I
An Introduction to the
Issues
Michael L. Peterson
God and Evil
This page intentionally left blank
God and Evil An Introduction to the Issues
Michael L. Peterson ASBURY COLLE61:.
estview A N rnbci
th,: Pcrscits Books Group
All ri;;Ins rc-sei. - -, .d. Primed in ihe ITnitc‘.1 States of Anleri, - .1. No pail of ;his p,:blie,1or lion may reproduced oi trans:iiiiied in n m or Is% Ain iniOrm.uion mmucmL intliniinr, ot oi- reiricy a1 .'stem, '. iihoi perinkSi( in U1\\I miin ( 1998 by Wcsiview Press.. A .\1,
Copyright
ol Perseus 9floks Group
Publislied in 1998 o the lniirJ Siaies .1rnet - 1. - ri hy, West ic...\\ Press , 5500 Central Aseinie, olorado 80. 1101-2877, and in the I. 'lined. 1
Libiary of Cr-im,-re-cs Caidloging•in-Piii)iicalion Data Peterson ; 114 -1 ,-H ic i 1, I G■Ai rid cii introduction to the issues / by Michael L. Pelerson. p. cm. Includys hiblioym-aphical references ..ind huh:\ . ISBN 0-81K-1-2848 9 — ii; •8133. 2849 7 1, Good and e‘ii, 2. R. Philo.sopliy 1, fitle, 1111-101.1'4 7 098 214-1.1.:21
98-18429 Gil'
'the riper inert in this publication in•-ts the requirements of the z-V,.ricail National Standard or Permanence of Papci ;or Primed Library Materials Z39.48-1984.
PERSEUS' 1 31.)0L 1.:Al kND )
.
,
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
For. my sons, Aaron and A da
This page intentionally left blank
Contents Prifiicr
ix
1 The Problem of Evil and Its Place in Philosophy of Religion Evil in Human Existence, 1 Evil and Religious Belief, 6 The Philosophical Difficulty, 8 The ClasNilication of Evil, 10 Notes, 14 Suggested Readings, 15
2 The Logical Problem of Evil Statement of the Problem, 17 The Structure and Strategy of the Argument, 19 Versions of the Argument, 23 The Burden of Proof, 27 Notes, 31 Suggested Readings, 31 3 The Function of Defense The lee Will Defense, 33 'The Compatibilist Position, 35 The Incompatibilist Rejoinder, 37 The Current State of the Debate, 41 Notes. 43 Suggested Readings, 45 4 The Probabilistic Problem of Evil An Initial Skirmish, 47 A Modified Prohabiliiv Argument, 49
17
33
47
vii
viii
Cfni l e HI S
Three Probabilistic Arguments from Evil, 52 Reformed Epistemology and Evil, 56 Notes, 61 Suggested Readings, 64 The Problem of Gratuitous Evil
5
67
Can There Be an 1..‘idential Argumentfrom Evil? 67 Versions ()f the E\ idential :\rgument, 69 Anah ting he Evidential Argument from Cyrattlitous Exit, 73 The Appearance of Evil, 74 Notes, 79 Suggested Readings• 81 -
The Task of Thcodicy 6 The Prospects for Theodicy, 85 Augustine's Free Will Tiheodicy, 89 Leihniz's Best Possible World Thcodicv, 92 Hick's Soul -Making Theodicv 94 Whiteheats Process Theodicy, 99 Theodicv and the Assessment of Theism, 103 Notes, 103 Suggested Readings, 108 7
The Existential Problem of Evil
85
111
The E\perience olGratuitcws Evil, 111 Evfl and Personal Identity, 114 The logic of Regret, 11.7 \istentiat Authenticity and Evil, 119 The Defeat of Horrendous Evil, 124 Notes, 127 Stig. ,ested Readings, 130 ,
131
Preface
This volume is an introduction to the problem of evil as it is currently discussed in professional philosophy. I have designed the book for use in an acadeini,. setting, \\ ith hopes that both student and scholar may -
find many points interesting and pros ocative. I also trust tliat the serious and thoiqtlit lid person outside academia may bencni from my treatment of this perennially important subject. No proiect of this sort is a purely priN ate undertaking. Over the years. I ha \ e benefited fioni hk:lpfiddiscussions on the problem of e ii with .1l\ in Plantinga, Edward Madden. Peter !lark:, William Ilasker, Da\ id Basinger, Bruce Reidienbach, and Jerry Walls. I ha ‘c appreciated the encouragement of the Asbury (.oIicge administration during my writing. I am also thankful to Pew Charitable Trusts tin funding my research during the 1992 -1993 academic year. I am not completely sure why I continue to be fascinated by the problem ol evil in all ()fits permutations. In part, I am astonished by the great profusion of suffering and evil around us and am driven to ponder it ()a behalf of those who ask, "Why'?" And, in part. I am stag • gered at the capacity br evil within us and ant thereby drawn to the issues oil it- ern:lig God and evil. Although I and conscious or the strange mi %lure of good and evil in our world, I am more mindful of how important it is to orient oneself propel I\ toward these realities. I d e dicat e this h oo k t o m y so ns , Aar o n a nd Adam, in w h o m I take great pleasure and delight. They ,ire certainly two immeasurable kgoods in HIV lire that show mc just how much \ aim: there is in a world that cc intains oil. Their goodness e en makes me a better person. My fatherly hope fOr them is that they vill resist oil in all its forms and that they will love and seek the FpOd in all things. -
-
-
Mil/PIC/L. 1-',.n.rsoil
ix
This page intentionally left blank
1 The Problem of Evil and Its Place in Philosophy of Religion
Something is dreadtUllv \\ Fong v,ith odd. An earthquake kills hundreds in Peru. .1. pancreatic cancer patient suffers prohmged, excrtIciating pain and dies. A pit bull attacks a tv.o vear old ehild, angiilv ripping his flesh and killing him. f. lountless multitudes sultcr the ra\ ages of war in Somalia. A crated en ft leader pushes empty five peo plc to their deaths in Waco, Texas. Millions starve and die in North Korea as famine la\ ages the land. Horrible things of all kinds happen in our world- and that has been the sin r\ since the dawn of civilization. "foday's news media thrive On things that are wrong in the world, on bad things that hapixn to people every day. Television parades vivid images of xvar, murder, doastation, and suffering before our eves. Newspapers report rape, abuse, mayhem, and disaster.
Evil in Human Existence In June 1991, 1 iwr mnaga/ine asked the question, - Whv:"—"Why does e\ii happen? "I In the co\ cr essay, journalist I .ance Morrow re\ ic\As the millHlude of oils that haunt our consciousness lii tiers Auscilv, it/ u Saddam Flussein's invasion of Ku \\nil , KKI: auirnmizs of black men in pre—civil rights Mississippi to the raises AIDS epidemic. Right there in a popular magatine, Morr, age old questions in an article starkly titled "F.Ail." Is evil an cntitv? Or is evil the immoral and inhumane actions of persons? What ab, }Lit bad and hurtful things that are out of our control, such as disease, floods, and mental illness? Is nature responsible? Why, does evil seem
Phi to. eq.by or liritgiou
7he Pol'hi Of
2
,-
so fascinating and alluring to the human mind while gond seems so uninteresting and boring? Does evil serve some purpose, or does it just happen? Why has the human race not seemed able to understand evil, to COilqUer It. 1 ) shin it out? a ighthil people raise penetrating questions about evil and seek to understand what it reveals about the human condition Ii a feature article in the 'New Ml' 111110. .1 Mutt Rosenbaum seeks to probe the meaning o.ne \A The cmer or the magazine reads "Evil's Rack, - and Rosenbaum's article inside carries the title "Staring into the I leant of the I !earl 1)arkness." Rosenbaum's piece sets the stage by recounting how Susan Smith of Butialn, South Carolina, murdered her two young sons. l le rehearses the facts that a Vk hole nation its LIMWS all too well: Susan Smith drowned her two little boys by strapping them into the child safety seats in her Nlaida and sending the car rolling down an embalikinent into 101111 D. Long Lake. She then manuLict tired all "ordeal" to deflect attention trout her crime. ltlaviitii on racial prejudice, she claimed that an .\iricali Ameriean car locker had kidnapped her two children, and she pled desperateh n i television for a search for the car jacket - and the children. Yet, within nine days, she confessed to killing three Year-old Michael and tOurteen month old Alex. Rosenbaum ( -6serves that one local talHoid called Smith's action an "evil deed." What is impressive about this pronouncement is that the secular news media would make it. In a day vhcn electronic and printed media typically prefer to assume a "relatiyitv of values"— avoiding difficult issues abon: morality, theology, IL meaning of life, and our place in the cosmos —it was blurted out. Here it was. Something was actually declared "eN il"—pttre, unadulterated, unmistakable o ii iv\ the press. Now all the hard uuk....stions are laid on the table and have to he laced: What is evil? Why do humans have the seemingly \.)st capacity to harm others? If there is a g uoct God, why does he permit innocent people to suffer? 2 There is something, about the Susan Smith case that L:\ okes our harshest moral judgments and gets us asking all of those hard questi( )11s. Ro,enbaum cannily ohm:nes that "the great tabloid stories are the ones that raise theological questions." Yet he quickly acknowledges that we cannot talk about evil—or about good, for that matter without some definitions. Those definitions lead us to larger theories about the origin and existence of evil in our midst, and those theories lead us to even larger conceptions of the meaning of lite and the nature of whatever Supreme Being might exist.3 -
.
;J. d Philosoph:: (c' Z. cliff ir);/
3
Although iur age is acutely conscious of the widespread existence of evil in human life, past ages have certainly been aware of its profound significance. Almost no ()tiler theme recurs in great literature more often than that of humanity's capability for evil. In ancient Greek tragedy, tiff example. the tragic hem is a persim of noble status and lofty aspirations \\ ho is eventually undone because of a profound character flaw, known as imbni's (pridc). All of the tragic hero's other virtues become disjointed as his flaw subtly ruins his lite. Russian au thor Fkodiir 1)(),stoesslo, rum scornfully the comf(uling notion that humans are always rui,mal and good, In a famous passage 6'ml? Thu BiwIt/c; ,v Kai am/L:4w, l) mstc cssL pri.)tests such ■\ ild optimism about humankind: 1 can't endure that a man of lofty mind and heart begins with the ideal of the Madonna and ends with the ideal of Sodom. What's still inote an till is that a man w ill, the ideal olSoilom in his soul does not renounce the idea! oldie Madonna, and his heart Ina\ be on tire with that ideal, nenuineh on tire, just as in the d o youth and innoi.ence. -4 hit human inability to live up to our own high ideals i , a perpetual puzzlement. The paradoxical depra\ ity and crsity of humanity arc treated quite poiimanti\ nì 1);: ...11;1 Hyde. Robert Louis St evenson's iriglitening table records how the decent Dr. Jekyll came under the power of a transtOrming drug: "It severed in tie those provinces of good and ill which di\ ide and compound man's dual naturc. I wax iii no sense a hypocrite; both sides of rue were in dead cal - nest; I was no more myself when I laid aside restraint and plunged in shame, than when I labored, in the eye of day, at the furtherance of knowledge or the relief - of mirrow and sulferirm.": .\s time. ncnt on, the thought of oil represented in the person of Mr. Hyde no longer iilicd Jek\II \\ ith ICH'Or: I sat in the ,un on a bench; the animal \\ :thin me li king the chops of memory, the spiritual side a little drowsed, promising subsequent penitence, bin not yet fumed to begin. I began to he asa are of the temper tci' my thoughts, a greater boldness, a c(nitempt of ainger„i solution of the bonds 01 . 01.-, ligation. - '' The a pk..I ike creature had diabolically gained control ot Jekyll: -
-
-
"
This was the shocking tiling; that the slime or the pit seemed to utter cries OiCCN; th,rl the .1111111 01'.OU',dmii "!..e!.•liC ila;i2d and `:■inilcd; that what .
s
dead, and had nil shape, should imciiip the offices oflife. And this aitziain. that the insurgcht horroii ',vas knit to
him clo,cr the:
Clth,cr
4
and Ph11o 0pby of' R
;the / );'01)11' .
,-
u
than an eve:, kw caged his flesh, k\ here he heard ii IllUttir and iiii it strin:e 10 he horn; and ai eveFy hoar of.vcakness, ;1rd in he confidence of slumber pre■ ailed against him, and deposed iiin out of life. 7
Dr. Jekyll confesses the terrible truth that he is radically both natures: "It was the curse of mankind that ... H thc agonized womb of consciousness these polar twins should be continuously struggling." 8 Paul, the early Christian evangelist, recognizes the war within himself: "I do not understand rm ,wn ,ict ions. For I do not do \1 hat I want, but I do the very thing I hate.. „ I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do n it do the good I w ant, but the e\ii I do not ‘alit is what I d 9 In a similar ein, St. Augustine recounts his Ullhapp, predicament in his ( '0126.7.r.viony: "I wa s bound, not with another's Irons, but by my ow n iron will. My will the enemy held, and thence had made a chain tOr nie, and bound me.""" This peHoital aspect of C\ ii most ,„ losely coincides with what the Judeo-C nristian Scriptures describe as Once we recognize the existence of something that can reasonably be called personal evil. we must then also recognize that it has collective c w ell as individual dimensions. Org ,anized crime s\ ndicates, militant emerging nations, oppressive social structures, and profit crated multinational corporations are, in a real sense, the social extensions or personal evil. On both individual and corporate levels. .)ne of the saddest features of human evil is its strange admixture with good or apparent good. Marriages are wrecked for lack 1 mini understandiiT,, ed neat ional communities arc undermined by disagreement about how' to pursue common ikicals, political parties arc thmw n into disarray by excessive .11111)111(in, and ri ls are ripped apart by struggles for power. Although kleare perplexed by humanity's capacity tor evil, even the best of us ,'.re sometimes hurt and even ci•uslied b‘ the impersonal forces oH lie Lull\ crse. 1 hese forces know in n rig 0 111, 11 m i n agendas o r purposes and tend to thwart all that w c hold dear. Herman Niel\ ille deals with this theme in Ifobv Dick, Captain Ahab Pei1uod, forty years a \1 Haler 111 the first hall of the last century, sets out fi-om Nan_ t ticket on what appears to be a long w haling cruise. Little does anyone know that Ahab's journey is not seaman's business hut a quest tOr the meaning of life. Ahab had lost a leg in an earlier en,:ounter with Nlobv Dick, a great w hire \\ hale , then the terror of the seas, and is now bent on destroying Thc captain is obsessed with the meaning, of human existence in the face of overwhelming natural forces. Ironically, the '
-
.
atilvilaadPialosoph:.'qf cli,alaa whale is white„t l(11 often 1,11-'11 Mb( dite N\ hat is sacred and holv; but the whale is fearsome and hostile to human values and, in the end, triumphant. Isitmad, the ship's only survivor, claims that in losing his life Ahab discovered its int:ailing." The modern world knows all too welt that this disturbing picture of hfe life being ruined and finally snuffed out 'V forces beyond its control - is a realistic one. 'Fhere is 11(1 denving that persons often tall victim to psychological and physical tOrces beyond their control. But quite apart from how these n ees affect human interests. they certainly cause much pain and death ■\e hin nature itself. As Alfred Lord Tennyson reminds us, nature is "red in tooth and Jaw." urvival of the Iciest is built into the mechanism of animate n.111Ie. Fe animals are free from :11tack bv stron. , er animals or from suffering and death due to shills in Weir environment. ,Althotigh animals do not possess the higher selfconsciousness of humans, 'L fl obyiously lc(...1 pain and endure suffering. Thoughtful pcoplc tirtil it Very puf/ling that the world should work in such a Way as to maim, torture, and destr(w large pro portions of these subhuman creatures. At the end of an catalii , g of ills that plague the sy■ brit] comes death. All things es entually die. But death is a particularly acute problem for the human species because \\ e humans sense that our existence has value and worth, that our agendas have merit, Iii I we deserve touo on living and building our lives. And yet death stands as the Unal enemy, the last evil we must face; it puts an end rt)t only to our doing and undergoing further evils but also to our pursuing our most cherished dreams. 'rims, death is radically foreign to all that is within us, Ludwig Wittgenstein observes: "I )eat h is not an eY cm in life: we do not live to experience cleath." 1 .?. Death is the end ()Hite. II F, Lovell Cocks writes that the icrinination of one's own personal existence is the "great human repression, the LIMY ersal - Loinplex.' I )\.ing is the reality that pe , sons] dare not lace, and to escape \\ hide !Hey I summon all I their) recotirces. --' Those who have thought and hard about the lunran conditi(m know that death is arguably the ith..)st fearsome orali esils. ponderintz e il in the world, we 11101" be tempted to echo the sentiment in the chorus of T. S. Eliot's .'li,ani>e; In aic Catlydral :
Ilert isPI, /5 no aillW ill the
city,
.
here
Stay.
time. Ili/certain the profit, ce;vi; in the
6
he Pr o bkin Tvil
of
0 late late late, late is tliz tin/ c, too late, and rotten thL- year: Epii the wind, and bitter the sea. and . grey the sky,g,..ev Unfortunately, this prolbund and inconsolable pessimism appears to be natural and warranted when the troubles of humanity arc taken seriously, All of the had things that happen—horrors that we human beings commit to‘■ard one another, awful ex ems that occur in nature, and terrir)ing ways in which nature threatens hunian interests—fall under the rubric of e\ ii Simply put: Ther("rs evil in the world. It is in the nex‘s. It is in our 1/4()Inn)on experience. Popular periodicals exen grapple with it. Quite apart from any precommitmem to a specific theory of evil and I n ns oil fits in to a larger iruerpretation of lilt. % there is a virtual consensus that somethingn deepl\ \\ ro ; 1g v., ith our \\ orld , that things do not al \\ s seem 11) go as they should, and that much too often cseuits happen that are utterly dreadful. It is in this broad sense that x\c say, - Evil exists."
Evil and Religious Belief As people through the centuries have reflected on the meaning of lift, they have had to come to grips with the persistent and pervasive presence of evil. It is not surprising, then, that every major religion addresses evil within its unique frame of rclerena‘. 1- I or Ruddhism, evil is inherent in human existence, making nonexistence (1, i;Tilliot the goal. For Hinduism, oil belongs to the world olillusiont and cyclical rebirth tsilimiri-a) from which k1 c must seek to find release. For Zoroastrianism, c\ 11 is an eternal cosmic principle that opposes the good. In 77;. .Sui.Ted 'anupv, sociologist Peter lierger writes that one fineton of every religion is to provide a ‘‘a oliunderstaiidimtg ()flitting the events of life into a meaningful patient, l le explains that religion imposes order and lax tidness on experiences that seem to be chaotic and destructive most notabh, the phemnnena of suftk.H-ing, and death. Thus, religion imposes a /1011105, or lawful ex.planatirm, on otherwise anomie feat tire, of existence, Berger is 'a' tit qut ging on this point: ,
The .1m,inie phenomena must not only he lived through, the\ must also be explained—to Wit, explained ill Lcrills of the uontos established in the
Rcliole);/ SOCiCeVill iILiCSiit n An explanation oi these phenomena 111 lerrn, nfreki\111,11C1'er tiegrCCof tho ffetic,11 sc phis; icat ion, may giou 1{>?,.. be e.Cl•d a theodic+. It is important to stress ken: particularE the same poi•t has „dread!, been made ...tclicr•lly• ith reSp_it to religious leOtirnations, that uch an• C Nr1.111.1ii011 need not entail a compleN.. :he°. retical stem. pe,isant who conunents up,yn the death of a child by retelling IC) 41 or God is engaging in theo‘ .ic, its much as the 'learned /1Co '.010:111 V, II( writes a treatise to demonstrate that the feting (0: the innocem doe, not negate the conception ota God both good and ail powerfill. All the same, it is possible to LtilIerentiate theodicies ill ci (d their ikgree or raii0r1,01' , that k, the degree to which the clua'l a theory that cohcrer:th and consistentk e \plains the phenomena 10 i.111C.s0011 iIi 0.:1'111S 0C;10 uver•,111 licit (>1 the Atli% ci.se. Such a theory, or course, once it is socially established, maY he tett-acted on di'= leren• foe:, 0C sophistication throughout the society. 'flu's, the peasant, 110,,10 Cr illal'wh,...n he speaks alit Cut the V% 111 11..11Thel1 theologian.l“ ticulatciv, the majestic thcodicy constructed liv ,
,
,
.
.
,
.
So, what religious system says about e‘il reveals a great deal about Ndiat it tales ultimate reality and humanity's relation to it to be. Hence, the credibility of a religion is closely linked to its ability to give its adherents categories tbr thinking aboUt the presence of evil. A:though evil poses a challenge Mat every major religion must address, the challenge to Christianity is particularly formidable. There seems t+ he a serious 1C11Si011 bC1Weell ITA1 ( hristian thcology affirms ab(mt [he unrivaled nuwer, unlimited knowledge,. and unrelenting love of God, on the one hand„md what it admits about evil in God's cre aced order, on the other. Nlanv persons think that the Christian God— if I le really exists and is I he source and guarantor of value—would not alloy, th e y, orld to be as it is. Ink is the cru% of the issue for Christian belier:. it -His 11 ...di t i tma il y b een k nown as th e problem nicsil, Thromdt(nit 111S101 V, theokTians and philosophers hat e Wrestled \\ 1111 this prubleM. ThOugh11111 and sensitive laity base also ihit, the need lbr at least a general explanation of him to relate God and On. Tile co111.111drt1111 seem, Ulla\ Oidable. After resie\Ning all the evils that haunt our c. omemporar \ consciousness, I .arice Morrow raises this precise problem at the end of his I line' maga/.ine articled' Some thinkers believe that unless Christian l' alievers have an acceptable solutiun to the problem (It •Nil, they have no ri ..T.ht to hold their distincti\ e theological position or to ask others to adopt it," Philosopher 1. tY, Settle argues that grappling \\ ith the problem of .
-
-
,
.
8
he Prob.!
Of
Pi11o.qq.0volbtritgiou
evil is a prolegomenon to intellectually honest theology,"'" Thor Hall proposes that the ability or inability to generate an ans\\ er to the vexing problem of evil is the litmus test of the "reasonableness of theoh)gy." I fall says that Christian thinkers must "he capable ()Ihandling honestly the actualities of human existence (realities which we all know) while at the same lime providing a framework for explicating responsibly the essential affirmations of the iaith (altirmatilms which are given within the historical tradition).") The position that is put under direct pressure by the presence of evil is known as "theism." Theism maintains that there exists a Supreme Icing who is omnipotent, omniscient„ind perfect I\ Ro\\ e calls this position "restricted iheism."-'.; Theism as such is not uselfliving religion but tOrms what we might call the basic conceptual lOundation ti)r sc\ cral li\ ing religions: ( .hristianitv, Judaism, and Islam. The total belief frame orks of these actualin \ c adding, certain other snilicant religious belie l's to restri, ted theism. Restricted theism conjoined ' hi other religious claims constitute what Rim,: calls "expanded theism," The present stud\ treats many of the important discussions related to the basic theistic foundati(m of Christian belief (i.e., restricted theism). Ariel all, insofar as c 1 presents a challenge to theism, it pre sents a challenge to any version of expanded theism. However, this study, also considers some issues related to larger sets of Christian beliefs (i.e., various Christian versions of expanded theism). These sets of Christian beliefs parl:icularly come into play \Own considering various responses to the challenge posed by evil. These larger sets of C,hristian beliefs are constituted, of cour,e, by rotrieted theism conjoined with additional propositions about (;od's general purposes in the world, the role of Jesus ( :hrist, life alter death, the hunian condition, sin, and SO forth. The spc:ilie propositions with which restricted theism is augmented drawn triml such n irecs as clit IL h creeds, hihlical interpretation„md common (Itristian experience determine the exact NerSi()11 of expanded theism at issue. Althotl .7.11 \xe may refer to any one or these versions as ChrisnaliitV" or -( .hristian buliCt" or "Christian tlicolop, ‘■C kvill more regularly use the more precise rubric "Christian theism." -
,
.
-
-
The Philosophical Difficulty Let us say that the essential problem here tbr theism (and thus tbr any version of Christian theism) that of reconciling belief in an all-
;.;. ;f
vdr cliffie);;
9
all-knoss ing, 1;:.■d deity with the belief that there is evil in the world. But exactly 'hat kind of a problem is this? Speaking more precisely, the difficulty for theism lies in rebutting an argument that alleges some kind of conflict between beliefs about God and beliefs about eyil„\n argument from evil or, really, any one of several arguments from evil has a structure, premises, and conclusion. It is actually the conclusion of att, given argument from evil and the reasons fOr that conclusicsn that arc a "problem" for theism. In the for losving pages, I ss III use the term probirin r+fcril simpls .is a synonym cril.: 2 And there is not just one problem or argument Iron) evil; tHere are mans different argoinents. Scholars have ideno Ned seseral major types of arguments from (nil, noting theft Les strategies as ss ell as characteristic theistie responses. These arguments has c sarious roots. For one thing, the problem of es ii expresses a kind of moral protest and so insolyes categories good and oil. Tor another thing, the problem 115 015 es religious beliels about the existence and nature of God, giving it a distinct theological aspect, Yet the problem of evil is best underst. x as a philosophical problem. In its traditional role, philosophy clarifies and analyzes our beliefs, examines them t n logical consistencY and coherenCe„md evaluates their adequacy tbr explaining important human phenomena. These philosophical features make the discipline of philosophy the natural home field for the problem of evil, There are, of course, many areas of philosophical concern, and each is deternied by the exit set of ideas and issues that are examined: philosophy of science, philosophy - or mind, philosophy or language. philosophy of art, and so ti v.h. Each ofthese areas seeks to bring the kes insights and interesis of philosophy to bear upon thr Ries ant topics. This means that typical philosophical questions about reality knowlesic epHemologv). and value (moral Psis and axiology') are appropriate. And questions about the structure and acceptability of relevant arguments .logic) are always in order, The subject at hand, the problem of . il, Calls Wit hilt Ns hat is traditionally known as the philosophy of religion. It is thc task of philosophs ofreli ,..cion, then, to bring these characteristic quest ins to bear on significant religious concepts and beliefs, such as those related to God, miracle, prayer, and faith, Philosophers of religion have always been deeply interested in the question of wherher there are rational grounds for either belief in God or disbelier. in God. Impressive arguments have been constructed to show that God exists such as the ontological, cosmologp(MCIll1L,
.
10
1
1 ); .01.,h• .
