Philosophy of Religion: Evil and Monotheism. Phil 255 Dr Christian Coseru Wednesday, March 1

Transcription

1 Philosophy of Religion: Evil and Monotheism Phil 255 Dr Christian Coseru Wednesday, March 1

2 Go(o)d and Evil Theodicy: an explanation of the role that evil plays in God s overall plan Is there an adequate theodicy? Defense against evil: the argument that evil does not provide evidence against the existence of God Is there a successful defense against the argument from evil? Argument from evil: the argument that the existence of evil provides evidence against the existence of God Is there a successful argument from evil?

3 Bypassing ultimate evil Karma - a beginningless and endless process of birth and rebirth that attributes all responsibility for a person s actual social, economic, and physical condition to that person s actions alone Evil according to the doctrine of karma is morally appropriate since it is merely the result of a person s past actions Evil is simply a just punishment that the person receives in virtue of his/her ignorance of the consequences of one s actions For any evil E that occurs to a person in lifetime N, E is the just consequence of wrong actions by that person in lifetime N or in her lifetimes prior to N

4 Evil: problem We only need to justify the argument from evil, if and only if evil was an evidence against the existence of God Is there a plausible argument from evil, i.e., an argument that says, the existence of evil is proof against the existence of God? Difference between the pastoral view of evil (dealing with evil in one s personal life and the life of dear ones) and the view from theodicy Theodicy: Does God allow evil? How is God triumphing over evil? Can God cause evil?

5 Evil: justification The existence of evil is the most influential consideration against the existence of God The existence of evil in the world appears to call into question the existence of a morally perfect and omnicompetent God Evil exists (E) necessarily implies there is no God (ng) only if E is logically necessary Are Evil exists and God exists logically incompatible?

6 Monotheism and Evil No variety of monotheism can embrace the notion of a finite God, a being who cannot prevent evil Can there be an omnipotent God that has no knowledge of evil? Humans can prevent evil when they know the imminence of a certain course of action If humans can in some circumstances prevent the occurrence of evil, why is it that God cannot in all circumstances? Could God know evil but lack the capacity to prevent it?

7 Evil and the finite God God lacks the power to prevent evil God lacks the knowledge to prevent evil God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil Actual evils can be prevented by a God with a certain power P and a certain knowledge K Evils for which there is no morally sufficient reason for prevention are those that require more than power P and knowledge K God s knowledge and power are limited by P and K

8 Consistency Judeo-Christian monotheism: 1. God exists 2. If God allows an evil, then God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing it 3. There is evil Evil exists because God allows it. But (1) and (3) are logically incompatible only if (2) is not true Is the doctrine that God allow evil to exit doctrinally justified?

9 Hindu monotheism: 1. God exists Consistency 2. An evil E that occurs to a person in lifetime N is just the consequence of wrong actions by that person in lifetime N or in lifetimes prior to N 3. There are evils Evils exist because of karma. Again (1) and (3) are logically incompatible only if (2) is not true If the doctrine of karma is true the existence of evil does not invalidate the existence of God

10 Consistency Problems Necessary truths and logical necessity: 1. Necessarily, if God creates at all, God must create the best possible world - a world without evil 2. Necessarily, a perfectly good being prevents evil insofar as it can, and an omnipotent and omniscient being prevents any evil (1) and (2) can be taken together only if they are both a necessarily truth (1) raises the problem of what is a best possible world?

11 Evidential truths For Judeo-Christian monotheism, the present state of the world is not such as to make God overly please. The prayer Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven has not exactly received a full answer (read justification) yet. Both critics and theists agree that things are not as a morally perfect and omnicompetent being would wish them to be. Our world is a fallen world. So, is the actual existence of evil evidence against the existence of God? A reason: The reason why person X experiences evil Y is that the point of evil Y is Z A presupposes a degree of knowledge we simply do not have. From an ordinary point of view evil is pointless (its cause is only known by an omniscient being)

12 Chance and Evil A morally perfect and omnicompetent God cannot allow the existence of pointless evil Evil is possible only if the world is ruled by chance not by an omnipotent God But an omniscient God would know what happen even in a world ruled by chance So, knowing how things turn up in chancey worlds God will want to create the best possible world In a random world evil may occur but do not do so necessarily. Hence the existence of evil is contingent upon the existence of a world ruled by chance

13 Evil and Pointlesssness 1. An evil that is inexplicable is actually pointless 2. God would not allow actual pointless evilsbut an omniscient God would know what happen even in a world ruled by chance 3. There are inexplicable evils 4. There are actually pointless evils (from 1 and 3) 5. God does not exist (from 2 and 4) There are no inexplicable evils!!!