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The Problem of Evil

The document discusses the problem of evil, which is reconciling the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God. It defines key concepts like evil, the omni-qualities of God, and different responses to the problem like defenses and theodicies. Defenses address the logical argument that God and evil cannot coexist, while theodicies attempt to provide justification for the existence of evil. The problem of evil is important in philosophy of religion and theology.

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Ninguem Sabe
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209 views

The Problem of Evil

The document discusses the problem of evil, which is reconciling the existence of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God. It defines key concepts like evil, the omni-qualities of God, and different responses to the problem like defenses and theodicies. Defenses address the logical argument that God and evil cannot coexist, while theodicies attempt to provide justification for the existence of evil. The problem of evil is important in philosophy of religion and theology.

Uploaded by

Ninguem Sabe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The 

problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence


of evil and suffering with an omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omniscient God.[1][2] There are
currently differing definitions of these concepts. The best known presentation of the
problem is attributed to the Greek philosopher Epicurus. It was popularized by David Hume.
Besides the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is also important to the fields
of theology and ethics. There are also many discussions of evil and associated problems in
other philosophical fields, such as secular ethics,[3][4][5] and evolutionary ethics.[6][7] But as
usually understood, the problem of evil is posed in a theological context.[1][2]
Responses to the problem of evil have traditionally been in three types: refutations,
defenses, and theodicies.
The problem of evil is generally formulated in two forms: the logical problem of evil and
the evidential problem of evil. The logical form of the argument tries to show a logical
impossibility in the coexistence of God and evil,[1][8] while the evidential form tries to show
that given the evil in the world, it is improbable that there is an omnipotent, omniscient, and
wholly good God.[2] The problem of evil has been extended to non-human life forms, to
include animal suffering from natural evils and human cruelty against them.[9]

Definitions[edit]
Evil[edit]
A broad concept of evil defines it as any and all pain and suffering,[10] yet according to John
Kemp, evil cannot be correctly understood on "a simple hedonic scale on which pleasure
appears as a plus, and pain as a minus".[11][10] According to the National Institute of
Medicine, pain is essential for survival: "Without pain, the world would be an impossibly
dangerous place".[12][13] Marcus Singer says that a usable definition of evil must be based on
the knowledge that: "If something is really evil, it can't be necessary, and if it is really
necessary, it can't be evil".[14]:186
While many of the arguments against an omni-God are based on the broadest definition of
evil, "most contemporary philosophers interested in the nature of evil are primarily
concerned with evil in a narrower sense".[15] The narrow concept of evil involves moral
condemnation, and is applicable only to moral agents capable of making independent
decisions, and their actions; it allows for the existence of some pain and suffering without
identifying it as evil.[16]:322 Christianity is based on "the salvific value of suffering".[17]
Philosopher Eve Garrard suggests that the term evil cannot be used to describe ordinary
wrongdoing, because "there is a qualitative and not merely a quantitative difference
between evil acts and other wrongful ones; evil acts are not just very bad or wrongful acts,
but rather ones possessing some specially horrific quality".[16]:321 Calder argues that evil must
involve the attempt or desire to inflict significant harm on the victim without moral
justification.[10]
Evil takes on different meanings when seen from the perspective of different belief
systems, and while evil can be viewed in religious terms, it can also be understood in
natural or secular terms, such as social vice, egoism, criminality, and sociopathology.
[18]
 John Kekes writes that an action is evil if "(1) it causes grievous harm to (2) innocent
victims, and it is (3) deliberate, (4) malevolently motivated, and (5) morally unjustifiable".[19]

Omni-qualities[edit]
Omniscience is "maximal knowledge".[20] According to Edward Wierenga, a classics scholar
and doctor of philosophy and religion at the University of Massachusetts, maximal is not
unlimited but limited to "God knowing what is knowable".[21]:25 This is the most widely
accepted view of omniscience among scholars of the twenty-first century, and is
what William Hasker calls freewill theism. Within this view, future events that depend upon
choices made by individuals with freewill are unknowable until they occur.[22]:104; 137[20]:18–20
Omnipotence is maximal power to bring about events within the limits of possibility, but
again maximal is not unlimited.[23] According to the philosophers Hoffman and Rosenkrantz:
"An omnipotent agent is not required to bring about an impossible state of affairs... maximal
power has logical and temporal limitiations, including the limitation that an omnipotent
agent cannot bring about, i.e., cause, another agent's free decision".[23]
Omnibenevolence sees God as all loving. If God is omnibenevolent, he acts according to
what is best, but if there is no best available, God attempts, if possible, to bring about
states of affairs that are creatable and are optimal within the limitations of physical reality.[24]

Defenses and Theodicies[edit]


Responses to the problem of evil have occasionally been classified
as defences or theodicies although authors disagree on the exact definitions.[1][2]
[25]
 Generally, a defense refers to attempts to address the logical argument of evil that says
"it is logically impossible — not just unlikely — that God exists".[2] This does not require a
full explanation of evil, and it need not be true, or even probable, it need only be possible,
since possibility invalidates the logic of impossibility.[26][8]
A theodicy, on the other hand, is more ambitious, since it attempts to provide a plausible
justification – a morally or philosophically sufficient reason – for the existence of evil. This is
intended to weaken the evidential argument which uses the reality of evil to argue that the
existence of God is unlikely.[2][27]

Secularism[edit]
In emeritus professor of philosophy at Whitworth University Forrest E. Baird's view, one can
have a secular problem of evil whenever humans seek to explain why evil exists and its
relationship to the world.[28] He adds that any experience that "calls into question our basic
trust in the order and structure of our world" can be seen as evil,[28] therefore, according
to Peter L. Berger, humans need explanations of evil "for social structures to stay
themselves against chaotic forces".[29]

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