,.//
and pi, ito.q, pby ,,f'
and teleological arguments.'; Like ise, a number of sett guments have been ads anccd to show that God does not exist. Among those arguments against God's existence, none has been more prominent than the problem of evil. In the experience of evil and reflection upon it, humanity reaches the extreme limitT con fronting the deciske question of the meaning of life, of the sense and nonsense or reality. Hans KOng states that the problem of evil is "the rock of atheism" because so many people believe it to be intract able. This accounts for the lhcly and ongoing discussion of the problem in philosophy of religion. Rlit why, one might ask, should this philosophical problem be rele% ant to faith? Faith is personal commitment. deep abiding trust, inn cons iction. Faith is much more than abstract reasoning. Why should the intricate arguments and counterarguments of philosophers affect religious faith at all? :\ SellSibie ,111SWCI', it \`,()Iild seem, runs along the t011o\N ing lines. Although, granted, faith is ;;/,,w,' than itle e intellectual assent to a set of lx.diek, it is at least intellectual assent. Although faith is a personal trust in God, that trust is based on a number oHmportant beli,fi.about what God is like and how persons ma\ have a relationship to him. These beliefs are subject to philosophical scrutiny, clue. and defense. .1 hus, therc really is no responsible way to insulate religious faith from philosophical reflection. And there is certainly no way to insulate it from the philosophical problem of evil. -
The Classification of Evil Recognizing the problem of evil as a seri, mis challcitge tam ( i an the, it might seem advisable to begin our in \ cstigation with a precise definition olekil. l— h the attempt to offer a specific definition at this point :reqiientiv ladens the meaning of with prek.i mceived ideas anti thus hinders ()biCCh1e discussion- St)Ille thinkers, for cum*, define "es il in theological terms as "sin" and consider the problem only in this light, reducing all evils to spiritual rebellion against God and its consequences, Other thinkers define oil" as finitude" and then treat all evil -even hinnan perversity—as the inevitable results or creaturely limitation. Definitions of "evil" could be proposed and debated indefinitely. Therefbre, it is advisable for present purposes to leave open the question of definition and proceed with a broad, commonsense notion of evil evoked by the things we typically call "evil." Regardless of how we define it, we arc all aware of the ex ence and profusion of evil. It is endrely possible to identify a whole spec- -
-
-
rfRi.4171();/
11
truni of events and experiences as "oil." The set of commonly recognifed evils includes, at the VcrY least, such things as extreme pain and suffering, physical dct,,rmities, psychological abnormalities, the prosperity of had people, the demise of good people, disrupted social rela tions, unfulfilled potential, a host of character defects, and natural cat ast rophcs. This list specifies the sorts of things that are commonly considered evil without prejudicing later discussions. In philosophical parlance, this list indicates the xtension 01 the term "evil" (i.e., all !Things to which the term applies) without speed\ ing its exact intenyion (i.e ., .ill that the term implies). The eloquent eighteenth-century skepi ic David Flume followed this approach when he listed a sampling of the world's ills: "a huspita tillof diseases, a prison crowded Vii h malefactors and debtors, a field of battle strewed w it h carcasses, a fleet linindering in the ocean, a nation languishing under tyranny, famine, [and] pestilcnce." 25 il indeed h1 , many faces, faces w ith 55 Ilk Li ac are all too 1:1miliar. Sine the ide raiue of evils can he ‘er!, eonfusing., most ',Hos+) phers make a helpful distinction between monil and natural In marking- out the difference between the tw 1.)r()ad kinds of evil, Al\ in Plantinga writes that "we must distimutish between .,:,v0;7:1 LT/7 and natural The tOrmer is evil which results fr,)in free human ac \'. Plantinga admits, the ti■ itv ., natural evil is am other kind or distinction is not \ cry precise. \ et this same point is made by John Hick: "Moral es ml is evil what we human beings originate: iTLICI, idOtH—mci perverse thoughts and deeds. Notttral evil is the evil that originates independently of human actions. in disease bacilli, cart hquakes, storms, droughts, tornadoes, etc."? F1.% ard ladden and Peter Hare provide a similar classification: ,
'al sh.til sac. denotes the terrible pain, suffliring, and un-
Phy4ral
timely death caused by events like MT, flood, landsi:dc, hurricane, earthquake. ucal .5 ave„ind i amine and by diseases like cancer, lcprosv, -
and ietanu ---as well as the iirinplin dLifeets and deformities like blindness, de.dlICSS, d111111111C S, ShriVCied limimhs, and insanity by which so ,
,
,
many sentient beings arc L. heated ui the lull be:It:fits ()I cr il d c. m r.- e .. both ithwal NITtmg•doing such as lying, Lrhcating. steal-
,
ing, 1 (muring, and murdering and character deli:cis like greed, deceit, .
t
'r
3r dice and seltishness..::'
Other authors do not depart far from this same general approach. Although we could debate the exact boundaries between natural and moral evil, the basic distincti‹ in performs a helpful classificatory
12
7he Ptol'h'tii Of
nR
function. It not only helps clarify our thinking about oil but also alloss s us to divide the general problem of evil into subsidiary problems related to moral and to natural evil and thus guides further stages of inquiry. In his penetrating treatment of the problem of evil, David Hume shows he is aware of this important distinction. Hume observes that:, in nature, "the stronger prey upon the weaker" and "the weaker. too, in theft turn, often prey upon the stronger„md vex and molest them without relaxation. Acknowledging that humanity can organite into societies and thus avoid some o! the harm nature might do, he insists that humans morally mistreat each other: "Oppression, injustice, contempt, . . violence, seditiun, \■ ,Ar, reachery, fraud 1w these they mutually torment each other, arid they would soon dissoh e that society which they had formed were a in ti for the dread of still greater ilk 'a hid) 111LISI their separation.''Quite apart from technical philosophy, the distinction between natural and in evil runs through most great literature. "The Tyger" by William Flake is a pm\ erful poetic expression of the problem of natural evil. The poem forcefully raises the issue of \\ 'nether a certain instance of natural evil (e.g., the threat of being, attacked by stronger animals) could have been created by the God of the Christian faith. -
7:1271 - 7.11):41.7.1 I'll 11/
In the linists or the niabt, ti/Jai immortal band 01- eve Could frame 11.11'fiVY 'via iii In what Ills/am deeps oi Bt; ii,,/ the.Jire °I/id/le eves? On ?PIM winfis daii he asp;"t.: VI:/al the hand do ii Sei flit? -
And what shwthici . and who/ art, /he sinews of' thy heavi Could
A 11l1 I t hat
ilCarl dread hand: iiiil ii/ii ni 107 01. fill rbr 1)0 n Wei'? Irlint the ail:" n ?
thy LI/Y in I what dn..ad grasp 1)a7-e its dea 111Y limn's 1-1171)::'
.T11
t . 01 11 1 CC 1POS
Win the 71111 . i
-
77 /: I" TY7,‘ y y.y r
]i((j/)//
,
1.1. hi'li the 1
IRf11,lWa
,
spi'ars,
thrl frari,
Did bc smile his H
13
st-(7)1,- 110;1';1
And tpateiwii licaren
Did he
ho Wadi'
5,,e•( .1,11111 Make llIt'e?
7::,arr! in)nidtt) f; f ell'i resI S
117.1a: immortal band Dart _Ironer thy ti'a .
(
0'
L:vt'
syrn nit
We also find the problem or moral oil in great no els. Dostoe% SkN s ssie I b nrfitilt:rs C0111.1inc,.a poil.. 4nant treatment of the problem. Nan karamazo\ asks his brother Ahosha, \\ ho is a '
-
011110dM. monk, the piercing Lutestion of why God allows .
ci'tiek
1
)
innocent children. Ivan ICICMICSSIV CIL1111CrslICS St01"k:‘ 1■ ,
the torture and murder of children a little
beaten by parents and
then left o\ ernight in an outhouse to treete, a young serf boy torn to death by a lando\\ ner's hounds tOr thr, ming, a stone at one of them, an unborn child cut from its mother's w( will by imading Turks, and on and on. Then. I\ an cries: "Listen! I took the case of children only to make nay case clearer. Of the other tears of humanity \\ latch the earth is soaked from its crust to its center, I will say nothing. I have narrowed rnv subject on purpose. I am a bug, and I recognive in all humility that I cannot understand \\ hr the world is arranged as it is. ... But then there arc the children, and what am I to do about them? That's a question I can't answer."'' In the next six chapters, I explore the major atheistic arguments from evil as well as important theistit. . responses. I discuss the -
s tr eng th s an d \\ caknesses on both sides and point directions C(n. fur-
ther discussion.
III
he process, I ill not only anal\ te rr a iny technical
issues related to God ,Ind CV11 but also attempt to de\ clop a sense of the deep significance of this issue in human life. I address three problems of oil that express arious logical and epistemological concerns: the problem, probabilistic problem, and e\ idential problem. The theistic responses to the logical and probabilisti,. problems that I exarrimc can he described as defensive. The typical theistic response to the es identiA prvt)1Qm that I inspect comes under the rubric of theodicv. I also explore what can be called the existential problem of evil, which expresses the intensely personal and moral aspects of the issue.
7he Probhl
14
tub'
i
pby of R 1,
f
Notes
1•
,Vorrow, "1-10," I iiur. J une 10, 1991. pp.
2. The use of dle gcndcr pronoun here does not imply that God is male. Historical iudeo-Christian views ot G o d hav e atlirm c d that scsitaijiv a ereatureiv reality not reIlcocd fl God, •Iv us (' J trma s culine Dronouns when rtsfttrring to God Hit011L d tOlL Ilus book, :hen, follows the tradition :hat requires UN 11)1.1SC liii eileet Cali/11V 1C1111' and images lit talk about, God, avoid using •my new, revised Clod language here, which would raise some VCry interesting btu also very sophisticated coruro\ ersies. I retain traditional usage simoh Ioi the sake or economy and 1.t,et :tug on ‘a. :11ciSstlet-, at han,t. 3. Ron R.o.senbaum, startn;; into the I Ireart of the Fleart of Darkness," itu l, lune 4, 1995): F o-44, 50-511, 61, 72. 4. hvodor 1)ostoex sky, lbe B6ith1J/Ts Karti.;://ror. trans. Constance Garnett (New York: Norton, 1076),p. 97. .ve if Dr. J ekyll and 1 Ir. 11 e 5, Robert Louis Stexenson, Thc ,
-
,
.
(London: Folio Society, 1948), p. 124. 6, Ibid., p. 127. 7. Ibid., p. 146. 8. Ibid., pp. 124-125. 9. Rom, 7:15, 18b-19 Revised Standard Version, Paul's lamentation should be read in context: Sec 11a mu. 7:15-20. 10. Augustine, Gnit1-5.cioi/s, 11. Herman Melville. Ifoliv Dirk, eds. H. Havrord and H. Parker (New York: \V. W. Norton. 1 9O7 ). . a discussioi ofthis vision °litre, see I ICIU'V nen Ulu ersity Press, 1956 A. Nivcrs, Traoeffv: Velly oti Ithaca: ( ( Nev' Haven: Yale 57 77„ind Richard Sewail, The 1 ',non s 19596 pp 92_1 9S .
.
12. 1 ud‘‘ :14 NViirgenstem, Tradrillo
trans, D. F.
1970, Pears and 11. 1. McGuinness (I indon: Rout ledge & proposition 6.4311, p. 147. 13. II 1:.1 ....)\:‘.:11( ondon: James Clarke, 1943), p. 55, tti i ",-,y i ti'' I h e ( "ow p I ere Ii C NeuV York: 11,11C01111.,111",ICC, 1952 p. I So. 01...m,t11•;7Lyt-1:'; 15. Such ill attcrs we discussed in John Box\ Iser, m 1-1 ri v Press 197(1), Relirtion.c qrthe ( C: In ill': "c 16. l'cicr IIergcr, Nacied Canopy Nc-\\: York: 1)oubieday, 1967 j, pp, 53-54. S I. 17. Morrow, "Fx1," I S. In response, some ihrigians hold the belie\ ers may instead argue Mat they do not iCC a tilcudio:, A nurnIN..r of approaches are p(issible here. hot example, a believer may 51111...0 t he problem or evil does not conclusivelx disprove her position, she need n o t answer it. Or a believer may argue that she has comineim), proof of („Ioi.t's existence on other grounds -
-
,
-
? ,1 itt: ;/
71.ic
15
,
and lane,: :11,11 she knokis the problem ot evil must have si'inc answer. She may ci en sax 1;ia: her belief in God is so basic dial it supersedes ctiforts to prirve or ill , pro \ e it. "1.': his line of thc>ught is discussed in Chapter 4. Lair tu iv that there are differing opinions about )idinf7r,hCpmbicrn 01' evil ear isti comfortably accepted. .\ tier :Inv \\.I5 ail, Christian purports to re,ei, ant features of human eds.does not seem to hi well iii:o the explanation. tence, but liCisT must IllAkC good there is at IC l A prima 1,1C/C CsISC i IIAI iliC her Jain, aodressing the problem ules I. 19.4.'. VV. Settle, - A Prolegonienon to Intelleetitak !. Holiest Theology," Philo.copbi;ial Fiwuni 1 I 97S ;: 30. 110. 20. i'm r 1 liii.“I lieodie. as a Test of the R ea ,„0 11 u,k ricss o f Th eo t ogy, ” -
Rch:ilioit it; Life 43 1974 21)4. 21 kviiiiarn R cve, F vi l an d T h e Th e i s ,;„ H ypol h es i s. .\ R esponse to kst 1%1: 16 i.19S4 I: 95. 22. Dailicl Ilkmard-NnyLici N.:1;\ ecn thc IA:. evil" and 1:',C Cvii's in his edited volume ihr l'n;jI iii Bloomington: Indiana 1...iliv‘Aisity Press, 1990 pp. NI mi. 23. lot disk:Liss:0,n )1 inns] or the in,Cior issues related to k‘hether there ace cm i, ana i , :roun d s h r b e li ev i r ,, Michael Peters o n, lasker. 11: (tic Reichenbach„mil David Basinger. Reasou anti Lit (it it/on to ite Pi; i or Itel 2iid ed. ..New York: O‘Iiird Univcrsit‘ Press. 1998 !r ms. Edward Quinn IGaen 24.11ans Khnn. ();; Bcini.i City, N.Y Dull 19761, p. 432, 1.)1,11Timis Conce.'ii;.: 13;f1 Nr;tuniil Reli ition, cited in 25. SC hiTI'd R Michael 1.. Peterson, ed.. ifir P;ifil, 2. - 1;? (Notre Dame, ersit:, of Notre D.u,.e l')92 p. 42. 2o \hi" EerdRilVids.. F .
.
.
.
mans., 1977 , p. 30, 27, John 1 liek., Row. 1975 , p. 12.
v. ed. (Ness York: Harper &
,:;id the God
28. Edward ladder and Peter
7747
Concept of Goci uri ng
les C. Thomas. 19oSi, p. 6. 29, H time 5pioicd In Pcterson, ed.. 1 Itc Pr o bl i -,w 4 ;/ lit/i. p..1•1„
field, Ill.:
30. William Blake, ": - Fhe I ger, - 11 I rt able 131 cd. Alfred 1:a/in (Ness York: Viking Press, 1%8 p. 109, 31, Doquoisky, lire Biotite a in iwtrL .0r, pp: 221-225, -
Su ggcsted Read ings Lannt,, Albert. 17,, .1,:!inc. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. Ness 'Irk: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948. -
he Piobhi of
16
and Phito. opby ,-
Davis, Stephen T. "Why Did This I lappen to Ale= The Patient as a Philosopher." 1);.th.yton
BillitVin 65 (1)72 61 (7,
flick, John. "The Problem ()CFA ii." I 1 7111. Lneyrlopedin qt Pbilo.vophy. Edited by Paul Edwards, Neb.\ York: Macmillan and trec Press, 1967, pp. 136-111, Flume, David. Dinio/tuc., Crwr:,-ning Nett/ Rd/non. Parts 10 and 11. Ebhted I. IL D. Aikk.sn. No\ Yorl,: }Una Publishim.b„ 1955. urPain. New York: Macmillan 1962. IN Lewis, . Macl.eish, Archibald. / . B. 1;ostcHi: longinon Mifflin, 1986, Alelvillc, I lerman. Eincd by 11. 1lay!Ord and Ilershel Parker. W. ‘•. Norton, I 967, New Pc 1 erson, 1 lii . l I cd . Vic Problem ofIntir ,c/c, ted Rc:!iiili,t1S. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press 1992. Pike, Nclst bn, ed. God 01111 Era: Rradii,VIS ii, 1/U' ihreth?ifiCal Problem of Evil, Englewood Chit's. N.J.: Prem :et:1E1k 1964. IV:escl, Etc. Nifilit. "translated by Stella Rud ay. No\ York: Bantam Books, :
-
:
.
1960.
qf God. 'i ranslated by MarionN Yiesel. New York: Schocken .
Books, 1979.
2 The T .ogcal Problem of Evil
The problem of evil has both theoretical and existential dimensions. The theoretical problems deal with logical and epistemic relationships between propositions about God and oil. The existential dimension of the problk.mi pertains to one's deepl\ personal response to evil and overall sense or the worth of human existence. Leaving discussion of the existeriial problem until Chapter 7, , I devote the intervening chapters to three important statements of the theoretical problem. During the 1970s and 1 980s, philosophers came to make a distinction between two broad versions t f the thcoretiCal lie logical problem revolves around the question of consistencv among key theistic propositions. The evidential problem involves evaluating propositions about God in terms of the facts of evil. I discuss two ways of ad' ancing the evidential problem in Chapters 4 and 5. Here I focus on the classic logical problem of evil.
Statement of the Problem The logical problem o': evil (also called the a priori problem and the deductive problenC, arises on the basis of an alleged inconsisteno between certain claims ab(no God and certain claims about evil.' T"Iistorieallk. the discussion of this problem has de\ eloped as critics at tempt to expose an inconsistency among theistic beliefs and theistic philosophers attempt to show why there is no inconsistency. Oxford philosopher J. L. Mackie sums up the atheistic challenge: "Here it can be shown, not that religious beliefs lack rational support, but that they are positively irrational, that several parts of the essential 17
18
The I ofiicif7P; 0:571-ili of Ti .
,
ii
theological doctrine arc inconsistent with one another.' since being logically consistent is necessary for a set of beliefs to be rational, Mackie's charge is very scrimp,. Mackie clearly and forcefully states the logical problem: "In its simplest form the problem is this: God is omnipotent; God is ‘vhollv good; and vet evil exists. 'there SCCMS to bC Some COntradiCtiOn between these three propositions, so that if anv two of them were trite the third would be false. Rut at the same time all three are essential :arts of most theological positions; the theologian, it ,ccrns, at once must adhere and cannot cowls/twilv adhere to all thr..,:." 3 If Mackie and other critics are right, then the dilemma lacing the theist is whether to retain his theistic position and the propositions that constitute it (and thus be saddled with a contradiction) or to relinquish one or more of the releymit propositions and thereby escape the contradiction). To embrace a contridicHon is irrational, but to swicilcr an■ key theistic belief is to abandon standard tilt:ism. Two centuries ago, David Hume (following IThicurus) posed the difficulty with stark clarity: "Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not v Ming? Then he is male\ ()lent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?" 4 Or consider H. J. McCloskey's succinct statement: "The problem of evil is a very simple one to stare. ['here is evil in the world; yet the world is said to be the creation of a good and omnipotent God. How is this possible? Surely a good omnipotent God would have made a world free of evil of any kind." 5 Similar expressions of the logical problem arc abundant in the philosophical literature. If we isolate for closer inspection the propositions that critics commonly h:‘\ e in mind, we get the following list of propositions: (1) God exists; (2) God is all-powerful; (3) God is all-good; (4) God is all-knowing; (5) Evil exists. The set of beliefs (1)—(4) is what Rowe calls "restricted theism," a position that the theist, by virtue of being a theist, must accept. However, the typical theist also accepts (5 as an element in his overall position. The critic, then, maintains that the set (1)—(5) is logically inconsistent.
771 1 I ,
0.1 7,611
Pvolilein
of Evil
19
The Structure and Strategy of the Argument Before embarking on a complete discussion of the logical argument from evil, it is helpful to review the general concept of incinisistenci or coniradiction. 6 Actualh, there are several types of contradiction to consider. One type is a certain kind of proposition—a conjunctive proposition in which one conjunct is the denial or negation of the other conjunct. Consider the following proposition: (6)
Socrates is mortal., and it is take that Socrates is mortal.
The first conjunct (Socrates is mortal) and the second conjunct (it is false that Socrates is mortal) cannot both be true. Wham e have here is an ra.p.iicit 00111rridiCI The prONC111, Or 011 that one who asserts a contradiction
cannot he ad\ ancing a position that is compktelr true, By me th o ds found in any elementary tc\t on logic, we can 1nov I nit a contra,
diction is a proposition that is necessarily false. Interestingly. kiìuina the actual truth or falsity of the conjunk. ts in a contradictory proposi-
tion is not required in order to km iw that it suffcrs from inconsistency. Presumably, few people commit such flagrant errors in thinking. Nlacide speaks of a set of theistic propositions being inconsistent or containing a contradiction. 1>nt what does it mean ihr a set to be inconsistent or contradictory: We may say that a set of propositions is explicitly contradictory iC one of the members is the denial or negation of another member. For example. consider the fbllow ing set: (7) Socrates is mortal (8) It is false that Socrates is mortal. By conjoining these two propositi(ms, e e1 he I:uniliar L:ontradietion (6:1. ,\ set from witich such a
n i can he generated is
explicitly contradictory in the sense in glleinon.
in 111:111V cae
,
h(Mse1 cr, a set of pronositions is contradictory but
the el mtradietion is not obvious, not explicit. In these more difficult instanees, the charge of ihconsistency can still be made to stick if ordinary rules of tOrmal can be used to deduce a contradiction! Let us develop an example to show how this works. Call the following set
A:
The I ojfic1f7P;.0:5701/ or Tvii
20
(9) If all men arc mortal, then Socrates is mortal (10) All men are mortal (8) It is false that Socrates is mortal. Using the logical rule moth's poneus (if p, then q; p; thcref ire q), we can deduce (7) Socrates is mortal from (9) and (10). Proposition (7) is logically inconsistent u it It (8). Since it is not possible k r propositions 7) and (8) both to be trilL:. at the same time; the set from which they are draw it is contradictory. We shall say that set A istbriun/Ivroniradicriny because we can ded uce an e \Then contradiction from its member propositions by the ia S 01 ' f0311 -1,11 ..\:11111 1,10.11V, u Cum*
propositions is a of a inconsistent set simplified one; seldom do such casv cases occur in ordinary lire. In fact, the propositions that torn! an inconsistency in an oppiment's position are sometimes not stated at all. So, the critic is faced with the double task of first producing all of the relevant unstated propositions and then drawing out the contradiction from the fully articulated position. In such cases, the sets of propositions in question arc implicitly
eon toydictory, 1.or third example, let us reflect on the following propositions as
forming an implicitly contradictory set: (11) Socrates is older than Plato (12) Plato is older than Aristotle (13) Socrates is not older than Aristotle. This stn.—which I w dl designate B is nut e plicitly contradictor\ ; it is also not formally contradictory. We cJIltlot use the laws of logic to deduce the denial of any of these propositions from the others. Vet there is an irciportant sense in which set B is inconsistent or contradiet(wy. 'Plat is, it is ;Rd possib/c that its three members are all true. Now it is 1/(iISS177711"tilli' that (14)
If Socrates is older than Plato, and Plato is older than Aristotle, then Socrates is °icier than Aristotle.
me T.T7ical P;'011relli
1-:'11
If we add (14) to B, w e get a set that is formally contradict+ wv. Employing the laws of fOrmal logic, (11), (12), and (14) yield thc denial of (13). Now we have succeeded in making the implicit contradiction explicit. We were able to deduce the contradiction in this set because \ye' employed an additional proposition that is accessariir true. There are actually differentvarieties of mecssary truth. The truth of some propositions —such as (15) below —can be established by the laws of logic alone.
(15)
If all men arc mortal and Socrates is a man, then Socrates is mortal.
This CNpreSSeti truth of logic. Yet the truths of arithmetic and taathciratics generally are also necessarily true, such as (16) 2 +2 = 4. Furthermore, there are many propositions that are n,:ither truths of logic nor truths of mathematics but arc nonetheless necessarily true, such as (14). A few more examples of this type of necessary truth would be (17 Bachelors are unmarried Indies (18 Plue is a color (19) No numbers arc horses. Let us call the ty pe of necessity with which we are dealing here broad1). ntrs.vity. There is a correlative kind of possibilit\ as well: A proposition p is possibly true (in the broadh logical sense) just in case its negation or denial is not necessarily true in rhat same broadly logical sense). Necessit and possibility in the broadly1()gical sense must he distinguished fnmi another sense of necessity and possibilit\ . That other sense is (awn/ or uatural necessity and possibility. For instance, (20) Michael Jordan has leapt over the Sears Tower. is a proposition that is possibly true in our sense of broadly possibilin. Yet in the sense of causal or natural possibility, it is not
22
The 1 02fit'ff71); o!ilrili of Tvi .
.
d,, not have possible at all. Human beings even great athletes the physical endowments required for such a feat. There are a number of propositions, furthermore, about which it is difficult to say whether they are or arc not pc)ssible in the broadly logical sense, thus giving rise to philosophical controversy. For example, is it possible for a person to gist H a disembodied state? ‘Vithout attempLing to settle the more subtle philosophical problems liirking in this area, we now are in a good position to dcline cow radid ory: what it means for a set of propositions to be A set S o propositions is implicitly contradictory if ilicre is a necessary proposition p such that the conjunction of p with S contradictory set. '11ternatively, w e might say: S is impliettiv contradictory ilt here is Nk nue necessarily true proposition p such th.0 111' ing just the laws ot logic we can deduce an explicit contradiction from p t()geLlier w ith the members i ii S, Now that ■■c have defined the concept ol nulicitcontradiction, \■ are in a positi Hi to understand How Mackie frames up the logical at gument from oil. I Iis atheistic challenge is (.‘,-,entially that theism is a system of:inconsistent beliefs that is, that a contradiction can be deri‘ cd from central theistic propositions about God and evil. However, the contradiction is not an explicit one. In addition, it does not appear that a formal contradiction can he deduced from basic theistic propositions. So, Mackie and other critics who make this argument arc faced with the task of supplementing the basic propositions of theism with one or more necessary truths in order to deduce the fatal contradiction. In fact, Maddc's strategy is to specify additional propositions that relate to he meanings of key terms used in the original set of thvistic propositions: ,
,
-
The contradiction does not arise immediately; to show it 1/4\ C need some additional premises, or perhaps some quasi logical rules connecting the icons "good," and "omnipotent." 1 he additional principles are that good is opposed to evil, in such a wa• that a good thing akays eJiiiiinnes evil as liar as it can, and than here are no limn., 10 who': on omnipotent thing can do. From these itollows that a go o d oniiiipot c ut thing eliminates es, il completely, and then the propositions that a good omnipotent thilT C 1S an d ih a l coil incompmihic .
,
Here we have Mackie's way of generating the contradiction. In the vigorous debate that surrounded the logieal problem, critics typically used supplemental propositions from the following list:
The Lot
Problem of Evil
23
(1') God is a real being independent from the world (2') An omnipotent being can bring about any logically possible state of affairs (3') A wholly good being is opposed to evil and tries to elimi nate it as far as it can (4') An omniscient being knows everything that it is logically possible to know (5') The existence of evil is not logically necessary. One can readily see how each proposition here defines or extends the meanings of central theistic claims. The atheistic critic maintains that propositions such as these, together with the original set of theistic propositions, generate a contradiction. Other supplemental propositions become relevant as we consider the several distinct versions of the logical problem.
Versions of the Logical Argument The atheistic critic's basic strategy is to demonstrate how the essential theistic claims are implicitly contradictory. And these critics have not differed significantly over the set of theistic claims that contains the contradiction. As we saw above, the following set is frequently cited: (1) God exists; (2) God is omnipotent; (3) God is omniscient; (4) God is wholly good. (5) Evil exists. For brevity and clarity, let us abbreviate the theistic position expressed by propositions (1)—(4) in one complex proposition: (G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God exists. Any question about (G) is equivalent, then, to a question about one or more of the propositions that are incorporated into it. Our subsequent analysis will focus on the issue between those atheists who advance the charge of inconsistency and those theists who refuse to give up (G) or any of its constituent propositions in order to escape the charge. Such defenders (pant's as true theists, whereas those who re-
24
The f ofiicif
1'; .
0:571
-
11/
of
linquish or modify (G) are actually quasi-theists 9 110in \ Q. shall discuss in Chapter 6. Actually, there arc three distinct versions of the h)gical problem of evil, with each version being determined by exactly which pr , position about evil it employs. As we have seen, many critics (Flume, Mackie, McCloskey, and others) take the belief in the existence olcN pressed in proposition (5) above—to Corm an inconsistent set when conjoined with set (1)–(4). And clearly, this i6nin Wu ion of the problem has been the most NN kid) discussed. ilowever, other critics do not believe that the inconsistency arises ,\ licn some proposition about the sheer existence of evil is added to the se l or propositions (1)–(4). Instead, they hold that the more important lo u lcal problem of evil is formed by adding to (I )–(4) some proposition about the great extent and prolUsion 01 cxi. Plantinga recogni/es that this second tOrmulation of th.e problem is open to the critic \\ ho ould say that "God's existence is not consistent NN ith the Nast amonut and rno1•11 evil the universe actually contains." 10 A third \ ersion of the logical problem, a version that does not focus either on the sheer existence of t cw critics. 1 crcnCe evil or on its profusion, has been raised by Penelhum, tOr example, insists that it is logically inconsistent tOr a theist to admit the existence of a pointless evil." 11 The critic raising this version of the logical argument assumes th,-,r, the theist believes both that God exists and that pointless evil exists. We may now distinguish three versions of the logical argument from evil, depending on which pr,>blematic belief about evil the critic attributes to theism. The critic can Col - mutate an argument to the el-feet that (G) is inconsistent with any on( of the three propositions below: .
.
(E 1 ) Evil exists; (E0) Large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions of evil CNici (F3) Gratuitous or pciint less evil exists. Whcil conjoined c‘ ith ( (3), each of the prccedinp; propositi,ffis det e rmines a different fi)rmulation or version of the logical problem. Let us develop a helpful taxonmm of the logical problem, as presented in Figure 2.1. All three versions of this argument here are exactIN the same in having a purely deductive structure and a strategy of denying an implicit contradiction.
51'
0.1 7,611 P; 01/11vii of .
Evil
5
1.1(iLKE 2.1 Versions of the Logical Argument from F ti I
is ino insistent with
is inconsistent with
Since Version I is death the most influential and most 15 'kid% discussed formulation, we shall treat it as the paradigmatic \ersion of the logical problem oli!Ail and zke ii close attention. Besides, most of he inak sis of Version I applies mittatis mittandis to Versions II and III Hie essence of Version I is that the theist b e l i eves u, the ex i s t e n c e
and reek ant perfections of God, on the one hand, and that tlierc oil the other. The atheistic critic understands this set n beliefs to be implicitly contradi, ton.. Casting the ditlicultv in ternIs iri the preci s e propositions in\ ed, ha‘ c the fothming logical situation. The theist is officiailv committed to .
