Michael Tooley's The Problem Of Evil: Theodicy

Throughout the time we have spent so far in this class, we have discussed many different philosophical topics. One of which is why evil, suffering, and pain happen in the world. In our readings, several authors have given several explanations as to why evil exists but only one of the explanations is sufficient. This explanation comes from Michael Tooley’s “The Problem of Evil: Theodicies”. In this reading, he states and debunks four theodicies that religious communities often use in their attempts to explain why God allows evil and suffering in the world. In his free will theodicy, he states that evil occurs in the world because humans have free will to do whatever they choose, good or bad. Though he provides counter arguments for all four …show more content…
Michael Tooley gives two theodicies that are very similar because they are both based in the fact that humans have free will. The evidence and counter arguments that Tooley gives for both theodicies are immensely more sufficient than the other things he writes about the two other theodicies because in these theodicies he actually gives a reason as to why evil exists that is comprehensible and believable. It is easy to believe that humans have some degree of free will and it is also even easier to believe that humans won’t always choose the option that helps other people in suffering. The drowning child example that we talked about in class is a perfect example of why people don’t always choose the “right” thing because if we are not directly faced with the issue and if it does not directly affect us negatively we are very unlikely to help. Additionally, the bystander effect is a real thing that happens within the human race. Admittedly, both the “ignorance is bliss” and bystander effect happen to me too so I think it makes sense that it happens to other humans as