Is the evil in this world justified? Richard Swinburne argues that, the existence of evil, positive bad states like suffering, is a necessary condition for the existence of a deep good then the existence of evil is justified. But others like Ivan Karamozov believe that the evil in this world is not justified because if evil is justified then it has to be a positive consequence, everyone deserves to experience the evil they experience, or the evil is a result of carelessness that can be corrected. In this paper, I will explain and examine Ivan’s argument on why he believes that evil is not justified and why there is no divine harmony in the world by sharing cases of evil situations that have happened in the world. Ivan in Dostoevsky’s novel,
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He spoke to Alyosha about what they did to the villages and their people, and he also said how “a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel” (96c1) I agree with Ivan’s quote here, because I understand that the evil that humans can do is up to their imagination but animals just do what they are capable of and what they are born to do, which is just hunt for food. The Turks that Ivan talks about is very graphic, like receiving pleasure from cutting unborn children from mother’s wombs. Even making babies laugh before they kill them by blowing their brains out satisfy them. Ivan gives this sick and inhumane example of how cruel man can be towards innocent children. There was no positive outcome towards these negative actions from the Turks. Those families did not deserve to experience the pain that they experience and there was no way that that carelessness could be corrected. Therefore, that evil was not justified and Ivan proves that there is no harmony in the world. Swinburne would object by saying that the moral evil in this situation by the Turks was a deep good in which they chose to have, even at the cost of creating great suffering, but that they used their free and responsible choice, and their ability to do what they want, even if their actions affected so
He spoke to Alyosha about what they did to the villages and their people, and he also said how “a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel” (96c1) I agree with Ivan’s quote here, because I understand that the evil that humans can do is up to their imagination but animals just do what they are capable of and what they are born to do, which is just hunt for food. The Turks that Ivan talks about is very graphic, like receiving pleasure from cutting unborn children from mother’s wombs. Even making babies laugh before they kill them by blowing their brains out satisfy them. Ivan gives this sick and inhumane example of how cruel man can be towards innocent children. There was no positive outcome towards these negative actions from the Turks. Those families did not deserve to experience the pain that they experience and there was no way that that carelessness could be corrected. Therefore, that evil was not justified and Ivan proves that there is no harmony in the world. Swinburne would object by saying that the moral evil in this situation by the Turks was a deep good in which they chose to have, even at the cost of creating great suffering, but that they used their free and responsible choice, and their ability to do what they want, even if their actions affected so