(G) An omnipotent, omniscient, ‘vholly good God exists as \yell as to (E 1 ) Evil exists. Lim\ er, it appears to the atheistic critic that proposition (U), when supplemented b % the appropriate necessan propositions, entails .
(—E 1 ) Evil does not exist. No\\ if GLb ws entail (-1:4 ), then the theist is unv,itt inglv owninit and ( -T 1 '1 . This mckans that his beliefs arc inconsistent because both ) and (--F finurc into his theological position. In order to \ indicate himsellrationallk, the theist must clarii■ iiid reconcile the propositions that supposedly generate the elntradiction. It is commonly agreed that the allencd contradiction is not immediately forth, oming from propositions ;6 ) and F 1 ). So, the critic must invoke the strategy previously explained tOr exposing implicit contradictions that is, she must add certain propositions to (U) and ted to both l
26
Thr Temical Problem of 'Evil
(E 1 ). Let us rex iev, a representative selection of auxilian propositions often cited b\ the atheistic critic: (1.1.) God is a real being transcendent ii.ont the \\ orld (2.1) God can bring about an\ logicalh possible state of affairs, including the elimination of evil G;);..1 kii■ms e\ en thing that it is possible to know, inelud incr,11,) , , to eliminate evil (4.1) God ahNays seeks to promote good and eliminate evil (5.1) The existence of evil is not a logically necessary state of affairs. , ,
Now, from (G), together with
)-(5. ), it fbllows that
(—El ) Evil does not exist, a conclusion that clearly contradicts (E1 ). At this point, the atheist seems to have made good her charge of inconsistency by deriving from the theist's position two logically incompatible propositions: and (—E1). Oh\ iouslv, by the law of noncontradiction, these IN\ 0 propositions cannot PI 11) be Irmo at the same time and the sense. I rellee, anyone holding both propositions is irrational. The reasoning behihd this indictment is not hard to grasp and resembles the third example abo\ e, in which unstated bc.kliefi 14 had to be supplied w order to set up the contradiction. Theists say that God exists and has a definite character, it is natural to presume that God's character can be used as a basis ti.ir explaining (and perhaps predicting) his actions, even actions related to evil in the world. For present purposes, this means that the terms in proposition (G) have spcciti able meanings that can be delineated in additional propositions such as (1.1) l.4.1). l'urthermore, there is no logical necessity that evil ex ist, as indlCatCd by (5.11. From (16 teq.r..ether with I I.1)--(5.1) ) it is a fairly elementary exercise in deductive logic to derive (—E 1 ) Evil does not exist. Yet evil does ...xist„ind its existence is reCOgillled by the typical theist: ,
(F 1 )
Evil exists.
5 1 ' T 0 7,611 P; 01/lein of Evil .
.
The elassical logical problem as represented by Version I is thus lOrgk.sti. This is the kind of case that AIackie and many other atheistic critics artiailate. Other propositions would have to be stated in order to forge VL r sions II and III. Iror instance, a proposition much like the followin!_r. would he needed in Version II: (4.2) God's goodness \\ ould seek to prevent or eliminate large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions of evil. Something like (4.3) God's goodness W o u 1,d. not allov, gratuitous or pointless evil to exist. ss old(' be needed to articulate full\ Version III. But We need not pursue discussion of these ersions here. The, strategy is the same tbr all ersions ot the loieaJ problem o: k's il. The atheistic critic dens es a contradiction from a set of propositions that the theist allegedly accepts. How shall the theist respond?
The Burden of Proof In assessing the state of :he debate between the theist and the atheistic critic, it is helpful to review how the logical problem of evil devel. ops. t heist holds st el Of hclieR. and the critic claims that the are inconsistent. This places the initial burden on the critic 1() stale the inconsistenc , to draw it out, to make it ohs ions. The critic's strategy, then, is :o attempt :o :.t,CileraCC a cow Lidiction from a designaftd sc.'t of the theisCs behek. Otherssise, II would not be possible to make the atAusation that the theist's behetS arc inconsistent Once the critic has made the opening foray, the theist must rk.vond by shossinl . \\ hat is ss Fong ss ith the critic's case. Consider Version I of the 1()gical problem of oil, which we have chosen as a model. Here the critic maintains that the theist holds contradictory beliefs, (G) and ( E l ). In order to bring this contradiction to light, the critic must shoat that (G) ultimately entails (—E 1 ). If the critic can do this, she will thereby show that the theist's position in,
i/u I qiiicif7P; 0:57171/ of
28
.
volves both (F, A ) and (–E 1 ), the belief that evil exists as w ell as the belief that evil does not exist. This is a plain contradiction. For Version II, the critic's strategy would he similar. She would need to deduce two propositHns from theistic commitments: one stating that there are amounts, kinds, and distributions of evil that God would not allow and one indicating that those amounts, kinds, and distributions exist. 1 his would constitute a c nitrad iCti(111. l'Or VCI SiOn III, the required atheistic stirategy is now guile familiar. It must be proved that the theisti.s contmitted to the belief that God would not allow gratuitous evil am/ to the beliefthat grat !nous evil exists—again, two contradictory beliefs. The significance of the charge of logical inconsistency is not difficult to etnlipadleild. Two propositions that are inconsistent cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense, such as -
-
1 ) Kant is a great philosopher and (22) It is not the case that Kantis a great philosopher. Any position involving such a contradiction, then, cannot he x1 11011y true. In the issue over God and evil, the critic declares that it is not possible h it' both (G) and some ( rop rnou to be true and yet that, on sonic grounds or other, the theist is committed to both. Although the burden of deducing a contradiction from theistic beliefs rests squarely on the shoulders ()Hie atheistic critic, Alvin Planting.' has correctly stated the conditions hat any critic must meet: "To make ‘,....,(H)d his claim the atheologian tns provide some proposition IA is ci tiuei' necessarily true, or essential to theism, or a logical k.onsequences of such propositions.Ll Clearly, there is no lo12,ical problem for the theist if he is not committed to each proposition in the set or if the set does not really entail a contradiction. It the critic uses an additional proposition that is necessarily true, then the theist MU St accept it because it must be accepted by all rati(mal pot*. If
the additional proposition is essential to any theistic position, then the theist must accept it by int c of being a theist. And of course, the theist must accept any logical consequence of his propositions as well. The critic's aim is to show that it is not possible that both (G) and (E 1 ) be true. If she can come up with an additional proposition or
29
i5c I 0.1 7,611 P; olilein 0,r Evil .
set of propositions that the theist must accept and derive a contradiction from it together N\ ith the other rele\ ant theistic propositions, the theist is in serious trouNe. Theist ie defenders, such as flamingo, maintain that it is en winously difficult to come up \\ :di a proposition that meets the conditions of being necessarily true, essential to theism, or a lt,gical consequence of such propositions. On these grounds alone, theists mav argue that it is far from clear that it is not possible for both (G) and (F. 1 ) to he true. Extendingthe theistic response further, Plantitiiza pioneered a method for showing that it is possible for both („t ; and (E 1 ) to be true—a method that can presttinably be used against the chaige of incon,istency aimed at (C) and any F like proposition. Succeeding at this task is equivalent to dein.in the elaim made by Mackie and others that it is not possible for both tt,it and (I' : t to be true. According to Plantinga, the theist need not show that both propositions are in fact true in order to rebut the critic's charge. Rebutting 'tile charge of inconsistency relies on making, some line distinctions in the ineanity:s of key theistic terms I e.g., omnipotence) and then on supplying addin is that reflect a possible nnderstanding Of a theistic tional to, orld‘iew. These math:met . directly challenge the critic's auxiliary definitions and tlaus blt,ck her ability to deduce a contradiction from theistic beliefs. Chapter tt't, I embark on a full scale discussion of what flamingo and other theists have done tu defend against Version I of the logical problem of evil. I particularly liens 4)1i a contemporary theistic re sponse known as the I:ree Will Defense, which has already become classic. Howe\ Cr. I will first brieth rehearse some oft he basic trity% es that theists can make to defend against Versions II and although these ersiuns, unlike Version I. 1.111e not attracted widespread interest. In addressing the challenge posed H Version II theists have maintained that critics ha a not suaecssiiilly shown belief in God to impl\ that he would unit the' c\ il in the world to manageable amounts, kinds, and distributions, "I heists can construe divine goodness„ power, and knowledge as able to allow very large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions of evil, God 'night do rids for a number of different reasons: fin example, to presen.e a wide range of free human choices or to allow the regular operation of impersonal natural objects. Theists taking this line in effect argue that they need not accept some of the additional propositions that critics use to deduce a contradiction from key theistic beliefs. So, it is not clear that ,
.
,
-
-
The /02fit'ff7P;.,),', h71/
30
,
critics can establish that theists hold beliefs that imply both that God limits the amounts, kinds, and distributions of evil and that those limits have been exceeded. 'Theists who respond to Version III grapple with the charge that they arc CO] mnittcd to the pr i position that God would not allow gratuitous evil, as welt as the proposition that gratuiums evil exists. The working assumption of the atheistic critic here is that theism recognizes the existence ol very severe evils ati long a i hey have some point or meaning. I lime\ er, certain stock responses suffice to reline the critic's lormulation Ir versi(m In. The theist can 1. 11:c a yen,. tradtional approach ancl argue that he is not really committed to L)— that is, that he does not believe that gratuitous or pointless oils e He can argue that his position neCcssil,Iles that all evils, no matter how ScVerc, 111LISI be or justified. Many theists understand their position in precisely this way. The theist who has this orientation might e'en venture some explanaiion or ralige ol explanations designed to cover particularly troublesome oils. Sonic theists, however, construe their position differently and actually accept These theists must take a different tack, then, in &tending against \••ersion III of the logical problem. ihey can seek to point out that the additional assumptions that the critic ciripkws to derive the contradiction such as (4.3) are neither essential to theism nor necessarily true. Since this line of discussion is very rare in the philosophical literature on the logical problem of evil, I will wait to analyze it fully until Chapter 5, where it surfaces in relation to the evidential problem. We can now see that the issue beibre its turns on the ability of crit • ics, on the one hand, to show that theists must accept all of the propositions they use to deduce a com radicii,n and on the ability of theists, on the other hand, to show that they need not accept all of them. The only apprt yriate grounds for insisting that theists must acc e pt the propositi o ns ar e that they ,ire either [rue, essential tc.) tiltskill, Or .1 CollSek1llCilt7k7 of such plonoSitionN. I Li s ing framed the debate in this manner, I must note that an impressive number of critics have been convinced that serious logical difficulties exist for thei sm , a n d they ha \ e lab o red vigorously to bring them to light. Likewise, there arc a n111111)0' of theists who have taken seriously the matter of logical inconsistency and have worked diligently to defend against such attacks. At present, there is a large consensus that theistic maneuvers have been very effective and that the burden still rests on the shoulders of the critic to produce the contradiction. In the next -
-
T. 01 7ical Pvolilein of Evil
31
chapter, I wifi turn to the line of debate in the philosophical literature that is widely thought to support this sentiment. Notes
1. The Col:owing yorks employ these din - ere:1i labels Tor: the proble-i Willi am R ime , Au betnninctiou Encino and BelDickenson. 1978i. pp. 80-86; Mich,iel 1... Peterson, "Christi.in mom 11)1'0/T71471i Sui. / Theism and the Problem ofEi. A ,Study cry 21 1.1978): 33-46; and Alvin i1.1:11in, -
God (Ithaci: CeriicH
Tir!t loam' histiticiitio7; of Mitf 19o7 p. 28.
-
Pros.,
2.1. 1.. laelue, "1.5 ii an,.! Omnipotence," .1/imi 64 /1955): 200. 3. Ibid. ed. Henry D. 4, D,wid Hume, DiahwhYs Co mu iling Nattn711 -
Aiken (Ne,
Licner,
p, 66,
5. H. J. :\ 1i- ea isko. "The Pyobleui of Evil; ;an Rill:aim: 30 (1962 187. e\po.sition. See Ius 6.1 vsiH itfltsv Plantinga's discussion I hrow.i.hi Goff. EriirGrand Rapids, Micl..: 1-ierdmans, 1977). pp. 12-24. 7. lrvtnc. \ Copi and Carl Cohen. ha 1011, (iingicwood lift, N.J.: h niltCc Jail, 1998i, IT 342-391. 8. Mackie, "1i‘il )111:Upon:nee," p. 2u1) 9, Ibis terminology - is borrowed Irom Edwa r d. M a dd en an d Peter H are , need, Ill.: Charles ( I. Thomas, 1968), 115:. of' Grid chap. 6, pp. 104 136 . 10. Fru, p, 55, Ai m ) ser remarks in his The iO\Cord: iarend,w 1yc.s , 1 9 141., p1 , . 190-4 9 1. (I "I)\ 11. "I erenct: „Ind the Problan of Evil," in 1/en11/10'Y in the 11.410.l. ,..c ed. Baruch Preniei—I Lill. 19,7 4), p.226. BroilsI Englewood 12, 111.intinl:iii. God a /;d ();h';• p. 117. .
Suggested Readings Adai.:1,.. Marilyn Ni.„Ind Robert M. Adams. 'IN Proldcaii Lril. New York: Oxhird University Press, 1990, Ahern, .\ I. B. Probliiin or Fri!. Ness Seht1eken 114 1 0kS, 1 9 71. II , CIF„ John S. 715( .1.taiiy.Facc.c of I.:1'U.: 7 Licidodica I SV.kt(iliSfl NJ/ inc 2nd ed. Grand Zonderv,in: 1991. HoN. Anu 71.y. "Divine Omnipotence and Human l'reediim. nal 53 (January 1955): 135-144.
Tim if ofiit'ff7P:..../,', h in
32
,
-
ainitridge Gale, Richard.. On the Itinin ii ami Evi,vic nec Unlyersily Press, 1991, Mackie, J. L. "Evil and Omnipotence." Mimi 64 (19:55): 200. "The Probleir or l:\ il." In The Miridrt' theism. OxfOrd -. Clarendon Press, 1982. McCloskey, I 1. I. Goil anif trii. The Hague: liiiis Nithorl, 19: 7 4. (-4 11S1 2 .a fin ) 18 (July Peterson, MicItaL:. "Evil and Inconsistency." 197)): ?0 Peterson, ed. lbe Problem II l u ll: ,cli. creti Rcaiiiiip. Notre Dame.7,1. University of Notre paint' Press, 1992. Nlt :hacl, William Haskcc, Brucc an‘i Basinger. -
-
,
Relief: All 1711- 1'171111Ct101! l0 the Phibis0/41-; 1998, cii d p. 0, pp. 110 145. God anal ()Limi. 1I7ne:1.e .1 Stnaly of the 1■15/1011171 Ir li.V11111.717147111 Plant PI,:s, 1907 BC11 C1 in GULL 1111dia: ( ..01 . 11eli 1O. 1 1ion, aim! Evil. and Rapids, LA:film...His, 1977. 21d cd.
.
NCN't
YUI
k: Oxluid Uijcisitv Press,
.
, 'the larcp:don Press. 197. - Which 'Worlds. (audit (lc.d1lave a . cated?" ji/m-n i Philosdpig 70 (1973: 539 552. Britec. "The Deductive Argument rrom I vil." .Nopifia .1pri: 1981): 25-42. 1::77JT..d G',iod God. Ness York: Pordham I:Myers:1.y Press, 1982.
The Function of Defense
Just as we have eassiticd the two major \ ersions of the problem of evil into the hijrical and cridential formuhlions. we may also classif‘ the two main responses to the problem as fiqi..n.q and rbiOdiry. The Jill) of defense is to show that antitheistic arguments front evil—either logical or evidential—are not successful on their o' it terms. The general aim of theodicy, by comrast, is to give p(tsiti\ e, plausible reasons for the existence of evil in a theistic uni\ erse. Defense has come to be the theistic strategy most closely associated with discussions of the logical formul,Iton of the problem of evil. whereas thcodii..-v has come to be associated with the idential lOrmulation. Much controversy has arisen over the relative need for defense and thcodicy, and we shall later see how these differences play out in the literature on God and evil.
The Free Will Defense The present task is to review anti L-s'aluatc a very fascinating-, and instructik e part the debate over the logical problem. Takift,2, Version I of the logical problem of evil as a point of departure, Alvin Plantinga developed a response that has now come to he km mu as the Free Will Defense. Plantina's famous Free Will Defense was produced in both 1967 and 1974 renditions) Since the later rendition h isticared ideas in tOrmal locic. I exploits the mo .-4 current and will use it as the basis for the present discussion. As we have seen, philosophers such as J. L. Mackie have charged that it is logically inconsistent for a theist to believe that .
.
33
The FThavioo or Difisa
34
(G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God exists and that (E l ) Evil exists. This accusation is tantamount to claiming that it is not possible for both propositi(ms to be true together—that the conjunction of (G) and (E 1 ) is necessarily false. The critics' strategy is to try to produce a proposition that is at least plausibly thought to be necessarily true and whose conjunction u 1 h our original two propositions formally yields a contradiction. Defenders insist that critics haN c neeproduced a plausible candidate for this role. In fact, man x theists thr(mgli the cenkiries --perhaps inspired most notably by Augustine have thought that the theme irce \\ill pro\ id4..ss a basis for rejecting We critics' charge that Cod and evil are incompatible. Although full discussion. St. kugustine's view or oil appears in Chapter (1, I must II( )Ic here his emphasis on di x inclv created freewill: w...: "If man is a stood. and cannot act rightly unless he wills to do so, then he must has e tree will, without which he can not act rightly. We must not believe that God gave us free will so that we might sin, just because sin is cthmnitted through free xNill." 2 The point is that our humanity is of great value and that free Nyill is necessary to our humanity. Human beings have moral significance because we have the ability to make choices that arc morally riOn or wrong. Yet God cannot give us the power to make morally right choices without gix ing us the power to make. morall) wrong ones as w ell. So, in order to hake the good of humanity itself as well as the good choices that humanity might make, God must permit evil. Many theists through the ceniuries have found St. Augustine's reasoning on this matter Cr \ :\lsin Pl•mtiE4 2- 1 \\ efl known for aPPIvill:4 ibis line of reasoning scr specific manner to the precise way in which the charge of inconsisten,..-y 55 as formulated. .\47.ainsi the logical problem, he crafts a defense. t.inlike .\ugustine's discussion, w Inch affirms the reality of creaturely free syu Plantinga's discussion turns on the pure logical possibility of such. As Plantinga recognizes, the success of die defense hinges m a certain understanding of what is meant by a person's being free with resprct to an action. For the Free Will Defender, it a person is free with respect to an action, then he is free either to perform or to .
,
Plc
oft)t?.:Jsc
35
refrain from the action. No causal laws and antecedent conditions detertnine that he will perform or not perform the action. In other Words, at the time in question, it is within the pc son's power to perform the action and within his power to refrain from perioyming the action. What it meatis tbr a person 10/70 ;prong ?pith respect to i/!:orolly actioil is for it to be \\Tong tbr him to perform it and he does or wrong for him no to and he does not. According to Plantinga, a preliminary statement ofthe Frec Wilt De tense ks as 1(fli(ro A world containing significant:I\ tree ( Natures ho can freely choose between ;..!,( )0d and evii) is more ‘aluable. all other things being equal, than a \\ orld containing no free creatures hatsoe■er. God, of course, can create five creatures, but then he cannot ri?If.q. ()I' deirifithiC that. ihC1 01115: ril..2.1.11 all ions. Doing this w ( mi ld preempt th e ir si g nifica n t freedom. I lence, th er e is no w ..0; or God to create creatures apahlc 01 flit ifgood without thereby creat ing creatures capable ot iroral esil. Com erseh, God cannot t he possibility °In-loyal e\ ithout eliminating the possibility lmoral good. 'Fite tact, then, that ,oine creatures have gone wrong in the exercise of their freedom since the dawn of creation does not count against God's omnipotence or goodness. Hayitu „ gained a sense of this per spective, %NC Inay now state the central claim of the free Will Defense: It is possible that God could not have created a uni\ c: se containing moral good (or as much moral good as this one contains) without cre ating one containing moral evil. ,
-
,
,
,
The Compatibilist Position Critics, of c,)urse„':re not unfamiliar with the recurring theme of five Will in much theistic thought.Anton \ Flew and J. L. lackie raised a
\ cry important objection to the Free Will 1)eii.mse that had to he met helbre the deli:use could be totally eltective. The objection resin the claim that it is logicalk possible that there could be a world tontaining signilicanth tree beings who always do what is right. Since there is 110 oflitradietioil or ileollsiStelliV in this claim, it Ulealls that there are possible worlds containing moral good but no moral e\il. Since God is omnipotent and thus can bring about any logically possible state (d" affairs God must be able to create a world eontaiiiMg moral good but no moral e\ il. In other Nvords, God might ha e made people so that they always freely do the right thing. As lien ex presses it, If there is no contradiction here then Omnipotence might -
ornefriise
36
have made a world inhabited bv wholly virtuous people.".' If this is so, then, as Flew says, the Free Will Defense is broken kicked," and "we are back again with the original intractable .11itinomv." 4 Flew is not alone in voicing this line of reasoning. Mackie puts it forthrightly: If God bac made men such that in their free choices they sometimes pr e l'er wh,iis good and s, an u nm e s w hat is evil, why could he not have made men such 01;tt thei ,11;■ays Iroiy ehoos ic rood? If there is no logical impossibility :!1 a man's freciv choosing the gclod (III one, or on several occasions, there cannot be a logical impossihilih in his freely choosing the good on e‘ cc\ occasion. God was not, then, 1:iced ii ith a choice between making innocent antomari Ncii112,s \\ io , in acting freely, would sonic :Ines go tong: there \\ as ()pen to him the obviously better possibility or mal:ing beings who iii ud act Ircelv but always go right, Clearly, his failure to avail himself of this possibility is inconsistent NAilh his being both ornnipoicin and wholly g ood. :
,
The position championed here is known as compatibilism. It is the view that freedom and determinism even di inc determinism are compatible. Put another way, the compatibilists' point is that the proposition (23) God brings it about that human beings always choose what is right is logically consistent with the proposition (24) human beings have free choice. This position dirccly opposes the Free Will Defense, k‘hich, as we have already seen, relies on an ill(01/1/117/1biliSt pusir ion: the \joy that (23) and (24) ,Ire 1041C,ItiV i114.7tHiSiStCtIt. As %1 c v mId C \pCkl, the controversy bet ten Free Will Defenders and critics historically rev dyed tround the issue i d \ key concepts such as omnipotence and tic‘‘ill should be 1111lICISIA>od. Although the Free Will Defender may agree with critics that a v,orld in which all persons freely choose to do \\ hit is right i' indeed a possible world, he seeks to qualify our understandings of free i ill and omnipotence in a kNa\ that avoids the dilemma presented by time critic. Obviously, the critic here believes that an omnipotent deity can create just any
lop:kali\ possible world he selects. A 'holltf good the world that is best on the whole, awo rld that would surely &TIT' to be one in which everyone freely does what is right. At this point, we have come to the hotly contested claim that God could have created any possible world he pleased.' The defender counters c created just any possithat God, though omnipotent, could not bl e wo rld. At thi s point, we must pause to consider how Free Will Defenders have come to frame the iss•Jc of free will and omnipoi in terms of contemporary ideas about possible worlds,
The Incompatibilist Rejoinder Since 1 1311111114,1 is credited with first puttin,, the Free Will Defense in )
terms of the logit. of possible worlds, we will consider his \ indication ofincompatibilism. We may say that a possible w orld is a way tiungs ((mid have been, a total possible stale of affairs. .1inong states ()l at furs, some are actual, and some are not. For exampl e , the Kr y Wildcat' 11,7111 the "1 IP 'Yr basketbr7/1 Nf. T. /11. Dery is a state of affairs„isiti Viva/min Lincoln's itein,; the iirst p,-esidina 01,1-1) Howe\ cr, the former is actual, whereas rue latter is nk>r. Although the la:ter is not actual, it is still a possible state of affairs. Possible states of affairs n u ts', be distinguished from impossible ones, and impossible ones must be further distinguished. l',0111 B e th's h a rii,:g JP. pe,"est FL? fire ;ninnies /1,71 and John's hatrim squared the circle arc impossible states of atlairs. The Former is causally or nat uralh impossible; the latter is impossible in the broadh logical sense. A possible w ()rid, then, is a possible state of affairs in the sense that it is possible in the broadly sense. Although a possible world is a state olatfairs, not es cry slate of affairs is a possible world. "to has e the status ola possible w odd, a state of affairs must be eon / pic k-or maxilu i d. .tiociaies harina heel, evremed hv tIrliil.i7iif bendoel: is .1. possible state or aflairs, but it is not complete or inclusive em nigh to be a possible world. Completeness must now be defined..1 state of affairs intlitfiff state of afl tiirs is not possible that S obtain and S' fail to obtain. l.ikewise, the conjunctive state of attairs S /tut not S' is not possible, A state of af furs .' pit-hi/icy another state of at fairs S' if it. is Itot possible that both obtatty. In other words, S precludes 5' if the conjunctive state of affairs S and S is impossible. Now. a complete or ma\imal state of affairs that is, a possible world is one that either includes or precludes every other -
.
,
'
.
lhe Emir/ion Defrnse
38
state of affairs. It should be obvious that exactly one possible world is actual and that at most one possible world is actual. Corresponding to each possible world W, there is a set of proposi tions that we may call the hook on W. A proposition is in the hook oii W just in ease that state oF aftliirs to which it corresponds is included in W. We might express this idea aiternati\ clv as follows: A proposition P is t:'irc a world U if and only il l' worth/ have beivi 1:wr W hod bee'n actual it and only if it is not possible that IV is actual and P is false. The book em II; then, is the set of propositions true in W. Books, like worlds, are maximal or complete. A book on a world is a maximal consistent set of propositions. The addition of just one proposition to it alway s yields an explicitly inconsistent set. There is exactly one Nook for each possible world. Possible worlds possess simile interesting features. For example, a preposition p is possible if it is H Lie i .0 least one \\ orld and impossi He true in n()iic. ;\ proposition 1CCCSSO 1'V if it is true in all possiHe \N odds. Another tZ.‘ature of possible worlds is that persons as well as other things exist in them. Clearly, eah of us exists in the actual world, but we also exist in a great many worlds distinki from the actual world. These other worlds are simply possible but nt -tau-A. 8 To say that s(miething exists in a possible widd means that it would have existed had that world been actual. As w c begin to turn our thoughts back toward Gikl's relation to possible worlds, we must note that it would not be technically proper to say that God (reales any possible worlds or states of affairs. \\'hat God creates are the heavens, the earth, and so forth. In performing such actions as creating the heavens and the earth and all that they conlain, o. .:or example, God God brings about a multitude of statesf created Socrates, but he did not create the state (II affairs con s i s tin g in Socrates' existence. Strictly speaking, we in sti:t that (iod izentolizesa state of affairs, such ,is the state of affairs owsistang in Socrates e \is tencc. Accuracy, then, demands that we speak of G od a s possible w odd, w Inch is of cotars(' a total state of allatrs.'' Alter this brie! explanation of key ideas related to the logic fl'possi He worlds, we can in rov return to our oriwnal question: Cotild God ha\ e actualized just any possible world he chose? The seventeenthcentury German philosopher Gottfried Leibnif believed that it is within the scope of omnipotclice to bring about any possible world . 1 (' Flew and Mackie, moreover, have already argued that there are possi ble worlds containing moral good but no moral evil. We know' that -
-
Plc
39
\\ oriels form entirely consistent sets of proposithe books on tions. Furthermore, as Flew and Mackie insist, if divine omnipotence can bring about any logically possible state of affairs, even a complete possible world, then God must be able to bring about a world con taining moral good but no moral e‘il. Thus. G( id can make people so that they always lively do what is morally right. 'Hie Free 1\111 Defender responds that it is not 01-vious that God, though omnipotent, can bring about just ori , possible world he pleases. FA en grantiiia that God is .1 110. CSS.111 bein i.e., one that exi st , i n eve:., p ssiblc wor ld), no t e'en possiNe orld is such that God can actualize In worlds in v,hich the omnipotent God chi wises to create iree persons, we nillS1 remember that the ire,: acthose persons cannot be determined by causal la \N s and antions tecedent c(inditions. \U we broadh, if a person is tree vdth respect to an action A. then God does not brim; it ahmt Or C/Iii.■T it /0 be nh that she does .1 or FcCr..ii LIS tri tin doilli?" A. For if (.■0(.1 COUP'S i h be lb( case in any manner NN hat soever that the person either does .\ or does not do A, then that person is not really free. Plantinga dubs Hew and Mackie's contention "Lcibniz's Lapse." It is the contention that ,
-
-
-
-
(25) God, if omnipotent, could have actualized just any possible Nvorld he pleased. The Free Will Defender claims to the contrary that the following is possible: (26) God is omnipotent. and it was not within his power to bring about a world containing moral li s t wd but no moral evil. Plant ing,i takes lor granted that GO cannot actualize a state of alt:iirs including the existence of creatures who freely take some action or other; this would be strong actualiiation, Ile then considers wra.k ac tualifati(m, whik. 11 is all the critic really needs for his case, What is at issue, then, isWhether there isSOMething. God could ha'e done, sonic series of actions he c(mld ha\ c taken, such that if he had, a gix en possible world IV would has e been actual. Let us say that 11' contains moral good but no moral evil. To develop his case, Plantinga provides an argument based on the -
peculiar behavior of counterfactual conditionals. Rehearsing Plan-
40
17)e
ornefriise
tinga's own example, we may imagine Curley Smith, sometime mayor of Boston, who was offered a S35,000 bribe to allow a disputed freeway to be constructed. Suppose he accepted. Now, ponder: (27) If Curley had been offered 520,000, he would have ac cepted the bribe and (27.1) If ( :tide' had been offered $20,000, he would have rejected the bribe, Next. 'think Or the puNsible \\ odds that include the allleCistietil Si.11C
affairs consisting, in Cuilty's in.i7127 ortivni N20.000. .111:n think (if i\t() poy ;iblc w orlds, 1V and 11 s hich are i.ynetiv filikr up to the point in, tiThe when Curley responds to the bribe oiler. I ci us say that in TV Curley accepts the bribe, and in W*, Curley does not. Let us call the states of arfairs shared by Wand W* an initial world segment and even suppose that (.;od could actualize this initial world segment. If Curley accepts the bribe, then God could not have actualized lV if Curley rejects the bribe, then God could not have actualized IV. ,o. there is a possible \■orIt.1 TV* H. which Curley does not go wrong with respect to the bribe otter, but whether IV* is actual was partly up to Curley and not completely up to God. rhcrclorc, we have an instance of a possible world IV*. in this ease ........that God could not have brought about. Plant inga diagnoses (ItrIcyas sullering from what he calls tin' US jp0/1,1 de/wavily, a terrible malady. After deli ning e he concept of an ithiiriditid naliti• or t.c. e/it c as 1W set of all properties a person or thing possesses in ever\ possible world w here he or it exists, Plant inga claims that it is possible that ( essence suthrs 1-11 "" tr `" 15 ` " Id de r" 'Iv ' IC Slates: "If an essence L suffers from transw odd depravity, then it was not within G od'1/4; po we r t o actualize a possible w o rld II su,,:h that /: 0 mtains the properties is SOnilli.7771111' fiTC in IV -..11141 alniivs dOCS mi.M1 11101 ill W. "12 T lc then \ entities the further observation: It is possible that es cry creaturely essence es cry essence, including, the property of being created by God Slift+Th from transworld depravity. From this, it follows that it is possible that God could not have created a world containing moral good but no moral Oil. Now the Free Will IX:tender has made his case against the critics. He has argued that, although there are possible worlds containing ,
,
,
-
..
