The Problem of Evil

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the problem of evil has evolved into one of the most argued, and hence comprehensive, topics in the debate about God's existence. While nontheists claim that the existence of evil provides strong arguments against theism, theists hold that these arguments are merely speculative and lack logical strength. This paper examines the logical problem of evil, discusses some representative defences and theodicies (namely, the free will defense, the Irenaean theodicy, and the 'best of all possible worlds' solution), and critically evaluates these approaches.

From the Paper:

"Nontheists may utilize the problem of evil to identify the logical incongruity of the presence of an all-powerful, omniscient and omnibenevolent God alongside morally unwarrantable evil. This line of reasoning states that since God is omniscient, He knows that evil exists, and being omnibenevolent, He must be motivated to prevent evil, and finally, since He's also all-powerful, He has the ability to deter or eliminate evil. However, morally unjustifiable evil exists; therefore God is not all-powerful, omniscient, and/or omnibenevolent (Wachterhauser, 1985). Since theists claim that God necessarily possesses all of these three powerful characteristics, non-theists attempt to disprove a monotheistic God's existence using the above formulation. Importantly, the basis for the logical problem of evil is founded on the belief that all evil is logically unnecessary and should therefore not exist at all (Peterson et al., 2003; Zagzebski, 1996). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alston, W. P. (1995). Theism as theory and the problem of evil. Topoi , 14 (2), 135-148.
• Burch, R. (1981). The defense from plenitude against the problem of evil. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 12 (1), 29-37.
• Conway, D. A. (1988). The philosophical problem of evil. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 24 (1-2), 35-66.
• Faust, J. (2008). Can religious arguments persuade? International Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 63 (1-3), 71-86.
• Grover, S. (2004). Rival creator arguments and the best of all possible worlds. Sophia , 43 (1), 101-114.

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