron-Cohen was published recently in 2011 and provides and modern look on how we come about treating other human beings as objects. While this book was short coming in at around 250 pages, it still goes into much detail about how we come to commit cruel acts to other human beings. To summarize, Cohen argues that when we treat someone as an object, our empathy has been turned off, even going as far as making the argument that every cruel act is committed when an individual “turns off” their empathy, whether it be naturally or temporarily.…
As the world is scientifically advancing, the existence of God is in doubt by many. I am arguing Philosopher Simon Blackburn’s claim that the existence of evil strongly suggests that there isn’t a god who is all-good, all-knowing and all-powerful is wrong. Since God is omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence, Blackburn believes the idea of God contradicts all the bad happening in this world. He supposes if god had more power, he would destroy evil. Since evil exists, then god isn’t what we claim he is.…