Pic
41
moral good but no moral evil, it is riot within God's power to bring them about. Although W* is possible, it is nor possible ror God to bring it about. This establishes that the Free Will Defender's claim that (26) God is omnipotent, and it was not within his power to bring about a world containing moral good but no moral oil is possible. Hence, leibniis Lapse—the claim that God, if omnipotent, can create any possible world—is false. The critic's ease rails. Fheisin has been defended. Fundament:11 to the Free Will Defender's case, of cot irse, is a certain understanding oi the metapHsics of freedom and its relation to di\ Me onmipotenee. 1 . l h I\e II1 neompatibilki u nderstanding of this matter ;an then defend theismlaii u mniu thet bring ing l Wt. a 1,1 orld containing moral good but no in 1-al k a L )0perati \ C ClltUrk.% It requires the uncoereed 0)11ilirICTICe tree creatures; it is not up to God alone. The power of an omnipotent God is limited by the freedom he confers upon his creatures, given that he chooses to create tree creatures at all.
The Current State of the Debate It is now Nvidely acknowledged that the Free Will Defense adequately rebuts the logical problem of evil. As it has turned out, atheistic critics made their best: case that the theistic helielS (G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God exists and (L 1 ) I
exists
are inconsistent. Theistic &lenders—Akin Plaminga, Keith Vanden, Stephen T. Davis, and others articulated and amplified the H- ce Defense to show that these belie :s are not inconsistent. Thus, Version I of the logical problem has been laid to rest. Version 11 in our taxonomy of the problem is based on the charge that the proposition
f unclioi t
42 (CI) An omnipotent, om n
ftust.
'holly gtnid (. , od exists
consistent with the proposition (F.') Large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing, distributions of evil exist. According to Plantinga„ the same type of defensive maneuver used against Version I applies to Version IL Focusing simply on the amount of moral evil, Plantinga recommends that the theistic defender argue that something like the following claim is possible: (28) God is omnipotent, and it \vas not within his power to brinia about a world containing as much moral , good and less moral Oil than this one. Again, the theistic defender here would need to employ the same basic assertions previously made in arguing against 'version I that God, th()lign omnipotent, cannot actualize a state of atfairs consisting in all
agent Lively doing wliat is right, that all creaturcly essences might suffer from transworld depravity, and so forth. .1 successful defense against Version H shows, in effect, that God's existence is compatible with the existence of as much evil as the real world does, in fact, coiltain, 14 In any event, the theistic defender's strategy against all versions of ogical problem is to show that the two key theistic beliefs in question are not inconsistent, that they arc logically compatible. This is not to say that he must show that they are both true. This would be too stning a requirement for the defender and inappropriate to the nature oft he issue. A kind of minimalist response is all that the purely logical problem ()C c\ !calk• requires: At cusations that theism is inconsistent can be met with ' indications 1 " ) " 1 "g It "; not. A s theists hay(' solidified their delensi\ c posit ion, they nave exposed oitt. (0 mo Collacies by critics w ho advance all\ version of the logical proNein olevil. It appears that critics either inJr the quesiion h selecting propositions to which the theist is not committed or our of context propositions to which the theists OR committed alid impute nt21\ meaning,s to then? that arc not fillyconnected \s tab the theists' n theolog,ical background bk.liefs. So, the critic 'night find a set of propositions that involve a logical omtradiction, but doing so is irrelevant unless the propositions genuinely represent theistic belief. .
-
ib l'uliction
T.) ..ftust 43 ,
-
In the final analysis, the logical problem of oil does r u t seem to be a promising a\ emit: of attack against Christian theism. 11 4 )nically, the atheistic challenger begins bv accusing the theist 4 )f committing a logical mistake and ends up embroiled in logical fallacies herself. Although Version I is by far the most popular tbrmulation of the prob lem, it appears no more ctlective than the other two fOrmulations. All of the tOrmulations of the argument arc now thought to exhibit eeltain syndromatic emirs. Admitting that the rice Will DeCcnse is successful but remaining convinced that a \ iable argurne:11 Cron) coil can still be mounted, some critics h.nc shined the attention to what we inn call the ex iden tial problem of e‘il. The\ mates that dctense against the logical probleM establishes that no claim about e\ il, conjoined with other key theistic beliefs, sets up an autoinatic contradiction. These critics maintain that, although evil tics not to ca l theism to be inconsistent, the facts of evil o)nstititte e‘idc.snoc against theism Using the language or possible \A orlds thinking, they admit that the Free Will I )c tense shows that there is at least one possible world in \\ hich the propositions "God exists and "evil exists are both true, nut they maintain that this dues not show that it is reasonable to think that God exists despite the evil in our world, the actual world. Interestingly, theists seeking; further understanding of the intellee tual commitments ot their faith have also considered \\ hailer rue log ical p:oblem expresses the (mils at i4 mai o)ncern related to God and cvii I lilts, thee also express strong interest in some ke.nd of evidential problem of evil. The next chapters arc devoted to analyzing the exact structure as wei!as the proper strategy for such a response. -
-
-
Notes 1. ..\1\ in Plantilv.a, God ;UM/ Odle?' .titiedv tlf thi. Thitional ;ion or Belief in Gad (1111,..,:a: ()men 1.niNcrsitv Pres. rn. 131-155, \1lpd: (...1 1 arendon Press, 197-I:. Plant ne,a, lb Natic .c Arft - c...- iliv
pp. 165 195,
Aura fleniamin and L. H. 1904 ;. bk. 2, chap. I, p. 36. int! Onininotcnkv and I linl)an Freedom, - in n i Fie \\ and Alasdair MacImyre iholloi, eds. (No\ Yor:: Nlacnidian, 1955), p, 1.19, 2. Augusiire, Ca F ,..t• Choir( .
FTlek , 31 \o.\ .\inonv Flew,
5. J. L. Alackic.., "Fsil and Omn4 0tence," Mind 64 (1955): 209. ,
Emici
44
.0efis;est.
Adams, Alust God Create the Best?" in 77.1e-
6. "Sec Rob» I
1.1myersity Oanle, el Notre Dame Press. 19()21, pp. 2J 2; in the same volume, aim) see Philip L. Quinn, God, Moral Perfection. and Pi tssible ‘Vorlds," pp. 2.89 302. ideas on the logic of possible 7. The classical It wallop: of . \Bin Ilk N'arltre of worlds and 1110111 ogle CItell in Note I. S. Blaiatniga, God, Freedih'il, ;lad 1:4 1/ !(.1'11■A kapids, Lei dinans, 1977), p. 39. 9. Th en.: a n... a mu ltit u d e o l thin gs th a t c\ lq but that o o d (?Cl not create. In addition 10 the [act that God has :101 created slates oiallairs., he has not created himsell or numbers, proposilions, propc ties„md so forth. These ha\ L. no beginnings. God's activity results in sortie states ( 0 at airs beint_..; or becoming, actual...See Plantinga., Nittiinr t.if:Veces41y p. 169. nit 10. Gottfried WIlhelna Vüll I .C11)1117., 11)(7H7V.171'; GthdPi',“ :\ustin 1-arrer, trans. the hit'd! 1111 rit Alai!" and thi fir 1P11. M. I Itiggard t London: Rodtledge & Kegan Paul. 1932 t, p. 127 129, I. From t point forward, we assume that (.id necessary and nor a contingent being, that God exists In all possible worlds.] he ..1110511011 bCti)ri. US, thieti. 15 whether God can actuali4e just any possiblc world that includes his existence. We Conow I iiJtis cit s cu,,i o n ‘ yhich St o ,-;ds God could ha\ e created, from his ,Njir;:r,:fir!Vec.. ssitt. , pp. 169-174. 12. Plantinga, God, 1rofnit,, awl Er/I, p. 33. 13. A complete statement of the Free Will ft:Cense would need to take into account all or the elements that Plantinga builds into it, such as a concept 01 essences„" fuller treatment of counterfactuals (it freedom, and SO fo rt h . SCC its pp. 17211. BI-. Man linkers, Hoth theists and their critics, have long accented the riniiple that 1.11i2/V al*C 110 Mriiii O7Cal limits 1.() 1\ hal an ()InflipOICIII Can di). in other words, Ciod has the a Hilly to bruw ; about my mirins i ro p v bit! state (dal:airs I i.e.„1 slate ()1 the descripion of which is not calis mconststent i God could bring about, tin- example, Mute polar bears and triangles 1 )ecause they are intrinsicallv possible, but he could not bring about married bachelors and square clicks because they arc intrinsically intpossIble. However. Plaminga revises the concept of oninmotence it I ajow for the tact that :her : are slates of alThirs that are possible iii thcni. chics t i.e.. int ritt,icalk but that are not posmble Gml Iii bring about..this poini depends to a propel understanding of the logic ot ccc will. If a person is sneer to art action, then Whel!li.'1" she performs or refrains from perlOrming nts t h at aiticni IS up 1 11 her, i•n k_tod, Although a , ,o111 Irceiv tb whm is [ iglu Is co tainiv pi ssible, it is mit a state of alias that 55a, 551(0.1) God's power to creates, all of tlte free creatures in that world would base to help bring it about by their own cc DC .V.!:Tiet1 Wittlimp , ed. Nlichad l'eterNon -
-
,
-
.
.
-
,
-
3
.
-
,
,
.
,
.
-
Li Tu
45 11NiStS eln (.ith:
:11: aCii.M1S
(dirce person. See
The Ni:.f.nrr .N.. rcessi pp . 190 191. Plant tins mat , see William Winoright, "'Free:1(1111 For a helpful i-scussion and Omnipotence," ..\ “us 2 (19O8): 239-301. -
Suggested Readings Adams, Robert .Al. "v1iddle kin in ledge and the Prohlem of EviI." 1 MCi7:7:77: (..)1Li: ,..h. t 1977:: 100 -117. -pkwi nga o n i he Probiem of FOL . ' in. cdiled by lames 'I( m11. -, et II and Peter van InN‘agen. Di ac . ccht: ReAel, 1985, , 225 2SF' Theism and the Free Will Defmie." Sophia IlasitT„et, 1)avid. "t. .
(Austi.n'ia 19 Ink 1980): Joitiwar "Detcrtninisni ...nd iI: Sonic larificAtioas." of Philm i:phy 60 t 1982 103 I (O. "DI\ 1c Onntisetence and the Pest or A11 Possible \\ of 1;:rine Lqz, i;7 16 ( 1982 143-148. Freedom anti 1)tvire Omnipotence: Sonic Nen Nrodics IF; 1979 r -1)1-510. on all ( )Li • In 'What Sense Must ( h Do His Best? A Philosaphi. of Rtl.;riimi 18 (1985 161 161. • God (lreate the Rest Possible World? A ReToni,e. -
,
.
-
Onartz.riv 20 :1980;: 339-342.
CiitHil.in Mich:lei I.."The lerce Will 1)etensc and Natural Faal." InynnRci"oion 20 ( 1986): 93-108. Pifinnopijv tiwari Delensc.- Oak', Ric:11,1H. "Freedom and the Frci:. Inc‘ny and 1990:. 397 123. Pnnd , ( .h! lift .\oni; c :Ned Ixi.crcnc- y/' God. (.1ml n.ic: L.nNri..!ge Unit
.
.
.
asiiv Press, 1 9 91. "Ahl•tt God 1)0 1h. Best?"
n71:aria/Hy Ianina fin•
in‘ Rell,anal 16 t 1984:: 213-224.
i;Pi
and thc ProbIern .ly111967 11.1 120. Kane, Stanlei,. 1 he Free- ‘Viii Defense Defended. - ibc ;Vezi , .Sana'astici.nn 50 :.1970n -135 446. :1 Sot& \lavrodc' , (teorgc. "The Problem 01' Fyil." In Beliefiy: ici
-
,
pi.a‘candb,.0 1. .
R
oa. Nen,, York: Random I louse, 1 9 70, chap. 4.
Oakes, Rober: A. "Ao
and Free Will Tlicodicy." The 191-201, Pike, Nelson, 'lii:inga on lice Will an d 1:511. Keligiosis Studies 15 (1979 a 449-473.
Neil Nc4odusiitisin 10 (1972 ,
"
The Enhe
46 -
LNaSICI1CC, Necessit v, and (l." The Neil 5(1 ,
(1976 ): 61 72. "Tilt' Free Will
of nr.(7shse
la \
philos,,phy i n edited
Black. London: Geo' ge Alicn and 1..:n‘A in, 1965. God and
A .(slindl the• it a tioiAa jug iihiation of Belief erm \ Press, 1967. Fri/.(. rand 'un Eerdmins 1977. ,t rirc o i•r,: cssify. o‘fOrd: liarendon r 1974. \ tic Worid, ( ;od I C :reatcdf " Ri„1„s„phi, (1973 539 552. Quinn, Philip I,. -God, Moral Perfection, and PossiNc wrwlds." In God: The
1 lin
,
in God. Ithaca: (:orncil
Contrwpoiaiy OL,ciosion. edited by Fred eiiels. Som:ur and M. Darrol Bryant . New York: Rose of Sharon Prey, 1982, pp. 197 213, Rowe, in I.. Nam inga on Pocciblis and Evil, Jo//;'11t71 or/lidos-
-
ophy To 19'3 554-555. Junes 1 The Free Wdl Delensk: and Determinism." TN ill) oii,l Philoso /iifl 5 91): 3.10 353. Smart, Ninian. )mnnil n ence, Evil and Supermen." Philiisdpbt 36 (1961): -
188-195. Stewart, ;Melville. lie G / eatcr41(wil Ihsh Nve: AN Essay an the Rnthni t aily 1993. Ncii York: St. Marini Wainwright, Willi :am. Christian '1 licisan and Free Will Deli.nise. innh ,„1 jun; phihirapin r,/ o (1975): 243 25 U. j err\ 'I u I-re Will Defense, Cal■ inism, and the Good less of God," RiTicw 13 (January 1953 ■: 1)-33. .
-
-
-
4 The Probabilistic Problem of Evil From the atheistic critics' point of view, the beauty of the logical argument from evil is that, if it could be made to x■ urk, it would be a tour de f)ree for atheism. Critics could then ignk >re any alle.cdlv favorable evidence ar God's existence and declare theism patently irrational. However, with what appears to be the decisive defeat of the logical argument 1!.om evil by the Free Will Defense,' some critics have dc ■ eloped a different kind of ar!2:ument from evil. This other type of . argument seeks to establish that the existence of God is still somehow rationally unacceptable given the facts of evil. Philosophers wielding thi , kind of argument say that evil somehow counts against the existence of God, although it is not inconsistent with the existence of God. Since the mid 1970s, the number of these arguments in the philosophical literature has grown significantly. Such arguments have been variously labeled c\ idential, inductive, or a posteriori, 2 but one of the inure proininent formulations is now called the probabilistic argument from evil. It is to this argument that I now turn, leaving consideration of a more broadh conceived evidential argument until the next chapter.
An Initial Skirmish Proponents of the probabilistic ar g ument maintain that evil makes the existence of God /7nm/bd.* or zinitilTiv. let us consider an early exchange between nontheistic and theistic philosophers along these lines. Consider how J. W. Cornman and Keith Lehrer present the problem in the guise of a provocative thought experiment: 47
48
or T.
Thc
knowing, and all-powerf I mid you_ ‘N LTC 140111 4 there were sentient beings—beings that are harp!,•sit1T. cF.pn • pleasure, eel pain; express love, anger, pity, \01,1 Acre111!c!,)0(.„ill ,
(
to c calk: :1 11'li\ which
ihared• •1/41.1ut KIHC 01k‘ odd vomid you create? 1".1 mi uwtle \dial .
such a world would he like. Would Ii he like the one wilich ocinally does ci.calea a a,i MICh as thi s one if )rid we Iic in? Would u had thd po ,‘et and know•htn\ to ■ieatk: ,n,rt logically possible world? It your answer is "no," as 1 stTins ) he, titelt Von srhrold begin to understand wiri the e\ ii Ol surtering and ;min 111 this world is such a problemkir anyone ,\ thinks L;oti created ;Ilk (i‘,..n thi s ,
world, then, it seems, we should c'e!iude that it is impn. bable that it was created or sus:aimed lw anything we would call Ciod. Thus, given ,
-
this particular k\ odd. 11 sCk.'llis duat s‘e 0)11Clildc: Z.11,1l it is i;11/1101" ail. God who, U he c‘ists, created the world- esisi s. CollsC Ciiii:ifik, the licher that God does not exist, rather than the helierthat he cynic/re( 's liii in this ia exists, (\mild seem t. be initificar i n
-
-
Here we find the language of probability. Cornman and Lehrer are saying that evil in the world makes the existence of God inipiobi7ble. But let us try to extract the essential argument from their conunents. Before proceeding, \le shall discount at the outset the rhetorical suggestion that the reader's answer "scents" to be a negative one. fhis phraseology imposes a bias on the reader and too hastily dismisses a number of very important perspectives aN,LIT why the world contains evil. I shall cover sonic of these perspectives later but here must clarify the structure of the argument at hand. One premise in Cornman and Lehrer's argument seems to be (29) IlGod is omnipotent and omniscient, then he could have created any logically possible world. An(xlier premise
SCOW, to
be
(30) Ii God is all-good, he would choose to create the best world he could. From (29) and (30), they conclude (31) If God is omniscient, omnipotent, and all-good, he would have created the best of all possible worlds.
49
Then they add (32) It is unlikely or improbable that the actual world is the best of all possible \ OrldS. And from (31) and (32), it follows that (33) it unlikely or improbable that there is an omnipo c^ttt niseient, and all-good God. this is a reasonahly accurate sketch of the. basic moves of the argult,'' how mi:dit theists respond? Alvin flamingo thinks that the orgoiment e mlallts at Team two major errors. I:or one, Lorninan and I .chrer incorporate into their argument i..ope.—the claim that God, if omnipotent, can create any logically possible world. We ha\ e already seen the error or LeibntY's Lapse in our discussion of the Free Will Defense lOr the logical problem. Thus, Plantinga maintains that the arg ument as stated is not sound because it incorpo orates this falsehood. We now know that it is simply not true that God, if he exists, could have actualized any possible world. Another error in the argument is that it seems to presuppose that there i "a best of all possible worlds," a concept hat is in coherent. Consider what we all know: that (sow any prime number you designate, there is alw,1vs one that is greater. in like manner, Plan tinga reasons that, thr any world you mention (with however inane dancing girls and deliriously happy sentient creatures), there is always one that is better (with even more dancing girls and deliriously happy sentient creatures Plantiga pronounces the argument of Cornman and Lehrer incapable of showing , that the existence of evil in the world. makes it unlikely that God exist -
A Modified Probability Argument We might, however, tr\ to 010;10V and strengthen Common and Lehrer's argument in corder to make the best of their case against ism . One way to) re\ ise it is to eliminate the claim that God can create Just any logically possible world. The substitute claim can be made that, among the logically possible worlds that were within God's
.
2i. P;..o:', ,i(511/(ic 1'; ,'):571 ili or Tvii
50
,
.
-
power to create, he could have created one cots a rnorc fa\ orable balance of good and evil. Another alteration would be to cast this claim in terms of mitura/ evil rather than moral evil, since many thinkers now grant that (;od could not do anything about the amount of moral evil brought about by free human beings. NeY ertheless, they still insist that God can control the amount of natural evil. With these two adjustments, does the argument fare any better? Plantinga thinks that the modified argument still fails. He rebuts this stmnger rendition of the argument by extending the Free Will Defense the claim that it is possible that God cannot actualit.e any possible \\ orld that .nc.ut.es free agCTICV. His point is that the evil in the \\ orld does uot render the existence of God improbable. lie asks US to consAer the 161low Mg proposition: (31 ) the evil in this world is broadly moral oil: aild of all the worlds God could have created, none contains a better balance of broadly moral good with respect to broadlY moral evil. In keeping with the earlier strategy of defense, Plantinga asks us to consider that (34) is logicallv possible. The reference to "broadly in \ral evil" requires comment. Plantinga claims it is possible that what we normall\ call natural evil is really broadly moral evil caused by nonhuman t ree agents. ; Traditional religion, for example, attributes much c' il to Satan (1 fo Satan and his cohorts. These demonic spirits arc fallen angels \\ ho seek to spoil God's creation. In this light, Plantinga states that., of all the worlds God could have created, it is possible that none contains a better balance of broad!\ moral good and broadly moral evil than thi ; onc. Although we may ha \ c no evidence to confirm (34 L, Planting.' points out that we do not appear to hay e any codenec that would dk(011firIll it either. Rut how shall we iliiiik about this n hole business of confirmation way? Let us say that a proposition p cowl/7/ff proposition q q is more probabic than not on p al( me: if, that is, q would be more probable that not-e/ with 1 k:spec, to what we know, if p were the only thing we knew that was relevant to (1. And let us say that p i iscw,fi 711 1 ifp confirms the denial of I/. Alti n there is really no way to measure the quantity of evil in the Plantinga rakes Cornman and Lehrer's argument to be about the i;..1,./o/int and I :1;1m of evil. He then advances this proposition: -
,
,
-
,
.
P.;
An
14/ %Slit' PIP
Tvii
51
[lire arc 10 1 ' turps of evil.
Plantinga here coins the term "turp" as a basic unit of evil in order to facilitate discussion. Here the expression "10" turps" names the past, present, and future evil in the actual world., (hinting that (35) dues nut discontirm (34), Plantinga goes on to say that neither does it disconfirm the following: (36) God is omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect; God has created the N■ (Hid; all the c\ il in the \ n id is broadly moral e\ il: and there is no possible world God could have created that COM ains a better balance of broadly moral good and broadlymoral evil. I\-1(wv, if a proposition p comirms a proposition q. then it confirms C\ cry proposition q entails; and if p diseontirms q p disk:olitinns every proposition that entails q. It seems clear that (35) does not disconfirm (36); but (36 entails .
(37) God is omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect. So, the existence of the great amount and variety of evil does not ren der improbable the existence o 1n omniscient, omnipotent, and whollY good God. ()Icourse, there may be fithc; things we know such that the existence of t.;od is improbable with respect to them. Nonetheless, the amount and variety of evil in this world does not disconiirm God's existence, I Jere we can see how the Free Will Defense works against the probabilistic problem of evil. Against the logical problem, of course, Plantinga established that ((A) An omnipotent, )mniscient, \\h( >h\ $40od God exists , and (E 1 ) Evil exists are not logicallY incompatible. He accomplished this by showing- that the consistent coniLmetion of a certain proposition about free vill and a proposition asserting God's existence entails that there is eviL Now,
52
P;.0!,7(11/ elf Tvii
again the probabilistic problem, Plantinga employs similar &fenrategv ti) show that (G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God ex and There arc 10" turps of evil are not probabilistic:111\ incompatible.o I le does this by showing that proposition (G) and a certain proposition about all evil being broadly moral evil entail that God could not control the evil in the world. Some critics as ++ ell as some theists have misunderstood Plantinga's suggestion that possibly there are nonhuman free agents w hat traditional religion calk - demons" or - Callen angels - who are ICTNF,ible ti n ' what we call natant' evil. This would, in (lick 1, make all 'oil broadly moral cvil. Sc\ eral thinkers rightly pointed out that neither classical theism nor the living religions that embrace it (Christianity, Judaism, or Islam) hold that denumic activity is the hest explanation of evil. Yet there is a misunderstanding here that provides an opportunity to clarify the nature of Plantinga's defensive strar - egv against the charge that God could reduce the .nnount of evil. Plantinp,a does nor postniate that there arc nonhuman tree creatures who create evil in (rte world; he is not of tering this notion a hypothesis in order to explain an\ thing. Plantinga's defensive strategy di )cs mg require that the claim that all natural evil could be viewed as boiadly moral evil be irne or even probably t:we. And he certainly does not have to be committed to its truth or even its probable truth. In light ol a sophisticated theistic worlds ie.++, it could even be fact HAIR' ja1s6 that demons create what we call natural e\ or, in light of mane other things ■‘e know, it could be iritildv improbabh . But Plantinga's strategy requires only that it he poysiblc and consistent with k(;) in order to accomplish its defensive ptirpose. 7 -
.
Three Probabilistic Arguments from Evil Discussion of the prospects for a \ iable probabilistic argument from evil did not end with Plantinga's critique of Loynrnan and Leh Several atheistic critics have developed their own statements of the arent. The general strategy they follow is to argue that a proposiLion stick as
14/
PiPiVei:iJ' i1
A great .um
53
and variety of e'. it exists
is ev i dence against the proposition (G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God exists. Philosophers have still thought it worthwhile to continue to probe the issue of exactly how it is that (E) renders (G) improbable. In fact, the probabilistic argument from evil could be framed and subsequently analyzed in terms of any of the thR'e (11'1 propositions cussed in ( 'hart er 2. But we will pursue the argument that incorporates as stated here. Alter all, what, is the relationship that t IC says hold.s het \+, F.) and I. when he says the Cornier is evideni:e against the latter or that (-.C, e which ;. the deni a l o f G ;, is pr o bable with reTect to (E)? In probability studies generallv, the robability of an \ proposition B on the basis of the e\ idence .1 is depicted as P(B/A). The question, then, is how to understand precisely h m. all o f this wor k s i n th e ma tter of God and evil that is. how to interpret the critic's claim that P((G)/;\ En is low, less than .5. To comprehend this, of course, 'ac must have s,;114.: idea of what the relationship is between an proposi. dons B and A when A is cniricncc fir B or \\lien B is.1J1win tide ?Pith respect to A. Yet this whole area of scholarship is notoriously unsettled, with no clear consensus on how to define the evidential relationship between propositions or on how to think about the probability of one proposition given another proposition. Plantinga suggests that a good starting place would be to view the relationship between pri)positions B and A as eonlormint2, to the calculus of probabilities. Fie then c, insiders the three main interpretations of probability-...........persinalist, logical, and frequenc\. determine it ilicre basis good probabilistic argument troll', cl us 1)Heil\ renew hi• ITinterpretations and then d ec on ho\., lie marks about the tirst treats the third. the probability ( (G) on According to i pen ma/is/ (F) reflects a person's credence Onicifou, which is the degree of belief that she assigns to a gin. en pniposition, Pi. A i, or tl tat she assigns to the proposition ,al.;.en another proposition, Pf, A,- P). Plantinga pronounces a personalist argument for the low probabilit\ of theism based on e\ il to be nothing more than mere biographical in! Orma. t1 in, Predictably, an atheist 'a ill assign a low subjective pi obabilitv, -
-
-
-
-
54
2/u p;..o:',i(511/(ic ..P; ,'):571 ili of' T. .
.
-
perhaps close to zero, to the hypothesis that God exists—either on its own terms or in view of the evidence as he sees it. So, it is not surprising that the atheistic critic maintains that Ps((G)/(E)) = < .5. A theist, on the other hand, will assign a high subjective probability to (CT) either on its own terms or in view of the evidence as she sees it.. Bet then it appears that a personalistic probability argument horn evil tells only about the belief dispositions of the atheistic critic and nothing about whether God exists or whether a k rational per se to believe that God exists given the ex idenee ()f Plaminga maim .ins that an eN idential argument based on the logical thcoiy ol probability fares no better than the personalistic argument. I lere probability is a "quasi-logical relatic - in ()I' which entailment is a special case."iu 'Frying to protect probability judgments • think of from the taint of subjecti\ ity. those prornuting this theory probability as a triad of entailment." of one propc)sition by another. 11 In other words, one propositionlas au d prit 111 probability in view of another proposition ,l The idealk rational person, then, should believe (A) to the exact degree it is entailed by (B). For example, the probability of the proposition (38) Friedrich cannot swim =lye, (39) Nine out of ten Prussians cannot swim and Friedrich is a Prussian/German appears to be .9 i.e., N(38) /(39)) = .9. So, the rational person who knows nothing else relevant will believe (38) to the degree .9. However, if we consider (40) Friedrich is a lifeguard, then the probability (>1(38) changes dramatically! Likewise, the critic offering an ar12.11111ent IrOM eVil rooted in the logical theory of probability might claim that the probability of (G) An omnipotent, omniscient, whollv good God exists is low given, say,
ic Pi .0 fit
;
bi l CX.
But the theist might retort that the probability icantiv when we consider
changes signif
God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil ist.
ex-
It is extremely difficult to see, therefore, hc.w a gi\en proposition can just /ENT a certain probability on the basis of another propositi,.in•—a matter Ion:: debated aithmg scholars or inducti\ Since there is no reason to think that contingent propositions have a priori probabilities, Planting,: coneludes that there is no reason to think, that a proposition such as disconiirms (G.). Although the personalist and logical theories of probability do not to Making a decent atheistic argument from seem to lend alt.'111•1\ a number of thinkers ha\ e eimsidercd \\ lietherflitpteliCy theOry (or statistical probabilitvI offers a more interesting and more prt»nising way of framing the argument. ,'recording to the •equencv theory, probability is a ratio: It is a measure cat the relative frequencv with which the members of a specified class of objects or events exhibit a certain property. 13 An insurance actuary, tier example, might compute the number of thirty year-old males in a sample of 10,000 who survive to their fortieth birthdays and get a result of 9,450. .bile probability value, then, is .945. This value, in turn, becomes a predictive factor for the underwriter in sk..ttinl.i, insurance rates. There are literally thousands of situations in science, mathematics„ind practical lire in which this kind of statistical re „son.ng is entire lv appropriate and helpf u l. Wesley Salmon sitlagests that the irequencv theory can also be used to coa e lude that c\ 11 111,11:CS God s existence' improbable that is, PKI.;/(E)) < Rut how are \\ e to understand this probabilistic claim in trequencv terms? Salmon must sure!\ mean something like the f(Olow mg: Arnong possible \\orlds that contain as much oil as this one does tt11,1Ch 1S turpsi, there arc rclathcly few •—less than half- that are divinely created3 5 Thus, propositio n '
(G) An oinnipotc.mt, ()inn
111,
holly Sc d God e\ISIS
has a low probability value, i.e., below But how would one arrive at such a judgment? Should vc start by imagining hypothetical uni-
P;.o:'. 1'; . o:571 - ili of T.
56
verses (or what we have called "possible worlds - ) and simply estimating how many containing as much evil as this one were created by a being who has the relevant theistic atti 'hates? Salmon would insist that the number here would be relatively low. Plantinga points out a number of serious difii;.7ulties in the frequentist methods Salmon uses for arriving at the conclusion that P(. (G)/( F = < .5. For one thing, how can ',he (requentist critic count the possible worlds, which are theoretically infinite in number, so that he may Li Form his calculations? For another thing, what about the dillerences in how the theist and atheist make a number of initial assessmenis before arriving at a final value for PO G)/(F.))? After ail, the nontheist would typic,dly a s se ss the probabilit\ that there would be less e\ il II our world if God did exist to be high, whereas the I heist would Pc 151 certainly disagree. Here Plantinga rt.‘c(Tatites the tact that such initial assessments are ultimate' \ rk.‘lati\ e to the total beilefset i,hat each party brings i,() the probability judgment at hand and that the belief sets of the theist and the critic differ in some irreconcilable \\ ays .''' We would expect the theist and the atheistk critic to (..sagrek.s, for instance, on the success of various independent arguments for God's existence, such as the ontological and cosmological arguments. 1- taut surely, their assessments of such matters will tbrm part of their respective total belief sets, or, as Plantinga calls them, their respective "noetic frameworks." These as well as other problems undercut any effort to mount a viable frequency argument from evils [
Reformed Epistemology and Evil In the contemporary debates over God and evil, a certain pattern of response has emerged in legal:kJ to both the logical and the probabilistic arguments: challen,ge libm the critic followed by delenske manemers by the theist. In discussions of the logical argument, the critic charg- es that belief in God and belief in evil are inconsigcni. [he theist shields his belief sVSI em In MI ii iv charge by demonstrating that theism is iior inconsisleni. Iii discussions of the probabilistic argument, the critic claims that God's existence is inipioinible in light of the evil in the world. I he theist any,vcrS hi slims ing that God's existence: is not in/pia/a/11c given e \ ii These detensi\ e responses are tech \ correct and instructive in many ways. We should note that such responses are not geared to show that theism is plausible, proba-
14/ %Slit' PIP rit
P.;
57
T Pi/
( )1 true. They al e also not aimed at showing either that theism makes good sense on its own terms or that it makes better sense than competing worid\ icws. The general derensi% c strategy is simply that of protecting tlicistic beliefs while deflecting all challenges a strategy that has become well recognii.ed and widely employed. Interestingly, theists who have constructed defenses against various challenges detected a recurring flaw in critics' attacks. In defending against the logical problem or evil, theists took. exception to auxiliary assumptions emploNed II\ their Al 116st iC NN ought to deduce a contradiction k\ it bin theism. As \\ His c seen, these critics constructed their arguments using propositions definnig such theistic concepts as omnipotencc- and perfect goodticss—dermitions that tilted the contro\ cry, in then fa\ or from the outset. This. of course, \\ As an early indication or how different tlunl,ers in t .\ itabl y appeal to their on n backg.round nnOrmation in e\ al ,nu philosophical positions. Then, in defending against the probabi;istic problem ()1 theistic defenders ponned out that the atheistic critic could not avoid assessing a number of probabilities based on things he already accepts. whereas the theist w(3uld clearly differ on such things. So, predictably, G will b e improbable with respect to things that the atheist accepts but probable with respect to things that the theist accepts. Continuing reflection on the construction of both logical and probabilistic arguments has brought to light an impol :ant fact that -
.
(G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God exists must be probabilistically assessed on the basis of all the propositions one knows or belie\ cs, This is w hat we mean when we talk of the requirement of "total es idence." Discussions of this matter have become couched in coals of one's "epistemic iramew oil:" or "noetic structure. Btu then, it is difficult to see how so 111An1 of the 'arguments front e■ 1 --both logical and probabilistic----are really objections against theisni ri. men they are based on the atheistic critic's u 401 set of beliefs. hen might we think of the objection hona evil now Cleark, the discussion shifts an a in no it.s oriuinal locus on whether ( El ) or (E) or any other (E)-like proposition per se proba bilisticallv disconfirms the proposition that God exists. Instead, the contro\ ersv revolves around a whole cont1/4.: :t other beliefs within which such a probabilistic judgment could c■ er be made. We may call this context of total evidence one's erideiii c n 17. So, if there is going to -
.
,
-
-
58
lb(
be any kind of effecti■e probabilistic argument from c\ il, it \\ ill have to run along these lines: For any theist T, there is a SCt of propositions Ts that constitute his total evidence set; for any proposition A that the theist accepts, he is rational in accepting A only if A is not - improbable \\ ith respect to Ts. The critic's case, then, is that the existence of God is improbable with respect to Ts. Many philosophers—including David Flume, W. K. Clifford, Bertrand Russell, Antony Hew -, Michael Scriven, and others —make this kind of case. 1 " Flew maintains that it is rational to presume that atheism is true ix., that theism is false) unless convincing arguments for theism are advanced.m -Fhis places the burden of proof on the theist, since there are propositions that all. rational persons believe or ought to belie\ e that either oiler no support for (Co Or MAC it improbable. According to 1110Nt critics, then, the theist is irrational kand perhaps unethical) in believing in (lod because there is Hui,: !10 42\ idence kir the belief the iailtire of traditional theistic prooH and because there is impressi\ e\ idence e\ il) ag,ainst the belief. At this juncture, a number of important questions surface, questions about what beliefs are properly included in a \vell formed noetic structure, what it means to be rationally entitled to hold a belief, and what our episternic )bligations are. In addressing such questions, Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolter storff, William Alston, and George Ala\ rodes have developed a position km m n a Reformed epistemology. RetOrmed epistemology is relevant, first, to the critic's procedure of formulating reasons for nut believing IC) and, second, to the critic's protest that defense against these. reasons k ui unsatisfying minimalist approach. Plantinga and other Refbrmed cpisieflU ilogists explain that the critic operates on the ,cieZeiiiiulis1 au milt ion that a person is rationally warranted in holdmu a belief only Ii lie holds other beliek that gke it good evidential support. Conversely, one is not rationally warranted in holding a belief ii there is good e\ idenee a ,..zainst it. Ot course. "e■ idence'' h e re must be expanded to include one's total evidence sei.. this is a ■ cry natural way 4thinking abut rationa/ity. Of course, the critic here takes the probabilistic argument from evil to supply good evidene against (CI). When the theist provides a defense showing that evil does not omit 17077111St it, the critic points out that the theist is not entitled to hold (G) unless he can supply good evidence Jar it. it is this whole ev identialist way ut looking at the matter that Reformed epistemology calls into question. Reformed episte-
P.;
14/ %Slit' PIP rit
Tvi1
59
mologists point out that those e\ idcntialists who raise serious challenges to theism also accept stronfijimudationifilsw. Strong foundationalism is a way of looking at human knowledge as built or erected upon "loundations." The general timndationalist position, then, is that our beliefs 111,11 be divided into :WO kinds: those that are sup ported by or rescue evidential support from other beliefs and those that are accepted without being supported fw . still other beliefs. 1 his second kind of belief throes the "basis of belief and
1i1101N
-
on v. hid] our entire strus:t tire
ledge ultimately rests. Foundational beliefs are
“basic" and not "derived - from other beliefs. 22 The. "strong" loundationalist vants to place very strict requirements on w hat sorts of . belicaR n be in the fo u ndations. W a nting to allow only beliek. about which it is u npossibl e or nearl y impossible to go wining, the foundationalist asserts that the ()nix beliefs that can be properly basic are those that are either scirL-Fidriii i t hicorrifiihic. Sd fe dent belief arc seen to be true anyone who understands them (e.g., the simple truths of arithmetic, such as 2 2 - 4i. Ii or
rigihie beliefs are those that deal with one's immediate experience and thus are th night to be immune from si.Tious doubt reports of consciousness, such as "I am feeling pain" and "1 seem to be seeing something green"). A strong foundationalist, then, maintains that (SF) A person is rational in accepting a gik en belief onh that belief is self ident or incorrigible o r is d el -is, ed form se ll-. ident or incorrigibk beliefs using acceptable methods of logical inference. The "evident ialisa challenge" to religious belief, then, is lig religious belief to satisfy hcw requirements ofevidenee.
laity nontheist rc.p;.., W. K. ( lifford. Ankinv Hew, and others) err,m- J ,- e e v id en t:Ak in and s tron g fOundationalism, but a number of
well-kuiow mi theists do as well Descartes. Locke, and Leibni7). Historically, the twin assumptions of exidk.!ntialism and strong limndationalism have created a certain way of ihinking about how religious belief 11111!,t. he justified. The theistic evidentialist is obliged to ghe positive evidence fig belief in the existence ot (..dad, whereas the evidentialist critic either must provide evidence for rejecting belie in God or must point out that the theist's evidence is insufficient. Plantinga has identified two serious difficulties with strong hbunda. tionalism. For one thing, strong foundationalism is self referentially
The P;..o:', ,i(511/fic P; :571 ili of'T.
60
,
.
.
-
incoherent. It simply does not meet its o\\ n standards of e■ idenc, for it is not self-evident, incorrigible, or logically derivable from beliefs that are. For another thing, strong loundationalism is overly restrictive in regard to what kinds or beliefs can count as properly basic. Strong, foundationalisin misrakenh, rules out various kinds of beliefs that arc properly basic but that are neither self ident nor incorrigible. In fact, a careful„malysis of our native noetic powers I sueh as perception and mernor slim, that they produce hilmeriityht Or direct beliefs in us. Such beliefs as "I see a tree in the quad now" and "I had breakfast three hours ago" .11-: properh bas!c" or me although they are not held on the basis of other belief's in Inv evidential set. When one is in ihnI11,1 cirettinstanees and oue's c ognitke p o wers are functioning, properk, One is entitled to accept the beliefs formed by these Iltul` C(:) g ni-LiVe Po" crs. suck as perception and memurvNow we are read \ to understand the Rtlitrined epistemologists' contention that belief in Gitd can be a properly basic belief. Plantinga suggests that all rational persons have cognitive thculties that, under appropttiate conditions, can form such a belief in them. Thus, I might accept the belief that -
(41) There is such a person as God without appeal to my other beliefs. 'fhat is, it can be part of the limn dations of my noetic structure without being derived by arguments from foundational beliefs. The relevance of Reformcd epistemologv u the discussion of God and evil is that it changes hmny we think about the rationality of the parties involved. And it is a natural component in defenskc manettNetts by theists. For one thing. Reformed epistemology e \plains how the theism may b e rational \vithont mounting, sav„1 probabilisilc talent for di\ ine c\istclicc that is aimed at tirnint2, the prohabilistik argument from e\ 1. Tite theist may simply hold belief in God as basic (without argument). Then, when a critic advances someversion of the problem of oil and the theist reels us probativetOrce the theist must Lk ii with the objection. The objection is a potential ditfttittlitr of the basic belief in God; it threatens the theist's noetic structure. But the onk actit in rationally required of the theist according to Reformed cpistemolog.,■ is to tiitfcar the deteater, t-tt t to speak. Ibis may he done by deft nit , showing that the critic's ease against theism does not succeed, whatever that case may be (e.g., logical or probabilistic -
-
Pi o . .
14/ SI
61
problem of C\ P. Of ) Luse, it is entirely possible tbr the antitheistie critic to respond by trying to defeat the delcater defeater and so on. Thus, although one may be rational in 11 :lieving in God without dis eursi\ e reasoning and argument, this would he a situation in N\ high ,
reasoning and argument is needed. Ho■ke‘er, the point of theistic ar gunk-mat:ion in this case has changed from the positive enterprise of showing that belief in God is rational because it is derived n ii basic beliefs to the project of showing that antitheistic at:.Acks do not reveal it to he rationally substandard.
Notes 1. Alukly,g nonthekric phili)sophc- \Nho recognize that the logical paacib,
lent h. not eneclive are: 1dwari...1 Madden and Peter Ilare, Jail a m / /tic ( nil.I I !1m, 9OS '1„Ind Wtiliani Rowe. ( , 111.: G.'d kncino and 1;chnont. ("aid.: Dickenson, 197S:,. 2. For the induct"' e argument, see Bruce Reichenbach, "I mu Inductive cluicricail phihisophiimi 1.7 i. 19S0h Art2,ument Crum 221 227; for the .1 posteriori see Akin Plantin 1.1. Goo' and ()n'a-' i .11iiids: i,Jr I (.7():Ttell 0.1 Ratimal 18.+1111, Friva c:Nitv, 1967 p. 128. 3.1:Imes W. Cornman and Keith Lehrer, Philosophical Pioll.driucomi....1;:ou • .11; /afro/in:viol: .NeNN 1970). pp. 340—:1-1.1 mine 4. I lure we follow Planting.Cs \Nay of outlining the arginnenr. See Planringa i, God. .1•::Crioni, 11.17 Grand Rapids, Eerdinans, 1977'1, pp. '59---64. Paninai],a rirq intriOuLC(.1 the Ootion oaTl 011 bon: 2, broadly dedfing v i the trim. aunt rhat rhe existence of Guel i s inconsistent v, I hi s notion is then .1 % „111,,i bl e to b e i m p or t e d i n t o the existence of natural problem. ( )Cut,: his discussion , p 64. O. (.)course., classieal tricism as \\ ell as 111C 111.110r Mt 1 1 -',0111C1M1+.: C ,,p0UNe 3,:k CCI■i!..t.' that (Pod's lrtiittul nih e-..hati,e power cut creak 1 .1 .1Mly nal k repugnant I'ati0;1;11, free h,aings other than human both to scnse and 1 a sophisticated theo!ov.cal undershInding is the no:atilt that rack:lice to noliftrman Creatures '0 to ,1110: live plays a malor part in the explanation of thc evil •k\ c One can add to this the assessment that it is extreincl': unlikek that imHat ne uP nalur,h oil in our woild 1.11.03d1V PIOQ1 it iiat.ur I, RS themes can be dr,.1\% a Iro.tn soirees as s\cli is Maio!' ar the (.11ristiltii fail h. Stidl theme ,: C.;1\ isagC 11112 11,1111r,1 1.. kV0:"Id by impersonal objects operating and .
,
-
!
,
-
.
P;..o:',,,i(511/(ic..P;.,'.,:lilriti or T.
62
imeractm52, ao...ording to their u\'. ti inherent natures. Second, ticnial Olor at leasi, de eniphasis on the role 01 demons Or de \ ik in oti! Nvorid can be adduced from such sources by fair and intelligent i:itcrorciation. 8, Alvin Plantinga, "The Probabilistic .;r1 :tumerit from Evil," Philmo iiihio.il Situt ii:.■ 35 1979): I 53. For those w!shing iifollow the subsequent discus stow; ul Plantingals work in this area. sec Keith "'Planting:Ion AtI1CititiC NOphit2' 27 (1)88 10. and Iiiiin Lpistemic Probability and i ) ; 1988). reprinted in Daniel 11 (m aid- Sin der. ed., /7.h kvicfrritial row/ / ,11( tomington: Indiana Universit:,. I'vess., 10%), ss 69• 96, 9. Planti*.a, "Probabilistic r\t.tiiinent," pp. 15-18. 10. Ibid., p. 15. 11, Ibid., p. 18. 12. Planting thoroughly discusses this and other difficulties in ibid., pi). 21-30. 13. Of course, the classical or LaPlacean theory of probability also asrP a ratio but one established a priori based on equiprobable out-conies. 14. Wesley Salmon, "Religion and Scien,:e: A New Look at 11o:tic's Diahwur.v," Phibisophica/ 1978 ;: 1.13 176. 1ci ually, Salmon propose th,11 the design arguincni claim that 'I IS highly probable that this world 15.15 crcatcd by a beno. ()lent, intelhgk.nt Supreme Being. In C1.01.1:1611g the argument ilrom th e p ers p eci i ve fi-equencv I h eore, h e eon _ eludes that it is improbable that this skorld seas designed b\ all Lnov.ing, all .po‘serful„md all good beinl.t, particularly given the evil than it contains. 15. Plarninga, Probabilistic Ar: cument., p. 33. In the same article 32-39), Plantinga also considers the possibility hat the frequency claini here involves the trequencY 551t11 o hid] ne clay. (II propositions arc line relative to another class o r pr..posit ions. 16. Pl.uninga ako calls these belief sets "noetic structures and males important ohs(5. ations on il(po, theY function in human krum ledge. See his "Probabilistic .kri2annern," pp. 1-1, .18, and 51, 17. S ee mi e ha e l r e ! erson , \Villiain I lasker, Bruce Reicnenbach, and David Rflifilous 1k/Fit: A i 1/11r01ior111n1 hi the Basinl.ter, itraym Rclipiva, 2nd c(i. (Nisw York: Oxio:ci University Pren. 199;-; . pp. 87 91 and 91-100. 18. For more criticism iii the 11k:qui:mist ar:.ument advan,:ed in Salmon, see Nancy Cartwright,(.,:onunents on Wesley Salmons 'Science and Religion:. A Iii es New 1.ouil, at Phib)sophical Ntudicy 33 ! 1978 177-183. Although Creque:n.kt n hods may not be frasible for arriving at crucial initial assessments 0 e t Inates thal con. ill turn, hic...1L sed in calculating the prt &ability of (G), Druce Reichenbach, a theist, still thinks it \\ orthwhile to cemsider Salmon's proposal that Bayes' Theorem lac used for calculation l
-
.
,
-
-
.
.-
)
-
,
,
,
,
-
14/ %Si
n Tf
63
purpr,:es. Where P(B/A) means the probability of B on A, Reichenbach formula:es Ilaves's Theorem in this fashion:
I I':
[P(B/A)
P(r,'"A&134
The parts of the theorem have thc H ow i ng ine ,uun gs: P(B/A) =
the iiiioi pr,.;1): l/i/at t the original hypothesis is true, giver the ba „,..ground e vidence Ie t.-2,,.pro5abilify that the (>1 4.:,:nal lit oothesis is Kilse, given the background evidence t Ii.: pn>baftilit \ that t he eCi ill be ol),er, ed. i.iteit .
,
,
,
P(/A)
.
P(C/A& B
:hat
01;2
hvpodtesis
1111e
P(C/A&B) = the probability that the elteel will be observed, given lake that the P(B/A&(:) = the probability 111,11 thc ti r ,) .1-tesis is true, Olen the background evidence and ihe 1.1ct let ihe effect isobserved. ,
a p oha1listic arl?rtivient 1: >in evil Now the was is prepared e r cnt along B.:\ c,iart lines. Reichenbacli sets up the Irame \\ ork. for the Bavesi.ni type argument from evil: .
-
I 01.
Then, caming the critic's argument in terms of the amount of natural evil in rum \\ odd , Reichenbach interprets the parts of the titeoreit ts 14.)11o\\
N))
the rob.6ilit:\ that a personal, lo' et,otnnipotent., ti uniscient, perfectly w oil (iod e‘ists, gi\ en the '.en furniture and SII'lli.7111C ,f;hewinkl tient creatures, in‘entient creatures. pits sical objects, ,Lid la \As ()C11,11.11C but r.vil'a,?/;,:iy any moralk stuii reask.in, dere nsc th, ,licv for evil,:m e\ idence in (,od's \ : st.ence , or eel) he rrt )1' ,11 31.111 V 0111 a 00k.i ..11)0,e does not c\kt, given the furniture stuctitic of the wo od .
,,
Pr(G)/(N))
1
.
the probabililv of there being the amount 1 1evil th a t cN i st ..., i n our world, g k.er, th a t die , vor (lc Alk s: obtains, and th.c Cod described. abo\ e ,
,
64
The P; . ,),',, ./!, 11/../(7 . Ti,ii
Pt(E)
P(((_;)/(N
the probabiliiv of there being ihe amount of evil that exists III ()lir world, given that the world described al), c obtains and the God dc:scribed exist above does desc - lbcd above the probability that (i)d iis cn that the .0. orld Lk:scribed ai , ovc o bt a i n:, an d there exists the ammun ■ilnat in evil that our world contains.
Of course, the critic advancing this kind of Bayesian argument claims, in the E) < .5. end, that P(((.i/i N R.eichenbach rightly 17;)scrvc, that POiCi)/(N)&i EP) cannot be emulsified by the atheistic critic ■■ ithout determining tile prior N ,n ,t1 P t; conic \ I. see Bruce Reichenbach, Lvil and a Good God New University Press, 1982 pp. 20 27. ".Phe Ethics of Belief." in his f.ccimi.c/7111:1 Hnlvct I . it 19. W. Eondon: .\ Len Lan, 1979,) pp. 3451:, Brand Blanchard, Rcasoli /N/! L'nwin, 1974), pp. 400Ct Bertrand Russell, "‘Ali' I Am Not a de.m: Allen Schuster, Christian," in his Why I Ain .Voi. a tiny's:la)) Nk-.v York: Simi in Philosophy !. New York: N1cGrax■ Scriven, 1957), pp. 311:, nal, 1 9 06 , , pp • ;';71); Ani(my PcmHer“),,, I97(,,, pp. 2201 anyone W. Is.. ( iilbrd insists that "It is \\ ro )Ig always, everyiA hcre, a to believe anvzhing upon insufficient evideific." See his - Ethics," p. 186. 20. Flew, l'..c.maiptifin, pp. 14 15. 21. Sce, lor example, their respe:.tive essays in Alvin Plantinga and Ream an1l 14 11V711 God -Nicholas \Volt erstorft, eds., jairb (Notre Dame, Ind.: Universitv oCNopc 1)ame Press, 1983 . i. Sec also Alvin Plant inga. "f ic Ii. united Objection :o Natural 'theology," (.7 , istian (xis B.crirw 11 (1 0 82i: 187-198. 22, 'ice the fuller discussion o(cvidentialism and foundationalisin in Peterson et al., Reason, pp. 146-165. -
Suggested Readings Adams, Robert M. "Plaininga oil the Problem ()FE\ it," In ArL;ii edited by James Tomberlin and „Peter van lnwagen. Dordrecht: Rcldel., 1985, pp. 225-255. ,Basinl\er, David. "Evil as Evidence Ag.i!nq L he Existence 01 Cod: A Response." Philosophy Rescanl, ilril.fivt.v 4 (1978): article no. 1275.
7 .br
65
Cart‘iril.ilit, Nancy. - Comments on 1.Vcsiev Salmon's 'Science and Religion,'" Phiiiiiophicii/ 33 (Fall 1978 177-183. -Piantinta oil Atheistic Induction," jihia (Atisirliti;) 27 Chrzan, (Jul:, 1988): 10-14. Belief in God." Faibli am/ Di . aper, Paul. "livi: and the Proper Basicality 1991 135-147. Philo.iophy "Pain and Pleasure: An Evidential Problem or L.ous 23 E-350. (19$9i "Pobabilisiii - Arguments from ,Refiiiiwis (1993): 303-317. Howard•Sm:dcr.1)ailicl. the Erideui :1;:rtuin:71? j'7•p;4-4 Lea. Bloomington: LiMersity Let, 199(i. Kalitman, clordon 1). "Flidentialisin: A Theolk,gian's Response." hiiih 1989: 35-46. J'bilfu:opl». Mari1;1, :1 l'hilosophiral /;:3:i1 /icalion. Philadelphia: Temple Lilitverst, Press, 1990. . "Ood. Satan and Nam::: 1 Sophio 22 (October 1 9 831: 43 45. .
Is bvil Fvidenee Ae,anist tbe I-.xistk:nce of God?" lititri 87 (1978): 429-432. • "A Theistic Indatetive Argument tTom Fail?" /nrermtrio,i:)! 0/Zeifrion 22 (1987): 81 - 67.
()Ake , . Kober!.
(..onc1tisive 1 1
4
1-4 lull 1973): 10 2.0. Pc:et - son N "Rcee; 1:!;: on the Problem of Bal." ANhTican Philo ()parte:11..20 1983 ;: 321-339. Peterson, Nlichaei I.., ed. ihe oi'Lrik Selected R,•.Tdiiirfs. Notre 171 ,1111e, 1111.: I:11i Vrtij PC Or NOIR' 1),1111C Press, 1992. Peterson, Michael, William Hasker, Bruce Reichenbach„Ind 1 .- ),1\ 1 Bsint,,er. Rraso.11 U i IMioll)ifs 11all/JIM:1/1M tO Pbilucophy f Krkaim. 2nd cd. Ne;,i York.: Oxford L.Iniversitv Press. 19 9 8, chap. O. 1ThiSICMIC Probability and 1-.N.11," :17Thirio di li!osolia -
(LA' S0 11988
:
Goa,
('nil Rapids, lieh.: rerdmans, 1977. Press, 1974: lie ProlAibIlistic Argument from FA it: Philosophical ,Srudic.(3:-.. (1979: 1;;;;;53. Reiehenbach, Bruce. ILvital/if a Good God. New York: l'or(tHnli I:Myers:1 . v Pc.'.,, 1982. . he nitiense Argumeni from Evil," t2/rarre.-;:i5; 17 (1980 !: 221-227. Ph: .\ - aiswe
66
'The
of' T.
Salina )11, Wesley. 1cIi.0 md Scieno.: 1k Nev Look • tudie.v 33 1 ,1 78): 113 176 Wanikx right, Milian
I ic Presence lvi and the Falsification of Theistic Assertions." Relom;. ,Stinlifv 4 (1 0 69): 213-216
5 The Problem of Gratuitous Evil
for Or probabil III the pre\ ions chapter, \v,e sa1\ that theism depended not simply on hclict',, Ghoul e\ ii but also on a larger collection of background beliefs and, iiitimatch, on one's total C\ deuce set. Since the atheist's total sct of beliefs \\ ill surely differ from the theist's in important ways, their assignments of probabilities to
G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good Cod e\ists will differ greatly. l or the theist, the probability of ((i) is high, whereas for the atheist, it is low. But then it is difficult to see how evil constitute~ a probabilistic problem for the Additionally, Reformed epistemolt )12,1 's crit ique of e\ identialism, coupled with its perspective on \\ het her evidence iN even necessary t r one to be ratioI.-wee, a reconsideration of the role of nally entitled to belie\ atheistic as \\ ell as theistic arguments mt.. God's istence.I 'lei many philosophers---,itheists ilnti theists alike still think that evil provides a has kn some kind of nondeduciive or broadly inductive argument agaill`q llicisiu. "[he trick is tt) arlis....• at a fOr11111.110011 of an e\ idential arg1.1111CIlt trout evil that significantly ad\ ances the discussion. ,
.
Can There Be an Evidential Argument from Evil? In seeking to determine \vhether there is some kind of \ idential argu-
ment that avoids the detects of the logical and probabilistic arguments 67
from evil and still gives some rat( )nal basis fir not believing in God, we must first remember ‘vhat defendc s ha\ c and lia e nor shown. Planti-
riga has shown that theism is Ho,' //probable given evil; he has not proved that evil cannot be et itioicciiiwipst theistic belief. For e\ample. the testimony of the defendant's husband that she was at home at the ,
time of the murder is evidence against the hypothesis that she is guilty. But the testimony may not show that the hypothesis is improbable iL .
there is enough other evidence or her guilt. Likewise, evils may gen uinely be evidence against theism and still not show dial lite probability of theism is low, iftheism is sufficiently probable on other grounds. Furthermore. R.li)rtned epistemologists point out that the theist may be entirely rational in taking belief in God as basic, that he need not justify it by arguments construct ed from oth e r be li e f's. Fl o we c e r, Reformed epistemology does not entail that evil cannot count as c\ deuce against belief in God. It does undermine unfair cflOrts to evaluate belief in (...;()d probabilistically accorkling to the atheist's own evident-LII set. More generally, RelOrtned epistemology calls into question the idea that one is rational] \ entitled to believe in God only if one has adequate evidence for this belief. None cif this, however, siu ns that evil cannot: count against belief in God even 'When that heliet is construed as basic. The probabilistic problem of eN il reflects one (albeit flawed) strategy fir showing how evil can he conceived as evidence. It is, then, a potential deleater for theistic belief that itself can be defeated by appropriate delensi\ c maneuvers. Rut this leaves open the possibility that a more formidable deleater can be fashioned in terms of another type of evidential argument. Plantinga has clearly shown that the at critic is misguided if he thinks he can produce an argument or coercive force that will compel all reasonable people to agree ! hat theism is improbable with respect to evil and thus that one would not b e rational in em i, w i ng it. 'Lowe\ er, it does not 1(010 'rum ths either that atheists have no argument at their ‘.1 SpoSal ieuar ding the evidential impact of evil on .
theistic belief or that theists should show no concern tOr any such Jr g1.1111ellt. The atheistic critic, fOr instance, may not intend to coerce' -
but rather to "persuade
-
the winds ortheists and agnostics. The the-
ist and atheist can reason together about Tlic bearing of evil on the existence of God - as well as the bearijia of a great many other things, for that matter- \\ ithout accusing each other of being irrational or being in violation of some intellectual duties.
69 I ucla reJsoning in philosophy generally has this erci■ c character. Even if it cannot be shown that one position on some controversial issue is more probable than another, it is still legitimate tbr the position's proponent to make a case for why it is prefer able to the other. .krid it is likewise legitimate tOr his interlocutor to make a case for his own position, point out Nveaknesses on the other side, answer objections, and so forth I his all takes on the character of 10SOphie la a t giN ing reasons for and against a controNersial position. Since such rea,,oning doe, sometimes lead to chanL,es of opinion, \\ e may engage in it \VIII sincciv hope of persuading others or or coming to a more ad_xquatch justified position oursel cs. in the process, we rn,:v rely on assessments o plausibility or credibility that are not obvious and not unix ersallx accepted. Neither Plantin$4.1's detc -nse against the prob.lbilistie problem nor his presentation vt R.cliwined cpktclimiogt has shown that it is useless to offer an e+ identi,i1 problem of c\ it in this vein. The he\ is to [t rive at some understanding of the kind of nomicrnonstrati\ e argument that supplies rational grounds fir the rejection of theism. ,
.
-
Versions of the Evidential Argument This kind of nondemonstrsnix c c,r broadly inductive argument essentially asks the theist to make sense of evil in light ol his belief in God. The critic cites some alleged tact about evil as the LT/de/ice that supports the conclusion that it is more rational, :41101 the es idence, to belie‘ e that God does not exist. Three ft mnulations of Ihis kind of argument may be detected in the growing literature on the evidential argument. As with the I()gie.II and probabilistic arguments, we may classify these COIMmulmons according to which of the t011o\ , ing propositions about. evil they use: ,
exists L.arge amounts, extreme kinds, and )erple\in distributions of evil exist (E 3 ) Gratuitous esil exis ts Thus, we get the taxonomy of arguments shown
i17r PioN:- 11/ y rGramitolts
70
FIGURE 5.1. Versions of the Evidential Argument rroln Evil
I V is e\ idence ap,ains:
VI is evidence against
is evidence ap.ainst (G i
For each version of the argument, then, a specific (E)-proposition is said to count as evidence againsi (G). The first formulation of tilt.' Cevidential argument—Version 1V—is not no\ ideh discussed. George Schlesinger, a theist, recogni/ed this ersion iii ' erv cm-i\ stiscusstiuis a the e\ idential argument: - While the question olthe amount of ei1 the world contains must \ affects our hes, in the context °Cour problem this is an entirely irreio ant questionf' 2 According to this version of thc arguincnt, ci i v instance of evil at all tends to dist nafirm God's evistenee. Tim\ (..\ the critic's hope of making Version IV successful depends on his showing that there is no morally sufficient reason for an omnipotent. 1 11 !I-4 )0d God to allow any evil whatsoever. ellyis is a omniscient, woo.,v claim that secnis we!! beyond the critic's reach, since a number of thoughtful nontheists admit that some evil serves good ends that could not otherwise be achieved. .fheretOre, the theist can respond that God, if he ev.ists, could have a morally sufficient reason for allo\\ ing come evil. 'I 11c theist might even suggest some general kinds of evils that arc connected to some goods (e.g., hardship is connected to character de\ elupment, danger to heroism, and so liwth). Man) critics, home cr, see ersion V as a more promising argu, ment. In Me Faith Or a I Walter Kauintann states: impmerished 'the problem arises \\ hen monotheism is enriched by—tv,o assumptions: that (.od is omImIlipoicIlt and that God is just. In fact, popular theism beyond inercit assertinLi. that God is just and claims that (nod is "good, that he li:orally perfect. that he hates suffering, that lie loves inan„md that he is infinitely merciful, far transceilding all human mercv, love, and pertection. Once these ìssumpt.0 ns lid granted, the problem arises: why, then, is there all the sufferinp., we know? And as liinr is these assumptions are granted, this quesiiol duOt he anNis CI"Cd . FOP' if these assumr..ions ■■ ere tritC, it would follow that, there could not he all this suffering. ( onversclv: .since it is a fact that there is tell .
"r ( ;; T nitoef.c Evil
71
th' ,ICIcring. it is plalJI that at least one of these assumptions iliust be false. Popular ificism i relined by the existence of so theism pi e,iched from thousands of pulpits and credited lw inillions of cliev ets Is ilisprmcd by Auschw lesser oik. 1 ,
Many theists ako acknowledge that this argument is quite tOrmida ble. Harvard theologian G(,rdim I:anfman discusses its force: A major st umblin,y, Nock for contempt ware faith i. (iud remains: If there is a God, and he is loville, why is there such horrendous evil in the odd? Do not the facts of terror, pain, and unjustifiable sinleiing demonstrate either that Cod is nut prod- and therefore n o t oorthv our adoration and worship or that there is no God at alit... Exploration of the mr/ctics, and of e vil i n h tnn „ In lIe has become perhaps the principal theme of literature, art, and drama since World War 11, 4
Thus Kaufman admits that (E2) Large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions of evil exist can be construed to count against (G) An omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God exists. Again, it is not the sheer existence of evil per se that counts against the existence of God but the fact that there are so many evils that are Yen severe and present in patterns &king comprehension. 5 Formulating a reply to this ersion of the problem is difficult but not impo ,,sible for theists. Some theists ha\ e pointed out that i Ii a:gm -rent rests on an asstiniplion that the theistic deity N‘onld .111o\\ only certain :mounts, kinds, and distributions ole\ if. Yet it is hard to know how to establish how much evil is
for' In/WI.)
tor God t4,
1.1o\\ , in principle, Cc mid we establish this? The logic ot theism itsell . does not seem to generate am clear limit on the amount, t\ pc, and proportions of e\ il in the \N orld. It also does not appear that the n i restricted theteachings of Christian theology, which expand ism, contain some limit. We cc mid obviously appb; one theistic response to Version V here, saving- that God could allow quite a lot of evil, even very extreme evil, as long as it serves good purposes that
72 yrGramit,ws Epit God could not otherwise achieve. A second question that theists often raise regards how any finite person could ascertain that the present amount of evil in the world far exceeds the divinely set limit. These and other perplexing questions make it difficult to imagine how the atheist could ever establish such claims.' What are We to say, then, about formulation V? In spite of its difficulties, we should not dismiss V too quickly. After all, it is an attempt to articulate one of the deepest and most protound objections to reli gious disbelief. Expressions of this argument that describe concrete instances of suftering, for example, strike a responske choFd in many thoughtful people, believers and unbelik..:\ ers alike. The critic can eel-tainlv argue strongly that theism fails to explain the large amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions of evil in the world and that this is a prima Lteie good reason to reject theism. Further, critics can argue that \\ Hue er divine purposcs 2 )e I I , H - r ibte oils 01 o u r world allegedly serx e lutist be shown to be morally worthwhile if God is to be exonerated for permitting them. The debate o er Version V is vigorous and important. Theists typically argue that even quite considerable evil can be allowed by a morally perfect deity as long as it is necessary to either bringing about a greater good or pre\ curing a greater evil. They employ either defenses or theodicies that involve suggestions for what morally sufficient reasons God has or might have along - these lines. 7 Atheistic critics find faith in attempts to argue. that all evils have a point. nut this really brings us to the consideration of the next version of the evidential problem. Version VI has become a major Chem or h it Ii atheists and theists alike. We may refer to this version here as the eziyirmera 'Poiii/traiLlitori. (14/. Many critics 'a ho ad\ ance Version VI of the ex idential argument are willing to admit that the theistic deity might alix\ ast amounts, extreme kinds, and perplexing distributions (devil to exist. But they insist that God is justified in allowing the magnitude and profusion of ex il onl it i se' Cs some purpose. Cornman and Lehrer speak or "tiank.‘cessary c' Madden and I hare speak of "gratuitous evil," and Daniel 1 Toward ilvtler speaks of -pointless evil." So, it is gratuitous or pointless oil, if it exists, that provides crucial evidence against the existence of a supremely po'a erful, wise, and good God. We must now take a look at how the philosophical community has handled this argument from evil. ,
The 1Yob7c;" of Grain itous Evil
73
Analyzing the Evidential Argument from Gratuitous Evil William Rowe has provided the most widely discussed version of the evidential argument from gratuitous evil. In 1979, Rowe wrote: (RI) There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. (R2) An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. (R3) There does not exist an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being. 9 Rowe actually offers a concrete version of this argument by citing a specific instance of intense suffering that could have been prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse. Largely to avoid the Free Will Defense, he describes an instance of natural evil: A helpless fawn is trapped in a forest fire and suffers horribly for days before dying. Now, assuming that premise (R2) is held in common by most theists and atheists, the bulk of the controversy revolves around the first. premise. In providing rational support for premise (RI), Rowe states that the fawn's suffering is "apparently pointless" for "there does not appear to be any outweighing good such that the prevention of the fawn's suffering would require either the loss of t hat good or the occurrence of an evil equally bad or worse." In biter revisions of the argument, Rowe also borrows a case of suffering from Bruce Russell as an instance of moral evil! A five - ycat - old girl is raped, severely beaten, and strangled to death by her mother's drunken boyfriend. Rowe's two examples are now referred to as "the cases of Ilambi and Sue" and employed as two reasons to believe that gratuitous evil exists. Rowe argues, moreover, that even if we could discover that God could not have eliminated these specific cases of seemingly pointless evil without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse, it would still be unreasonable to believe
74
i bt-PioN :-/1/ yrG raIllito lts
En d
cesof'seeinin hi pointl s human and animal suffercccur have such a point Thus, Rowe believes he has proinductive support tOr premise . Rowe's argument has virtually been the paradigm the evidential argument from evil since the late 1970s. For present purposes, let us trim it down as föllows: (RI') Gratuitous evil exists (R2') If God exists, then !!,ratititous e (R3') Theretbre, God does not exist.
exist
The argument structure here is ob•ioush deductive. The support for prentise (RI') is inductive, making this version of the argnmcnt iron) eyi " e\ an evil We must understand • cpil (in ROWC'S WordS) that an omniscient being could have prevented witliout thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equal• bad or worse. A gratuitous evil, in this sense, is a state of affairs that is not necessary neither logically or causally) to the attainment of a greater good or to the prevention of an evil equally had or worse. According to this line of thinking, the oniv jfiCit'ill ciod can have fbr permitting any evil is that it must be necessary either to the attainment of a greater good or to the prevention of an evil equally bad or worse. -
The Appearance of Evil Many theists have joined the fray to rebut or mitigate the force of Rowe's lira pr emise and thus stop the argument from working. Some of them argue that the instances of apparently pointless evil that Rowe cites are not generated by t011ow ing proper inductive techniques, that is, that they are not part o r a repre s e n tative sample. These theists argue that we arc rationally justiiied in believing that there arc no goods that itistilv an evil only if we think the goods we kno•, of arc part of a rcpresentative sample. Obviously, in making many ordinary inductive judgments, the range of ale\ ant items in the sample falls within our range (4 knowledge looking all around the world and seeing many storks with red legs and ',hen c o n eluding that it is reasonable to believe that all storks have red legs). -
-
75 But Ste phen \Vykstra argues that the atheistic critic has no reason to
believe that finite human beings can have a presentati\ e sample of goods for the sake of which 311 omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good being would allow evil. To begin to understand the exact point of this objection to Rowe, \\e must underctand Wykstra's analysis of appears locutions. lc assumcs Rowe 11SC: , the term "appears" in what Roderick Lhisho:m cars the "epistemic" sense of the term. I hat k. it pertains to what we arc in dined to belie\ e when we contemplate a situation. Then, Wykstra makes a careful distinction in the different \N Al's that the word "not" functions in such locutions. He argues that Rm■ c's statement that -re dot's not appear to be any Ouly,ej:g 1 good" should not be interpreted as the Illll.lal premise in an .1112,11111Ctli rriffil ignorance, \\ hich is a blatant ftliao.. Ro\\ e's statement, as NV\ kstra correctI\ points nut. is better interpreted as meaning iliat appears that there is no outweighing good." 12 RM.\ Cti inference, then, nlav be understood as mo\ Mg from a proposition such as .
-
(42) It appears that
evils are connected to no outweighing
1.2,ochis to the proposition (43) It is reasonable to believe that some evils are not connected
to ow:weighinu goods. This reasoning has this general : (A) it appears (B) it is reasonable to believe that p.
p; therelOre,
Such an inference seems \,arranted by tlic Principle of Credulity e‘ pounded by Richard S\■111burrita: appcars to be the case (in the epistemic sense in appears"), then this ptnna iaeic justifies one in believing it iS the case." This principle is rooted in a widespread philosophical opinion that \Ne ha\ e generally reliable forminpt powers (e.g., perception, mentor', 1 that incline us nwvard -
certain belick in certain situations. Ick.- ording 0) NV\ kstra. however, the Principle (1-: Credulity does not quite provide the criterion we need. He argues that the epistemic relation that the principle posits between (A) and (I ) must meet the Condition of Reasonable Epistemic Access (CORNI-..\):
76
yrGramitolts
CORNEA: On the basis of (-ognitect situation s, hunhw II is cmilled claim It appears that p" only ti it is i...•sonabie tor H tO bcrieve iNair, nitive faculties am? the use she liainade of theni, tip were ;7:ken her not the case, s ■vould likely he ditferent titan it is in sonic ■N a\ cernible by her. IS -
In making an appears-claim, one assumes there is an evidential connection between w hat she is inclined to believe (i.e., that p) and the cognized situation that inclines her to belie c it 1"lov% ever, if it is not reasonable (or her to belies L.: that tlin c idential connection obtains, then she is not entitled to say, It appears that p." \V\ lo,tra argues that applying, ( ( )RN]' ...is IMal to Rowe's ise, for one is entitled to claim - this suffering does not appear by CORN .
al'Pears run to serve am\ Di` inch. irp scd "otweighing good" ol d s it it i s reasona ble to belte■ e that if such a L)is illek purposed eood eVist',, it would be within our ken. Bur it is not reasonable to beli e s e this, ...h.- cording to Wastra, since an inlinitel ss Re deityss (mid
certainly kin is of outvveighing goods that escape our finite understanding. We humans could not expect to know all the goods in virtue of which God permits suffering. They are beyond our ken. Thus, Rowe's claim that there appear to be no outweighing goods for much suffering does not meet the Condition of Reasonable Lpistemic Access. It such goods did exist. Wykstra claim', that we have no reason to think we would have cognitive access to then V:\ kstra contends that Rowe would have to show that if theism is true, then there is reason to think that see would have access to the all thc goods that enter into God's reasons for permitting suffering. Wykstra belies es th.lt the prospects for doing this are very i)leak. Since he maintains that belief in Cod's infinite kmiss ledge that c\cecds our oss it
is logically implied lw theism, the theist should r.Vpri'l that \‘e seould to see outv%eighing goods for many Cs
Accordini4 to Wykstra, We
theist li,is reason indeed to belicix that in many cases ol suffering, CORNEA is not met. but then he \much:1 s lio\\ Ro\xens claim that there appear to be no justik'ing ;. ;(iods connected to mans - es ils is supposed to be rational support bir the kes , premise than -
,
(RI) There e \ist instances of intense sul Cc:ring that an , omniscient b e ing c o uld iii' e pre\ ented without thereby josing Nome greater .1.7.:(xid or permitting some evil
equally bad or 55orse.
77,,,
"r (
nitoef.c Evil
77
If this premise dues not have adequate rational support, that is, if one not within her epistemic rights to belies e it, then it is difficult to see how it can serve as evidence ajrithisr t Ncism. in replying to Wykstra, Row e re i n forces his position that the fact that c arious evils appear" not to have outweighing goods is acceptable ra tional justification fOr his premise ( ). le clarifies that his original intention was to discuss SlandiriT1 thCiS111, which is the view that there is an omnipot cilt, omniscient, wholly good being who created the world. Within standard theism, Rowe distinguishes theism and exihd s m. Re s tricted theism is S'11 1CtIV 1.11C s tew that the being des,:yihed by standard theism exists. Expanded theism, how ex er, is the that this being exists, o )11 wined with certain other significant religious claims i.about sin, redemption, afterlife, and so nth 1. The essence of Rowe's response to NV\ kstra, then, is that kstr,i in t stakenh defends his own preferred \ crsion of expanded theism, w hk:rcas Raw c's original attack \\ niounted against restricted theism. WykStra S dctcnse. then, misses the point. It might work lir his particular xersion of expanded theism, but it does not help restricted theism at all. Rowe describes Wykstra's general strategy as an attempt to block his ability to affirm a proposition such as is
-
.
.
'
(44) It appears that the fawn's suffering is pointless that is, it appears that the tawn's sub tering does not serve an outweighing good otherwise unobtainable by an omnipotent. omniscient being. Rowe, of course, cites as justification for (44) the fact that we are unable to think (■fins good that exists or might come into existence that both outweighs the liwn's suffering, and could not be 'brained bx God without permitting that suffering. lithis is acceptable support or (44), then the es idential argument from gratuitous e5 il works. 11(1\1eler, \V\ kstra counters that %Me is not lo affirm (44) unless the follow ing prop )sition is true: ,
\Ve have no reason to think that were God to exist things would strikL: us in pretty much the same way concerning the fawn's suffering. Wykstra's objection tocuscs, then, on showing (45) to be false by supplying a reason to think that were the taw n's suffering actually to
78
End
God, things serve an outweighing good, otherwise unobtainable would still strike us in pretty much the same way—that is, we would he unable to think ()lam , outweighing rood or it. Rowe characterizes Wvksrra's reasoning in this way. Wykstra starts with the claim (46) God's mind grasps goods beyond our ken, and moves to (47) It is likely that the goods for the sake of which God permits stole! are, to a large extent, beyond our ken, and eoneItides \\
iih
(48) It is likely that many of the sufferings in our world do not appear to have a point—we cannot see \ hat goods justify God in permitting them. For Wykstra, then, proposition (48) is a "logical extension of theism," "implicit" in theism, and not simply an "additional postulate." )7 Armed with a version of theism that includes (48). \Vvksrra claims that the appearance that many instances of suffering do not have a point is exactly what we would expect if God exists. In other words, (45) is not true. Rowe agrees that standard theism implies (46) and that it also implies a proposition something like (49) God, allows the stii Ferings that occur in this world in order to achieve goods he could other ise not achie\e. BLit RiMs.'1igovously disagrees that restricted standard theism Implies that these goods, once they occur, remain beyond our ken.'' That is an implication of some versions 01 expanded theism, such as Wvk stra's, but not of restricted theism itself. Rowe maintains, then, that \Vvkstra's move from (46) to (47) is the heart of the difficulty. This move presupposes that the goods in question have not occurred or, if they ha N e occurred, remain unknown to us (in themselves or in their connections to actual sufferings). But re stricted standard theism, says Rowe, supplies 110 reason to think that
7br
FP.i1
79
either c alternatiN es is true. Perhaps, prior to their being realized, God's mind grays goods that we cannot imagine. This much seem deducible from standard theism. But this is no reason to think either that the greater goods in virtue of which God permits most sufferings come into existence in the distant future oi that once they do come into existence, we remain ignorant of them and their relation to the sufferings.'" Although restricted standard theism implies that God can apprehend nonactual goods prior to their occurring that lie beyond our ken, this is insufficient to lust Wykstra's claim that, if God were to exist, the surierings ir 1.n Orld Aould appear to us as the do. Rowe concludes, thereiOre, that Wxkstra has not supplied a con % incing reason to reject his e% idential claim: .
,
(M) There exist instances o intense suffering that an omnipotent, omniscient being could ha c pre, clued without thereby losing some g,reater good or permitting sotne evil equally bad or \Norse. Thus, for Rowe, a crucial premise in the evidential argument can be shown reasonable to believe, and the argument from gratuitous evil stands. Notes 1. See Alvin "11te Reformed Ohlection to Natural Theology." 11 1982): 187-198. See also Niellolas Wolter 5cho1a:•1,- l' sin ft, - The ligratiou ,d‘ the 'Iheisrie .\rguments: From Natural Theolo 12, ,, , In Evident -1.1.BI Apologetics, - in I■ntiomility, Rchilious Brlicf, am/ Coillwriiiic;ii, eds. I:Aker: .\u& arR1 William I. Wain'\r11.tly. (Ithaca: ( ( ersu Pres. 1))86 . , pp. 38 Rchlifio;/ .1.h.vhod (Hingham, Mass.: 1 George Kcidcl, 1977), p. 13. 3. Walter Kaufmann, Me Um-tic ,(..iarden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961), p. 139 (italics mine:. I. (_ ordon 11")) God.: 17 e (Cambridge, Mass,: Harvard 1972 pp. 171.• 172 ita!ies mina). 5„ Paul Draper ka, offered ':he iii ni sophisticated recent rendition of argument V in "Pain and Pleasure: \r Li idential Problem ii ii Thei ,as," iii .17.1e Arouiacia Danici Ho.aard Snyder Pre,s. 19 9 6), pp. 12-29.19 the early 1980s,1 introduced ,
,
17ir Pif07:-/o y rGrair i ii.ol t s1:1 17
80
,
the language of "amount," "kind," ,ind ltiNtribUCRIII int() ,i112 diSCUSSi(111 „Id juri d , the eviiiebtial arIpmcnt in ply Epil nail ti' Mich.: Baker Book I lone, 1982), p. 07. l'ek.r van Ilmagcn has inure ricentiV Used tilesc..1 concepts as the basis 101 ail article or the problem )1 . cvii, "
"
1)urn■Hri, mid 1)kirillulii
Sec
();
A Thcodicv,"
Phihisophic,;/ yr.,: 5 199 I I 15-16F . iruceRI.L Ncl .,tcknowicii :s of problem in "I'klenseless," 1/./c Eridenrial this n.vers,tv EN/. ed. 1).miel Howard•Snyder (Bloomilwon: Indiana L.'I 1990), pp. 194, 19911 6. Peter van. InN\ ;igen discussci the difficulties surnau:iding the argument over the amount and kinds o!vil in his "The Prohieii olEvil, the Problem or and the ft - obleni ol Silence," Pbilosvhical Fe electives (1991): 135. 1(6, especially pp. 140 152. ,
7, Such ,u arpralsal
,
,
the situation seeins more i;Itellek tually honest and -
)illisil h than deming that there really is as witch evil more philosophicallY mil:ally supposed. It oi that multitudes of people are i:;aly as unhappy as i s b e tt er for the th el st stInniv to aiinut ',here arc a I.:9'CM [11.1ny severe evilc in the \mild and Ihen to .,trgi.te th.li he emsti.mec of God i it h ey nreeluded nor macic unlikely thereby. The argument can be constructed either tiom
lora,: of essential theistic concepts (1 rrom the additional co! l ee pt s i ncl u d e d in some expanoc.1 Corn'. of theism that represented in a h\lilg tiiIl1EraditiOn, such as Christianity. Although such theistic rrialletiNei's seem reasonable, perhaps there i at fictni Illeamoimp;, kmds. ‘Nilii.211 the cv!tienlial least one Scilsc and ditillibilli()11 CVII destILICIRC 1() belic_ C. The arFitment clearly discredits belie( in a deity who place, a fe licito us iirnitation On the evils that human behms cut e\perience and about whom simplistic ma\ IlL iaben. 1101$, (Ile god. tit popular answers b,..4,ion ()flea peddled in the t' e u l liSiOriCai, orthodoN -,ca;lv is dead. 'I he burden, then, 111;:s upon the shoulders ol t hough ,. Cul Chrii , ti'an theists to articulate a o incept &God that is more sophisticated and prolOal RI ien pop-
ular theism envision,. /27:ei (No), York: Maondlan. 1970) p. 347: L. 1,‘\ aid
8. I. \•'. Cornman and Keith Lehrer, Mihisophical 1
/;',%r: (Id ;Oil
(.one,'/It fit (ion! ,,Springiield, Nladden ate Pelee Flare, Fri/ find harles C. Ihoinas, 1968 p. 1)anicl lloward-Snyder, "The Argument iron! Evil," in his 1.:ridciiti,11.:-.1;:grimenifli)ni &A/ Kimington: Indiana l'niversitv Press, 1996i., pp. 291 292. 9. 'William Rowe, "'I e Problem or Evil and S , )nic Varieties oi..Vheisin," Philosophic:11 Piraricil) 16 (1979): :,`36. I Jul c ehanl.t,ed nunibers A and added paremilieses to Rowe's argument in keeping with the convention for numbering used throughout tins hook. 10. Ibid., p.
7,
81
11. Ill (E3) Gratuitous evil esisis
counts as negati\ c eyiuence against (G) All 01116ipulc it. omniscient, \\holly g oct Ciod exists. ,,
negati\ u cviucntial vuFtivnsliip in (G) in which But what is tile (1- ...; ) stands? Bruce R,Issell (-Thins 111.11 there are realk: I \Yei ways o(conceivand the other a/1 i il/ft-11v. Alinct of this evulentiat relationship, one )11 acre, the reac:Ft\ encouragcd to though 1.1tirst.: this read 'Russell's - 1)efeitseles‘, - pn. 1.93 21:s. 12. Stephen \ 1:stra, "Ii:e Humean obstacle to h.% .\rgi::nents .
)rt A\ (tiding the ils 01 'Appcanme(, — hirri,i,iiio,vrt! /ou7111///.(s-opin.,)//:111/11.011 I o k198•1!: 81) 81, 13. Richard Sto.infitirtic, Pic /:\-1.(r,-, , iir ,),/ Gin/ (Oxford: Clarendon Prey... 197 9. . pp. 245, 254, TI. or example, s x ,41 1-,.;H or'a h e l le r 1 0 1 " mc d. on I h e b a -
sis of sensor\ e\perience: H I ,W 'the ship appears to be t n osing' 1 am sat, 1nt..1 that 1 am inclined that thc snip is that it s my precent sensor,. experienci"xhich leads me tit have this mclinaTion to belief" Sc: his (,'o/, p. 246. hor discussion of these otgnirivc powers and ihJ unction, sec .A.1 , in Plan:111ga. him Nesv N,an Oxford. 1...n1yersits Press, 1993). 15. \V\ kstni, "Ilumean Ohtstacle," p. 85.
16. Ibid.. I 7. Ibid., pp. 89, 91. 18. ‘Villiam Ross c, "1-1\11 and thi..! Theistic I lypothcsis: A Re s ponse to Rciiiiion 16 (198-1): 99. ksira, could_ 0, 19. R o(c tb,: a version of expanded theism :11,11 contiY.Ps a proposition snub as The goods for Hie NAC: Or nil: ()IA must permit suffering will be real-
ized only at the end. 01 the cold with standard theism, This ,, an n &expanded theism is no rendered unlikely by thc items that render cstricted theism unlikely. See ibid. ,
,
Suggested Readings Aj.st(11. "Thc In1(4,!\ c Argument from 1'..\ ii and the Human Cog flii ue ort1 i ion . Philosophirni ,:1991".: 29-67, Beaty, Michael D. "The Problem The L'ilast)ertid Questions Argument. Sominlyst P.T.;itos(ptiv.16:rien. 4 (1 9 88): 57-64. -
17h-PioN:-/o y rGramitol t s Ind
82
Chtzan, Keith. "Necessary (ratui)as Evil: An Oxyrno on RL visited." En ill) and Ph/Ion/thy ii (199.1! :: 13.1- 1$7. "AVilen ,Iliratiiitoiu, li\ :! Really Grmitilous?" lil lelli Inn/J/ Jon r nal fin° Pidio.wpin of Rclifinni 24 1988 Dore, C :einem. Does Suffering Serve Valuable Ends?" In 77 ,•1, /Ii. Reidel. 1984. drecht: Zit...dom./cal ,.1.strzi/s and th Feiliberu,, John S. 71),-.1/aii . v Lircs 1.1 Evil. (..;rand RTids. Mich.: tondervan, 1994. C:ambridge: C.unkridge L'inversit \ Press. Cie. m 1h Peter. Piorlit! T/c6 (1;7/i 1977, Hasker, William, "( hrzan on Necessary Gratuitous Evil." Faith arid Philoc6phy 12 (1995): 423-425. (1992): "The Necessity of Gratuitous Evil," Fah' ii Ph 23-44, . "P rov id e n ce and Evil: Three l'heorie s ," Rahlioits ,! ,tudics 28 (1992): 91-105. Gi)d of I o Pe. 2nded. New ! .-rper & Row, John, ,
,
.
-
-
.
-
-
,
1978, Howard-Snvdcr,
nie
Indiana 1. 'nivel sky Prcss, 1996, jour.qa/f):- Philofophy . "Seeing"! hrough CORN [A." nfRcloluii 32 r,1992 25-49. Madden, Edward, and Peter Hare. "Evil and Inconcluskeness." .(■ophio ii.‘tralia.1 II !. January-June 1972): 8-12. OConnor, Da'. id. "1Iasker on Necessary Gratuitous Evil," Faihr. Phihisophr I 2( 1995): 35(1 Pelersinl. Michael. Jail und 1/li' Tian God. Gr,ni,? Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book I louse, 1982. -( iod and Evil in Process TheoloL " Ii Pro:y ilicoh,oy, edited by Ronald Nash. (.;rand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book 1 lousk.., 1987, pp. 117-139, 'God and Evil: Problems of Consistency and (.■;atuiry,"janitiri/ of l'aincl.vipiiiy 13 11979): 305-313. . "Recent WOils. on the l'Ioblem of Evil," Aincii ca Pinh,sophi (di Ono ririk 2(1 1,1983 321 339, Pcierson, Michael, ed. /1.),- P!!iihrhi t ini itIiioi. Sdreteit R:!affiiia.‘. Noire Rune, -
,
,
Ind.: IThiverNil \! of Noire .1),une Prey,. 1091 Rruce PcierNon, .\1:e hod,
Basiiwr.
lichannts I(eief. All bliTill///Ciff'%! to the Phillisopla R:Adion. 2nd cd. Nei). York: C.)xiOrd 1.'imersitY Press, 1995, dup. 0, pp. 110 145, frc.un Evil," In Rn‘iinitriily. RoRo■■ I.. "The 1 ;.mirici il ;Incur, edited by Rube:': Audi and William C IVainv.right. Itha, a: Cornell U) 1.C Press, 1980, pp. 227- 247. -
-
77(c
83
Evil
Thcodic."Phillbophical liTirs 16 (Fall 198) k: 119-132. "Evil arid the 1 heistic Eivpozhcsis: A Response to S. J. Wyksira," In-
.
16 (1)84): 95--100. tt7Thrtiomil los'i? mil I'''' Pifilo.soplit of' R The 1'H ■Nent 611:0. In .Plilloyophy Evcino ,tr,sit'schtiorst, (:. ,Ii! ...1)ickcns611,1978,1.1). 79 95. . "The Prohlum 6i. Evil "',611e Varienes Atheism, .-11,71c,q72 Phihk(ophical (..)/1,17 tvviv 16 (1979): 5 .341. -R tim i nat i„ ns per.,-pydres 5 :1991't; 6O-NS. Evii. triid RuNsell. Po nce. "The Pcp-,Hent Prol)lc:n 6 (1989i: 121 139, rtrucc ,m(1 Stephen Wastra. "The `111‘lti5'live Ao.:urnent from A Dialogac. 1:9pi:sl11 (Fall 1988 1A.=,-160. Phi7((s()pli's. 10 Dulense.7 ./. 7ith Scnnett., J.ln1c 1 The 22(1• 22). NicktIlt:. 1hr (,/Cris';-(ioad Issay on itic 117, of Nett York.. Si. Aistutiti s .1693, Trail, lane NI:a v. 1;a11.1cies 1 t \b.;,liment from Gratuitonc Sulteri /he •en 19801: 585-5V_ van I1m.4...cn, Peter. "Tile Magnitude. Duration, and Diqribution oft. \ 1 A l'heodicv." Pbilucophiral Iupie 161.Fail 1988.,: 161 187, • "The Place ()if Clance in a NVOrld tins:ained (..loct" In .
.
7
,
.
-
-
-
7
.
.
-
-
,
.
.
-
,
-
Illomac V. Motris, Ithaca: Cornell University cd1: 1988, pp. 211 U. •rol.)1;.m or Air, and the Problem oi • - P!.(111cni 1k..nce." Philn.cqpitical.Pcrspcct/Pcs 5 (1991): 135-165. ft
This page intentionally left blank
6 The Task of Theodicy
The evidential argument from :.tratuitous evil is 110\\ idelV erect the most formidable objection to theistic belief. Clearly, arifi.rof against this as well as other objections front (bit is an important t‘ pc of' theistic response. Yet many classical and ointemporary theists ha,c responded in an altogetht:r different mode, These theists engage iii what has traditionally been called throdicv. The tern dens c' front the Greek tuc H (god! and dike justice i and k, as John Milum says, an attempt 0) "Instil\ the ways of God to man." Rather than propose niciiivpossibh. reasons (4)d night have tbr permitting evil, a theodicy seeks to articulate phinsible or credibir (Aph:/ivarloiis that rest on theistic truths and insights. Just its contemporary anah tic philosophers of religion have sharply distinguished the logical and evidential problems of evil, they also have carefully defined the strategic !Unctions of defense and theodiev. Although debate about the viability of theodiev continues, man\ interesting and ;Tint:cm:Jai theodicies ha\ c been adNaneed in the discussion of God and e\ il. I rcview henr discussions of the leasibilib of theodicy Then, 1 take a close 1(10k at Cour famous theodicies. from Augustine, (lott fried John I lick, and Allred North Whitehead,.
The Prospects for Theodicy Alost theistic responses to the argument from gratuitous el il re\ e around its factual premise, which is the claim that there is (or proba blv is gratuitous c\ il. William Rowe writes: "If \\c are to fault t his ar gument.... we must find some fault with its factual] premise."' Madden and Hare state that "the really interest ing problem of evil is 85
86
iht. Task ofThrodicv
whether the apparent gratuity can be explained away . or whether the gratuity [of evil ] is real and hence detrimental to religious belief. -2 Keith Yandell, a theist, insists that "the crucial question is whether it is certain, r at least more probable than not, that there is unjustified evil, ‘vhethe - natural or moral." 3 Almost all defenses as well as thcodicies based on standard theism react to the factual premise of the argument. Theistic defenses against the factual claim that there is gratuitous oil—such Wykst ma's. Alston's, and an Inwagen's 1 --typically cite the se\ ere cognitke limitations of human beings in relation to divine wisdom. According io these theists, stIch limitations bar the critic from claiming that it is reasonable to belie e that there are no offsetting goods connected to many e\ ils in the orld. The e a that tuft God Cod in allowin g e\ ii a re , they contend, beyond our ken, kno\\ ii to the divine mind but not to our imilils. Because 0! these same cog,niti\ e limitati(ms, man). theists ■\ ho oiler a defense declare thcodicv to be impossible or unnecessary or inappropriate. Some see the( )ducv as impossible because requires knowing the reasons ti)r evil that only the divine \\ iski ()in can know. Even it 11. Were not stnetiv impossible to 1(11011 Cods reas(ms tom c\ il, others would argue that theodicv would still be unnecessary becausc it usceeds k\ hat pure defense coupled with Reformed epistemology requires of the theist in the debate with the critic. Some even say that theodiev is inappropriate because it displays the presumption and arrogance of mere humans trying to probe into divine mysteries. Let us look at each (if these obiections in turn. A great many (:hristian theists, past and present, have not considered theodicv impossible. Most of them have not thought that formulating a theodicy requires knowing God's reasons for evil as though finite human beings could completely Cat hom the infinite diIle wisdom. Rat her, they conceive or the project of theodic\ as drawin!...t out the implications of one's theological position tor e\ ter all, religious believers commonly accept that the doctrines and teachings of their faith base implications lot all sorts ol important matters moral and spiritual irtues, the meaning of redemption, the purpose of human life, and so forth. So, it would be odd indeed to think that religious belie Ls have no implications whatsoever for understanding something so important as e' it in the 'a orld. In a sense, then, Christian theism already contains implicit theodical insights that may be made explicit and systematic. In fact, some Christian traditions forthrightly claim that it is (cid's good pleasure to give us at .
oriatiodicy
7.5c
87
least dim and partial glimpses of his general purposes, including his purposes for evil. (Here we simply ha\ e to recognite diff■.frences among Christian traditions oi what we are calling ersions of panded theism, and some are MOIC positive toward theodicv.)1Vhat ever degree of understanding of evil that believers achieve, then, provides a measure of theodicv. Thus, theodicv is not impo s sible. Not aft theists ag,ree with what we might ca he Reformed o bj ec respon -tionhedcv,w signatef his'only sibility in the debate NN ith the critic and offers a theory of how belief in God can he epistemically basic. Yet developing a theodicv seems completely justified to theists who construe the dialectical context of rational debate in a certain fashion. The theist might see himself not as asserting the isolated claim that God exists" but rather as assert Mu a o hole set, of logically interrelated claims regarding the divine nature and purposes. He might e\ en 11Micr Land the single claim larger interpren\ e sc h em e .11),!, "God exists" to be i nvested there re entailing all sorts of c.ither claims al ( ml God's ways with the world. He could maintain that the whole system of belief's that ,:onstitrite his understanding of theism offers an interpretation or human life and the world at large. I ke dialectic develops, then.when rime critic alleges that this theological interpretation has difficult\ c,fount ing for evil ate theist. responds by trying to elucidate and explain how his theological beliefs' make sense of evil. Here the critic is not being eccentric or unfair to request that the theist make sense of his own belief in (iod, particularlv by tracing out its ramifications tiir the issue of evil. So, when the et mtext of dialogue is conceived differently, theodicv is not unnecessary. Even if we grant that the believer may be entitled to accept be!ief in God as basic under certain conditions, it is naive to think that life's experiences will never ins he deeper reflection upon that belief, reflection that includes questioning as ■\ ell as reaffirming one's faith. When engaging i n t hi s ki n d o f h one st reflection, tho ug htful believers explore the implications of their unique particular (...hristian and theistic perspecti\ for a large number of irnp01'1,1111: issues moral crises, the worth of certain humanitarian projects, the hope of life after death, and tire presence of evil. Thus, it is quite legitimate for theists to try to formulate some reasonable fmderstanding of evil for themselves, and whatever understanding rho obtain moves them in the direction of theodicv. This activity need not be characrerited as exhibiting the haughty presumption that a finite human hewn can know the divine mind. Instead, to may be -
,
,,
.
.
-
T17• Task ophrodicy
88
seen as the process of "faith seeking understanding" jiiics g1if 1,7177.c intclirctuni). Hence, theodicy is not inappropriate. If tho)dicy is not impossible or unnecessary or inappropriate, then the WaV is open to discuss a variety of issues at the level of nietatbcodicy. example, how much conceptual work can or ought theodicv accomplish? 'filar is, can theodicy specify God's reason for allowing particular evils? Or should it aim at explaining why God allows the broad kinds of evils that exist? Must a theodicv rest on just one theme (e.g., punishment or character building)? Or can it wea■e together cral themes and insights into an overall picture of the sort of world G o d created and sustains? .And what role does our particular moral theory play in the creation ot theodicY? What difference does iimake, say, whether we adopt a consequentialist or a deontological moral theory: Vhere arc appropriate building blocks for theodicv to he found in restricted theism or in .,ouIc Nersion of expanded theism? 1-.1)\‘ these a id mom more related crocstions are settled1uetermiries the direction theodicv \'■ ill take. Without attempting to discuss these questions in detail, ler us say that all of the t h eodicies considered here tr) to ive some highly general explanations for the c\ ils we find in our world. Furthermore, since restricted theism provides very little material tOr theodicv, each of the tbllowing theodicies relies on some form of expanded theism adopted by the theodicist. In developing thHr theodicies, Christian theists extract themes from the Bit* and historical church teachings as well as insi,::)„In pre\ alent in the c(nrimunity of believers, thus tapping into a rich \ Cirl of ideas. Of course, various Christian traditions will yield different ihrms of expanded theism. The theodicist then reflects upon the various ideas axailable bin his tradition and conk r evil in the world. strues them in a kl a\ The m o o \ Jtion for :ho)dicv, of course, is that we do not readily sec the purpose of IliliCh (.!\if. at least a genera! account of if from a theistic perspecti\ c, then, oil appears pointless. Hence, we have the tOrCe of Rowe's first premise: -
.
(RI) There exist instances of intense suffering that an omnipotent, omniscient being, could Nave prey ented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally had or worse. Most theodicies therefore follow the strategy of specifying either greater goods that are gained or worse evils that are averted by God's
7i5c L.ykorThod1t.1 89 ,
permitting, o il. We may call this general approtk h "Greater-Good Theodicy." Greater-Good Thoidicv is, so to speak, the "parent," and in particular theodicies arc its "offspring "" The N,1110us offspring theodicies may specify different offsetting goods tbr the evils of the world, but they all agree in assuming, that the justification of God consists in specifying sonic greater good. The difference between a Greater -Good Defense and a Greater•t.iood Theodicv, of course, is that the former claims it is possibfr that some proposed greater good justifies evil whereas the latter claims that the proposed good in filet ju,iifles eyil.
Augustine's Free Will Theodicy The first 16111 formed thcodiev in the\A.,:estern world \\ as offered by St. Augustine, an earl \ Christian philosopher and theologian. In part, Augustine was rebutting \lanichaean Dualism, w, Inch holds that two equal cosmic powers, one Good and the other id ii, are at \var in the universe. hor Manichaeism, the Good power, which people worship, is therefore not absolute. For Augustine, hoe et -, the Christian worldview entails that God is absolutely sovereign o\er ill things and that no oil comes from him. St , Augustine undertook the task of showing how the disturbing and undeniable presence of evil in no \\ al* detracts from ood's total so\ ereignty. Augustine offers a comprehensive vision of reality that brings together several strands ( d thought. One of Augustine's central ideas is that God is supreme in reality and goodness. lie also believes that the unh erse—that is, the vt1'.ole (tr God's creation is good. Only God has the power to bestow being upon finite creatures, and God only creates good things. All oi the creatures in Goci's creation, then, are wid in their essence. \ugustine embraces a recurring theme in West ern philosopin : the Iin.„,age of being and goodness. I le re lu tist understand "being" not as bare existence" ii.vhich does not admit of -
degrees but as haxing more or less intensitx" On the sense, say, that a poetic genius fixes more intensely than a simpletitn). Intensity ad wits a degrees. in Augustine's terminology, everything Is sonic de glee of "measure, form, and order,' \‘ inch is its proportio nm of being. -
Just as God's being is infinite and absolute, so his goodness is infinite and unsurpassable. God's creation is rich and variegated, tilled with all lc\ els of being, and the goodness of all things is correlated to the degree of measure, tOrm, and order he has given them. On the scale of created things, an artichoke is more valuable than a rock, a gorilla
90
Ta OrtiV i
is more valuable than an artichoke, and a human being is more \ alu able than a gorilla all because of their relative degrees being. 9 Evil, then, trom Augustine's perspective, is not a thing, not a being. Although evil in human experience can be very powerful and profound, evil does not, at least metaphysically speaking, represent the positive existence of anything. Evil simply does not exist in its own right; it is not one of the constituents ot the universe. Rather, it is the lack of reality and thus the lack of goodness. Pat another way, evil en ters creation when created beings ce.t. ,,c to function as they were created to function by nature. I vil is Nils met aphvsical dcprivation, priation, or degradation. Augustine's term ■(,r e\ii is p i .ip n ii,„/,„ fl i (pri\ ation of good ). 1 or Augustine, c\ it enters creation throuuli the misuse ot finite tree `04 Fle attributes all oils, both natural and moral, to the \\ ning choices ()Circe rational beings. [his oil choice is "sin in theological language. Augustine's interpretation of ( Ihristian teachings leads him to assert that, first, a company of ati!. ,;(.‘ls Inonembodied rational lire beings ) rebelled against God and that this rebellion was then replicated in humankind (embodied rational free beings). In order to explain how free rational creatures \\ 'licit represent a very valuable kind .)lbeilig can fall away from God, Augustine appeals to the classic Christian doctrine of "creation out of nothing" (ucatio cv Since creatures are brought into being "out of nothing," they arc "mutable" 1)1. changeable. Only God, the Creator, is "immutable" or unchangeable. although the finite rational creature is originally good, it has the capability for sin. This line of thought clearly gi \ es rise to the una \oidable dilemma ofaccounting kgr how an unqualifiedly good creature can commit sin. On the one hand. ir the creature is perfect according to its place in the scale °living, then It s dii'Lull to em ision moo It \\ oold commit sin. On the other hand, c" the creature is mitialk flawed and thus This commits sin, it is ditticult to see how to o n cl ai e G o d dilemma arises with rt.‘garki to human creatures; it arises \\ fill respect to angtHic creatures as s‘ ell. FriedriCII Schleiermacher pressed the point: "The more perfect these good angels arc supposed to have been, the less possible it is to find any motive but those presupposing a fall already, e.g., arrogance and envy." 10 Unable to find a satisfactory logical solution to this difficulty, Augustine e\ entually retreats into the "mystery of finite freedom." Somehow, the free, originally good creature originated an evil act. That is a great ":11yst-cry." -
-
Plc
ornoidicy
91
Of course, the classic Christian belief in God's omniscience entails that God knew betore the act of creation that the creature would sin. So, God bears the ultimate responsibility for the creation of beings that he knew would, if created, frecb fall into sin. Augustine ad dresses divine responsibility ill creation by developing a conception of sovereign predestination. In Adam, the wholc human race Ninned. since the race was - seminallY present" in his N uus thus, all of humankind is guilty of sin and subject to condemnati( -1n. Yet in God's soveycign grace. w llich is to us a lilt sten, some .ire predestined to salation tt hue the rest of humanity is allowed 1 ■ recci■ c its just punishment: - God leads some in mercy and repentance, and others in just judgment does not lead,"' The co \ creicn election of some to salvation is due to God's mercy, not to their ow n merits. Thus. Atu2,ustine subsumes the mystery of tree 'ill tinder the mystery of predestination. Or Course, many important queslions deserve more thorough discussion than I can provide here or exainple, whether the concept of free will needed to it \\ ith concepts of divine Jim:knowledge and predestination is adequate to the reality of significant human freedom, whether a moral critique of God's apparent arbitrariness in predestination is de\ astatiug, and so on. .,Nt this point, howc.'\ er, I must be content with laving out a few more important themes in Augustinian theodicy and then evaluating it in light of the concerns of this book. The larger perspective of Augustinian theodicy is not complete without including what Arthur Lovejoy calk "the principle of plentitude.' - ' , ' This theme, which held sway in Western intellectual history from Plato to I :eibniz, ens isions the \\ Me Inlit CI'SC as a complex and Nariegated oreer of different kinds of created beings, from least to greatest, each kind exhibiting its own unique qualities as Well as 111111..111011S. In the hands of :\ il , 2,ustine, this metaphysical inteTretation asstiines that God 1;110 .0s thu ii is go od to fill every level otere,it ioii. Hp and down the scale, with finite beings, making creation rich and full. The principle of plentitude helps to account 1(.)r what we call "evil" due to creatureiv finitude. Perhaps the final key that makes Augustinian theodicv fall into place is what John Hick calls the "aesthetic theme.- I This is the assumption that the \\hole of creation, even including- those aspects we call evil, is good w hen seen from God's perspecti% e. Related, of course, to the idea of the universe as a graded diversitv, the aesthetic theme is used by Augustine to stress the "beauty" and "fitness" of the .
92
lt,f 7ri7A '7iiridiC 1
. ,
universe seen as a whole, So, the uniquenessof each grade or kind of finite creature is somel-u.ow comIplementary in an overall scheme that is harmonious, beautiful, and balanced in the sight of Co,i. The deter minate characteristics of each kind of creature, then, betoken its place in the great chain of being (e.g., the swiftness of the cheetah, the beauty °Ca giant sequ4)ia), as do its limitations (e.g., the pig is not as beautifill as the peacock, the dog does not live as h ng as the elephant!. It may seem that the aesthetic emphasis here explains natural evil better than it does moral e, il. Yet Augustine oh\ iously extends it to cover moral evil reference !o Justly desen, ed., properly proportioned punishment that settles accounts for wrongs that were done. Atigir,tine sees even the fall of the human race and the damnation of sinners as subsumed under the "perlecti(m" and "beauty - of the universe .t.. s t a t es: "F,),.- as the beau ora pi, t ure is iiicreased by \Veilmana12.- cd shadows, so, to the eve that has skill to dis,:ern 11, the universe is beautilied even by sinners, thouli, considered by themselves, their detOrmity is a sad blemish."'" rhe result of pressing the aesthetic theme to the fullest is that everything,. ill God's creation contributes n the beauty and appropriateness of the whole even natural and mural evil. 17 "If it were not good that evil things exist, they would certainly not be allowed to exist h the Omnipotent Good.” 18 Clearly, the upshot of Augustinian theodicy is the denial of the factual premise of the argument from gratuitous evil. Everything in the universe sen es the higher harmony of God's sovereign desi. ,,n. There is no state of affairs without which the universe would have been better: "Cod judged it better to bring good out of e\ it than nut to pert any evil to exist ." 19 All evil serves a greater good.
Leibniz s Best Possible World Theodicy 6.11.fried on Leibnii, (1(46-1716) is the onlv thinker ineluded in the present study \\ ho has written a book explicitly entitled Throdicy. 2 " Leibnizian theodiev seeks u> demonstrate that God cannot be blamed lor the existence of e\ in the world, since this world is the best of al p■)-,siHe worlds. Leibniz's argument utilizes the concept of a "possible world - that was introditCed in Chapter 3. Technical] \ speaking., a possible woild is a total possible state of affairs, a complete universe with past, present, and future. Possibility here, as defined in C:hapter 2, is broadly logical possibility. lnr I eibniz, God's
Plc
ornoidicy
93
omnipotence ensures that God has die power to actualize any possible world he chooses From among, an infinite number of eternally fixed possibilities. God"s perfect goodness, \\ itch wssays and unerringly acts for the best, ensures that he will choose to create the most saluable possible world. And God's omniscience ensures that he understands all possible worlds that he could create, accurately calculates their worth, and identities the \ cry best uric. So, the theistic concept of God entails the conclusion that whatever world exists is indeed the best of all possible ones. Of course, no creaturely reality can be tot alls perfect, and at least in that sense, reality will contain some o ii i.e.. "metaphisical According to Leibnit, God's goodness and pow er guarantee that he will select that possible world from among ai. other alternatis es that ‘..-irritains the optimum balance of gin id and es il. Some interpreters of Leibni/ mistakenly think in. maintains that God brought about that world containing the least amount ol evil commensurate with there beitv.; A. world at all. How ei er, a more correct interpretation. of L c ib nit is dint he envisions God actualizing that possible world that contains the amount of evil necessary to make the world the best one on the whole. And Frankly, this may not mean actualizing the world that has the least amou,Fit cut evil. It may mean bringing about a world that has a great mane evils in it but evils of such kinds and arranged in such ways that they contribute to the world being the very best one possible. As Leibniz says, the actual world contains those possible states of affairs - which, being united, produce most reality, most perfection, most significance." -' Sometimes he employs an aesthetic motif, reminiscent of Augustine, indicating that mere quantitative maximalizat ion is dull and uninteresting_ that God seeks to produce richness and quality in the world. In the process of comparing and es alto: rig all possible worlds, God tOresees the natural and moral evil the contain. iie chooses to actualize that world whose various constititents—esen Is evil constituents make it the best on the hole: "Not mils does [God deris e troni [oils I g ICO I Cr 1400iik: , IC d S them connected with the greatest goods 4311 those that, are possible: so that it would be a fault not to permit thein." 2 :' Simply put, all the oils of the world contribute to its character as the best of all possible worlds: "If the smallest evil that comes to pass in die world e ere missing in it, it would no longer be this world; which, with nothing omitted and all allowance made, was found the best by the ( :realm who chose it."24
94
77)1. Tast, ol'ihrodicy ,
There are many points of serious philosophical interest in Lcibniz's thcodicy for example, its conception of the relation between divine omnipotence and human free will, 25 the standard of value according to which this possible world is the "best," and the prospect that it impugns God's power that he cannot make a better world than this one. Yet the point of central interest for us is this theodicv's bearing On the factual premise of the argument from gratuitous evil. Leibnizian thcodicv is tantamount to a denial of the factual premise. The evil that exists is indispensable to the \attic of the universe considered as a whole. Leibnit's Ai - pm -lent is not an empirical one that starts with the evils that act tially c ist in the world and argues that they contribute to the best attic ()Idle whole. Instead, the argument starts with Several crucial assumptions about God's attributes and purposes, xvIiik:h are taken as axiomatic and 55 hich yield a demonstration that this world must be the best one possible. It is a \\ orld that contains no grato itous evil.
Hick's Soul-Making Theodicy Although St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, Leibniz, and other traditional thinkers may be seen as following in the broad Augustinian tradition in theodicy, there is another major approach to theodicy that also has roots in Christian antiquity. This type of thcodicy can be traced to Bishop Irenaeus (c. 130—c. 202). The most articulate contemporary proponent of Irc,laean theodicy is John Flick, and it is his presentation that we will examine. The main difference between the two traditions may be plainly put: Augustinian theodicy looks back to the fall of a good creati,in through the misuse of human freedom; n fir the 1retaaean theodicy looks to the future in terms of God's pla ui development of humanity. I low(' \ (-, the ostensible aim of trenacan theodicy is the same as that of Augustinian theodicy: to relieve God of responsibility tOr es il. Ico..)rdingni Hick, Adam, the iirst human, and the test ul the original creation were innocent and numature, possessing, the privilege of beotiming good by kr, lug God and fellow creatures, 1:',iAt it would be an em )r to hold, as Augustinian tlicodicv does, that original innocence can be equated with original perfection. Indeed, it is not at all clear that God can instantaneously create morally mature persons, since moral maturity almost certainly requires struggling, grappling with temptation over time, and prohably participating in evil. But
(:\ en if God c(iuld create by fiat a morally mature human person, Hick says, "one who has attained to goodness b■ meeting and es entually mastering temptations, and thus by rightli, making responsible choices in concrete situations, is good in a richer and more valuable sense than \v(mld be one il'k.',1tCd ill /ill) in a state either of innocence or olvirtue. -'-' lenee, evil as 'ac know it is explained not as a decline from a state of pristine purity and goodness but rather as an inevitable stage in the gradual growth and struggle of the human race. I lick also states: "I suggest . . that it is an ethically reasonable judgement, eNcil though in the nature of the case not one that is capable or demonstratke proof, that human goociness slowly Htilt up through personal histories H' moral efforl has a \ alue in the eves of the Creator \\ Inch justifies ei,en the long tra\ ail of the soul -making process.”2 Thus. Iminamt‘ io as not created perfect but is in the pI ( Cess( being perfected. Hick labels his In:wean-type approach son/ he(iise it paints a picture of God's grand scheme of helping relati\ ely immature hinnan being s become morally and spiritually mature. The \\ odd we inhabit is an en\ ironment designed to promote God's plan of soul making. .11a ironment condi:Li\ c to personal MTh must be (me in \\ hich there are rcal challenges, real iipportilnities foi the display of icoral virtue, and real possibilitles for expressing faith in God. A major component of this environment is community of moral agents who interact in a variety of special ways deciding on the kinds of relationships they will have, hat projects they will putsue„ ind how they will live together. Another component is a physical or d er of imp ersoll . 1 1 objects that operate independent oi‘ our vi atoms and molecules, fields ocean currents, biological cells, and innumerable other physical things. 011\ iously, in this kind ( )1 envir)nment, there ,11 e opportunities t develop ni nil character as \\ ell as distincti\ eh spiritual qualities. li.quath ob\ iouslv, in such conditions there is the gonuine risk of (nil (il' railure and ruin, guttering and injustice. Interestingly. ITick even ( eems inj..)4}rtant the: the \\ u 'ld appear as if there is no God, and evil certainly plays an miportant role in Iiirming this appearance. For Hick, the pinentialk atheistic appearance of the \\ odd create "epistemie distance bet een creature and Creator.'s He thinks th,vs, if the presence of God were impressed too forcefully upon human consciousness, people \\ ould readily acknowledge that God ex ists and authentic faith would nor he possible. So, God has to conceal -
-
, .
-
-
-
-
96
TIE. Task of 77wo d iv -
his presence from us, having in important dual effect. On the one hand, epistemic distance has the effect of making it virtually inevitable that human beings will organize their lives apart from God and in selfcentered competition ■vith their fellow human beings. Thus, our state of Niel -mess represents the way we huntans were made, not a descent from a prior state of holiness. On thc other hand, epistemic distance has the result of making room for sincere, uncompelled acceptance of God's gracious invitatkm to a lite of faith and trust. 29 Within the general frame:\ urk of an I renaean vision of soulmaking, Hick laces the realities of evil and sullering in human lite. In regard to inoral evil, I lick says that the possibility olIvrong choice and action is necessary to the kind of world that is conducke to persona l grow th. I Ic i s \ oili ng to agree with NIackie. Hew, and others that it k ioilicallv possilde that God could have created tree finite beings who always dc.> w hat is morally right. But then he einphasiies that the spiritual diniension requires the treedom either to reject God or to come to Accordi n g to Christianity, the divine purpose For men is not 'ii] chit that they shall freely act rightly towards one another but at they shall also freely enter into a filial personal relationship with God Himself. There is, in other words, a religious as well as an ethical dimension to this putp()SC." It is re it ton.ship with God, then, that uLikes it /qtfically impossilde for God to have so constituted humans that they freely respond to him, manifesting love and trust and faith. So, Hick's argument is that God created the world with the possibility of moral evil (or sin, from a theological perspective) as the kind of environment in which humans could exercise authentic faith in him as 'a ell as manifest love and virtue toward their Cello:vs. In regard to pain and sullering, Hick argues that it is rational to recognise the value of a tN odd ii physical obiects operating by stable natural laws. In such a world, bt)th pleasure and pain arc possible for the sentient creatures inhabiting it. But he turns this feature of the world into fodder lhr his soul-building thesis, e \plaining that a paw:free, soli, unchallenging 'a odd would be inhabited by a soft, unk. - hallenged race of free being,s. Hick then distinguishes "suffering" (as a qualitatively unique psychic state) tr( m - pain" as a physical state). Though pain may sometimes be the source (..)f suffering, it is not always or even usually so. Suffering is a distinct and very profound human phenomenon. Hick defines suffering as "that state of mind in which we wish violently or obsessively that our situation were otherwise." This state of "
mind can be as o.»riplex and high-level as the human mind itself related to regret and remorse, to anxiety and despair, to guilt and shame, or to tile loss of a loved one. Even what makes, sav, a terminal illness produce suffering is 11( )1 011ft the physical pain involved but the anticipation ()floss. \o'4\ ,:uftering or anguish is usually self regarding in focus but is sometimes other regarding. flick anributes sufferinL.,, to sin and its consequences for our improper attitudes toward our own finitude, weakness, and mortality. Sin keeps us frolu being fully conscious of God .And lilunbly and jox hilly accepting his Link ersal purposes ibr good. Again, just as ph\ sical pain is an ingredient ()fa \\ in ‘.,hich thc soul-building purposes of God can Ne carried oJi., so suffering is also a feature nr such .1 world. It prompts human beim,gs to search for the deeper meanings ot their eNistenee, helping prepare them for mutual scr, tie to each other amid suffering and for turning to God. Niuch of Hick's argument re' ok es around the instrumental (teleoloLT.ical) value of the of this ‘■ odd: Bi■th natural and moral ex ils contribute to the sotil making process. Hick assumes that he has w on the point that a hedonistic paradise or at least a world without sig, niticant challenge and opportunity does not c(mtribute to solid moral character or authentic religious Faith. It seems that a consider able amount of rnailv kinds of evils would be noiLssary to any world that (4 ,u.ld be an environment for soul-making. Whatever amounts and kids arc neeessarv, then, arc not gratuitous but just Hied in the sense we nave been discussing. At this point. it appears that Hick is ready to deny the tactual premise of We argument from gratuitous evil, since he h bxiously identified ninth evil that serves a good purpose. Pni then F lick asks the haunting question regarding v, h‘ (dud alItm s - k.11 steleological that is, those e\ ifs thai. ,tre excessixe and go beyond anything rationally regniied ola soul-making process: -
Need e world contain the more exireillc and crushing cl \Ain't:11 it in fact e(ifilains? Are not liFels challeres often so se\ CO. as to be sell clefealing w hen considered as soul •making influences? Man rmist let suppose' cultivale the soil Si) as to V in his bread by the .sv■ cal ut his brow: but need :herene he vuantc lamines, lift example in China, Ilave so miserably perished?..l'i from whicH ,
,
Hick states that it would nave been better it . such events had never happened, 32 an admission that seems to embrace the fact of gratu.
98
Tk 0f1hrodicy
itous evil. Then he moves on to ask how, from the standpoint of Christian theodicv, we can address the utterly destructive evils in our world. Why does this world seem less like an environment for soulbuilding and more like a cold and indifferent, if not outright hostile and malevolent, place:. 1 Hick ultimately says that the excess and random character of much evil is mysterious to us. \Vc sec no constructive purpose ft fr It. But then he begins to bring even dysteleological or excessive evil within the ambit - ot si,n1-making theodicy, saying that ex en the mystery of dysteleological exI has soul making value. He argues that the human misery in this `a ()rid calls il» - th deep personal sx mpathy and energetic elibrts to l le contends that unless the sulIk•ring is really wideserk ed and actually had tor the sufferer, k‘w e k‘ ould not ha \ e such desirable and k aluable passionate reactions. l le also argues that, in a kk mild where suffering and prosperity kk ere exactlk roporti( wed to desert, we would lose the moral 4..11 lronnIcnt in which persons do \k hat is right simply IOr the sake of what is right. Instead. persons would act prudentially so as to bring about the most fax ()rabic consequenck.7s for themselves. So, by the end of his treatment of dvsteleological evil, it is not clear that the evil remains dysteleological. In the end, there is no gratuitous evil fbr Hick because all evil serves a pur pose. He says that God permits evil to "bring ()III of it an even greater good than would have been possible evil had never existed.'"•' 5 A study of Hick's Irenacan version of theodicy would not be complete without analvzin g, his vk'W Of lit after death as the continuation of (rod's plan of soul iwaking. Flick argues that God's plan is the Unis ersal salvation of all persons, a pnwess that extends beyond earthly existence and into the afterlife. For those people who, for whates er reasons, depart mortal lire ilhout having achieved the proper degree of in and spiritual maturity or soul hood, one might say), God pursues hi s same objectik e for them in the lire to come. %Fier all, s(iinc o : th ese p erso n s v‘ou l t f h a ve been am o ng th o s e who s u lt e red terribly and v, hose lix CS ‘t k:rc snuffed out kk ithout a lair chance to mature along moral and spiritual lines. So. God continues his eftbrts in u is or exercising lose and till* until all the afterlife, pro\ iding persons are brought into the ilea\ enly kingdom. He notes that the 1111h er s al salvation ot humanit\ is not a 14 T,ical necessity within IretiCall theology but is a "practical ccrtaintv. -7'D This affirmation of divine persistence completes the pt ogressive, developmental, and eschatological orientation of Irenaean theodicy.
.1.7 11 'Th . * of
-
,
99
In the final analysis, then, Hick is not able to admit the existence of gratuitous evil. On this point, ironically, Irenaean theodicy falls back into agreement with Augustinian theodi;, \ Hick s.1\ s that "the Kingdom of God will be an infinite, because eternal, good, outweighing all temporal and therefore finite evils." .' 7 Interestingly, whereas Augustinian tneodice argues for the possibility of evil in a theistic universe, I lick uses Irenaean theodicv to argue tOr its actuality being necessary to the kind of theistic universe he describes. so, Irenaean Iheodic■ places the responsibility for evil OF ( ;Od 111 least as strong a sense as .kugustinian theodicv does. Yet in relation to the fulfillment of God's purpose, "nothing will finalk ha\ e been sheerly and irredeemabl\ evil. For everything w iil receive a fleW Wei fling in [he light oldie end to which it I lick's contribution to the ongoim& discussion of God and oil is an important one. I ic inust be commended for not denyin-, the reality of•the oil in the world by saving that it oni 11 from our finite perspectike. Although he tries t,) face e\ en the in hcirrible and excessiN c e\ ils, his theodicv cannot ultimatehy recognize really gratuitous evils. 1-:\en though, tbr Hick, it \\ 'kt ithin God's pi ,wet to make a world signiticanth like this one but without (.1\ steleologieal such a world would not have been as conducive to soul making ,As is this \\ orld. Thus , contrary to other remarks he makes along the wav,..'" in the end Hick comes very close t o arguing that our \\ arid , even with its most extreme evils, is the best possible one for achieving God's purpose of soul making. For those whose intuitions run counter to this conclusion, perhaps w c must say that it comes down to differing conceptions of goodness and what goodno5 would do regarding things that arc within its power.
Whitehead' Process Theodicv Each of the theodicies I have surveyed so Li• has ended up rejecting the factual premise of the argument from gratuitous oil. Yet sonic thinkers do not believe that denying gratuitous evil is a satisCactory response to the problem, although they see such a denial as a logical consequence of classical theistic, commitments. lhey seek to de\ clop a viable theodicy based on an alteritati ,,c ‘, - )ncepti,in of deity. One important alternative to classical theism is found in the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Process philosopkv assumes a different metaphysical picture of reality than does much traditional
The Task of 7hrod
100
philosophical thought upon Nyhich classical theism rests. Process thinkers such as Charles Hartshorne, John Cobb, and David Ray Griffin --have employed process concepts to articulate what is commonly known as process theism and its implications for theodicy. They claim that process theism retains the strengths of classical theism while avoiding its weaknesses and that there arc clear hem:fits to theodicv. Process thought is based on a view of reality as becoming rather than being, which is a direct reversal of the traditional approach. It is nut surprising, then, that he central theme in process theodicy is the concept of change, de\ elopment, e\ olution—both in the creaturely wo dd and in G o d ( ; vat ure , c COnNdOliN, e\ er-changint2., centers of acti itv and eyerience rather than relati\ de enduring substances: 4 o God. tOr process thought_ has two natures: Primordial Nature and Consequent Nature. God's Primordial Nature contains all c_ernal possibilities for how the creaturcly \\ or1 ,1 (an advance; Cod's .onscquent Naturecontains the experiences and responses of creatures as the choose to actualize some of these possibilities in their lives. As Gods (:onsequent Nature changes in response to events in the creaturely \\ odd , God also ma\ be said to change or to be in process not something that classical theists would say of God. Although process thinkers deny that they hold a pantheistic \Norld\ iew, the intimate and reciprocal ontological relationship benw cen God and the world is obvious. Process thinkers have labeled their position "panentheism," which affirms that the eTcriences of the world arc included in God.- 11 One key point in process thcodicv is the rejection of the classical concept of divine omnipotence, which process thinkers lind Madequatc and laden \\ it:h fallacies. Pr cc' theists deny that God has a monopoly on )o\ver or is "infinite in power," as tradition1 theology at firms. Since finite CrC,11111'C'S are also centers of power (or - treedom" or "sell-determination"), they can bring about new state, of albirs that God cannot c(mtrol. Although traditional theisms typically en\ i sion God choosing to bestow some deg,ree of significant freedom oil creatures, the process version of freedom is rooted in We 1. cry struc,
ture of reality, with each creature haying the inherent power of selfdetermination. This power enables creatures to choose good or evil possibilities for their lives. God's power, then, can meet real resistance from creatures. Thus, we may say that God has all of the power that it is possible for a being to have but not all of the power that there is.
Plc
ornoidicy
101
This marks a clear parting (if the \\ ays with the classical concept of
omnipotence, \\ Inch process theists criticize as monopolistic and totalitarian. 42 According to process thinkers. God's chief goal for the universe is the realiyation and maximi/anon of value in the experience of crea timely realities. Important values here inelude nox city, ercati\ itv, ad venture, intensity, complexity, and so forth. But God's power must he vie ed as pcisitirszi‘e rather than coricire. God tries to "persuade" tir "lure - creatures toward the good and awayfrom ex il, but he cannot fork.- c them to choose the good. Process thinker David Ray Griffin states that (.;od carioca eliminate evil because "Cod cannot unilaterally effect any state )faffairs." 1 .2 Instead, God oliers persons possibilities for the realization of good in their experience. When negati e t"c....\ experiences occur, threatening to dm art the kik.ine aim. God simply ofILH -, new ideal possibilities that are adjusted to 11hat has alread' happened. Again, creatures ti - eel respoild„ind again. God of= krs new possibilities. SO goes the e oltitic cii of the uorld as (;(),1,-ontinually creates increased order and :.igniticance out or aboriginal chaos and trixiality. Since finite creatures are always perishing, process theodicy affirms that God is continually storing up their experiences in his Consequent Nature. All positive and negative (...periences arc ultimately conser\ ed and harmonited in God's own conscious life. Thus, all things can he said to work out all right insofar as God "include[s] in himself a synthesis of the total universe." In his function as "the Kingdom of Heaven," God brings about a kind of synthesis of all carthlx experiences but does not unilaterally rectift all c‘ils. Tx pically, process thinkers have not conceived of "personal immortality" or "lilts alter death" as central to the defense of GI Kr, goodness against the problem ot . evii, as traditional Christian thinkers sometimes do. There is also no final, definitive, eschatological culmination of all things. Thus. for pro1/4 ess thinkers, the continual, ongoing synthesis of all experiences in God's own conscious life is the basic hone tbr the triumph (if good and the redemption of the world. Process theism has ti.irced classical theists to relhink and reline their fundamental concepts: 1-6 but classical theists as well as tivrue nontheists have also raised a number of serious objections to process thought. For example, the process attack on the classical 0 incept of divine power has been said to rest on pure caricature that sets up an oversimplified "either/or" distinction between coercive and persua,
102
1 he Task of Thro d icv
sive power. It is probably wiser to admit that there may be a range of modes of divine p(twer, such as "productive power" or "sustaining power" or "enabling power," many of which are compatible with moral persuasion. 47 Another topic :.bout which there is vigorous dis • cussion is divine goodness. Some classical theistic thinkers declare that the process concept of God's g(todness is fundamcntallY aesthetic rather than moral. If the aims of the process deity arc to make crea••• turely experience richer and more complex, even at the cost of pain and discord, then there is the risk of violating many ordin.tr\ moral principles. Most classical theists understand that their own position denies that God could he inorallv perfect if he caused or allowed sufterin , 2t in order to attain merely aesthetic awls. Process theists have replied that their conception of aesthetic %attic is a largi."1", more indtlske category than moral \ attic. Hanging on the out:oine (4! this dispute, of cotiv ,.;e, is die question ot v,liether God is worthy tf worship. Putting these and ()titer questions aside tin- the moment, let us focus on how process thought. relates to the e' idenual argument trom gratuitous evil. It would be difficult to think of another tradition in theodicy that tries to come R) grips more squarely with what appear to be gratuitous evils in the world. In its analysis of the concept Of power, process metaphysics makes room for really gratuitous evils. TItese are es ;Is that Cod does n u )rdain, cannot control, and cannot necessarily make right. Now, in order to admit the existence of such evils, at t he \ en least, process theists have radically overhauled the n concept of divine pf over. They m aintain that the tradi r.ona. te.st.c classical concept of omnipotence leads logically to the denial ofgratuitous e\ ii and that their alternative concept of divine o vel' allows us to acknowledge its e\istence. In our brief sun CV 0; tho ,d ides, it may seem that process thought has pushed us to a dilemma: Fidler we can retaln classical cate:.,I,ories and C 1 k the. existence of gratuitous evil or we can adopt rwocess categ,ories and accept gratuitous e\ il. In a sense. process Ine(tdicv defent.ls theism ar-tinst the al glillient win gr,anil01.1`.; 0\1! by modifying theism--by opting "quasi • theism," as it has been called. Thus, in terms if the historical disussion, the critic asks how classical theism deals with what appears to be gratuitous evil in the world. The process theist responds by conceding that classical theism cannot handle gratuitous evil and thus must be rn(tdified along process lines, Of course, for those theists who agree that there is something to the claim about gratuitous evil but who want to retain classical theistic .
.
orrlicodicy
7.75c
103
commitments, the only visible option is to try to break the dilemma to \Ankh ha‘ e c{)nic. It may be that an interpretation of dhine goodness and other divine a:tributes can be developed that allows fiir the possibilit\ of genuinely gratuitous evil. But that is a project that lies beyond the scope of the present volume.'"
Theodicy and the Assessment of Theism The complete list of comprehensive theodicies as well as the various themes that they incorporate is too long to treat in this chapter. However, this sampling of approaches begins to acquaint us with the 'a dc scope of moves available to theists and a number of counteo mok es open to critics. We can detect one own non thread running thnnigh kirinally all theistic solin ms, Nether global theodicies w more specific themes: God (who and i'011111 dC37:1711 the a.Fth ci.se sad] /hal crit aeressa ;",! to a iweah.-i•aood. Theists haletYPically taken a !N. cart:I y(4n? approach as integral to their search For a morally sufficient reason tdr God aih '.v cvii. 1.or many \\ ho think about the problem, it seems to lv a deeply held intuition that for an evil to be justified and H God to be justified in permitting it ••••the evil must be necessary to a greater good. It it were not strictly 'necessary.: then a Cod who is all powerful, all-knowing„md allgood could achieve the specified good through other means, With this strategy in the background, theisti, . thinkers have proposed a variety of types of goods and a range ot suggestions for how they are connected with c'. us. The various responses to evil in the immediately preceding pages only hint at the wide spectrum of possibilities. Act ually, the greater-good schema is also the common root of many delenscs to the prohlcm oi greater-pmd approach delensively, many theists lia■e long endorsed a greater-go(id `,11'.11q,N to undermine all \ ersions of the logical problem (devil. fOr example. In constructing a defense around the theme of tree will, theists have stated that the greater good of tree will is a POS.41 fr reason lot why a d e it y w h o i s ,,upreniely powerild and perfect IV good allows es it However, the greater good strateg,v stands behind many attempts to des do') a posithe theodicv as well The He will theme is one that the ists have used in the context of theodicy, not as a merely possildc reason for God's permission 01' evil but as a purportedly tine and plausible reason. Whether it is tree will or sonic other proposed -
,
-
-
-
.
,
101
Task 01 11.wo d icv -
greater good, let us tOcus here on the general strategy of sp,.:eifying, a greater good as the basis fOr theodicy. \ luitv theists and their critics believe that a morally sufficient reason for w hv God allows evil must relate evil to a good that outweighs it. These theists usually take for granted that no explanation of evil can be acceptable unless it credibly argues that the evil in question is necessarily connected to a greater giiod. A large number of theodicies, then, simply offer different ways of construing what that good is. In effect, they conclude that no existing evils are pointless or gratuitous and thus that they d,, not count as c idenee against the existence of God. Here !watt/I/ow vi/ is inhierstood as ui c1ii that is not necessary u the eyistenee of a greater good. The mom potent atheistic rebuttals to theistic specificatitms of greater goods revoke around the claim that at least sonic evils or some broad kinds of (nil do flit seem necessary to WPC .rk..‘ater good. It makes more sense to belie e either that the \ serve no good purpose w halm wver or that the purpose they supposedly serve is not worth the price. In the history of the debate over theodik. Y, several important points havee been made by both sides. In future debates, perhaps critics could probe more deeply into the question of whether a greater-good justificatory scheme is \lable After all, attempting to justif\ evil by refer Cr1CC to sonic good essentially makes the moral weight of the evil depend on an extrinsic factor. It may well he, however, that a more promising line tbrthe critic is to say that some actual evils arc intrinsically so negati\ c and destructive that no external good could outweigh them. This certainly is the tone of Ivan Karamazov's remarks to his brother Al \ osha w it N wh L i I opened this book. And the writings of Madden and I .are make a forcei III case along these lines. "lheists, by contrast, cotild more itJh explore a distinction between o sorts of greater-good theodicy: One type clailns th,11 the at Ina/77j ole\ il is necessary to a greater 12.00d, and another type dimp.., that the pos.kibiliry of oil is necessary to a greater good. ( :learly, of the unacceptable greater g(iod theodicies are of the first type. Following this first type of approach, theodicists embracing classical theism have to justify carp actual evil or kind of evil by linking it to sonic actual good or class of goods an effOrt that is extremely difficult and probably doomed. Some classical theists avoid many cre difficulties by denying that God is morally obligated to make each specific instance of evil turn out or the best, arguing instead that God is morally obli gated to create or pursue a certain kind of world in which we have the -
-
Li
Tr;.. * ,
Thoidic•
105
potential for certain g()ods. A good kind of world would be structured accordinn to certain overall policies, Such policies would include the granting of significant ft L%.dom to human beings, the estab lishment of a stable natural order, and so forth_ Fhese structural features of God's created order would then make many particular evils possible, evils that may or mac nut ays he ciinnected to particular goods within the world system, either now or in the future. According to this approach, the greater good would be the overall able 1( struct we of the world order and the values that ,11 0 emerge from it. Thus, as IO11:: as the theist describes a \ ere \ aluahle kind of world (strucf tired so that five creatures can make significant choices, hate the opportunity de■CiOp moral character, and so on), the existence of such .1 world might „, e n b e seen a , v, orth it. ltintatelv., the dispute ner CV11 is one ofseveral considerations rele\ ant to the rational acceptance or rejection of ihcistic belief. A reasoned iudgment ,Thout the acccptahnu\ of theism, theretl)rd, must be made in light of ot the ale\ ant arguments tOr and against the exis tence of God, ‘Vhar is more, a final judgment would ha\ ,2 to consider how well the overall theistic position fares in comparison to other \vorldviews, both religious and secular. .
Notes
1, \Vdtimn it v c, P5ii0 01 111
i:.1(1-011: Alt bitiOdFiCi /04 (Encino and Bei : 1)ickenson, 1978). p. 88. 2. kik\ aid ladden and Peter I lure. i)( God (Springfield, III. Charles C. ..rhomas, I 968 t , p. iv or Religion (Boston: Allyn 3. Keith Yandell, Basic issnes :u ;he 62-4)3. and Bacon, I 9:71 1. In tile previt ius chapter. cc idcrcd Stephen liV‘lotras. delense, 1:10 tar'n ; on the cognitive lirnitati,■n. !Inman beings. Similar defenses are used by WtHiam Alston, "The Induct; e Argument li om l. il .1rd the Human nitiAe ondit..ii.)n," V7.),' ed. Daniel I Inward Snyder ; kloomington: Ii cilaili nivc7 -)iv Press, 199w.. pp,. 97-125, and by Pete: van !imager, "The Problem ut 1.). Ft, the Problem of Air, and the Pi 011lent of.Sileoce," in] Ins ad `..;nvi.ier, pp. 151 I 7-i. Plaint lw also alludes t. die cognitive limitation theme: Perhap:, (..;nd has a gond reason, but that reason is :no k.sotitplicated us to underncdhticc Akin God. Frecdom. mid Evil Gr3ild Rapids.. Mich.: Eerdithins,1977), p. 10. InI c. c ci i, se theOdiCit'S 1)ihr a morally sufficient reason for Ond permitting .
)
mom.
,
.
,
.
.
-
The Tr sk
106
6. This int;Igt.TV is I 0.1VV■ Cd frOM MCI.% ire Si ikVart, The (;:werre, -Cood De:Martins, 1993 p 7. And s het her fOr purposes of deCense or theod:=ev, b(ith agi ee that a (cater Good Theme v, needed. Since the rheme is assumed to be necessary to theism. authors developing both delenses and theodieies employ it. 11 4- N'atun. Coml. ed. and trow,. I.H.S. Burleigh, in Writhigs (London: S.( ,.\1. Press, 1953), p. 'Vt. Am/Ls relic: NeOpiatOniSM I lea \ CV illii■ienCed AL 1.14liNtine * S ViC\\ 01C\ 9. Ii CriSI liii Pliilosophy or For a discussion ()1' Plot Hian Neoplatonisrn. see W. R. Morin n.s. 3rd ed. t London: Lorti,mans, Green, 1929). Pk ainns's vies.v of eYil chapter. as lack occurs i Aust.ine, as explai:;cL: in t).:...iinburgh: T. & 10. Fricdrich Schleteralacher, The Cliiish ;;; Cark, 1928). ' 161. 11. A t;2.:ustinc, (74y n! God. trans. Marcn:, Dods, George Wilson, and J. J. Smith :New York: Random I louse, 1950 pp. 13, 14. 12. Augustine, ( .1111(1? juli rmIrm. Iciezp.aiimit, bk. 5 7 chap. 14. 13. Ti ..ce ho\\ this prInciple is Yo' .en through inudi ti tWestern intellec',Tat of it (C.r Thridge. tual history, see Art Ili!! 1.meiov, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1936J 14. John Hick, Ertl and the God or Tote, 2nd ed. San Francisco: I Earner & Row. 1928 pp. 8201 1:' ..ugustine, On .1:ee ii717, trans. J.H.S. Burleigh, in .11/pititili,C: 17171IiIT Writ/nay, 3 . 9. 26. 11. 23. 10. Augustine, Ciry trans. J. F. Shaw, in Basic irritims ()Of.. .1itj :Tu5 17. Augustine. (2 vols.), ed.: Whitney J. Oates (New York: Random T louse, 1948 .27 18. Ibid., 24. 96. 19. Ibid., 8, 27. G11011.111.. 20. Gottfried Wilhelm you Lcihnit, 7/on/to. IISSayS thf 01 Fril, trans. I I. I higp.ard Irom God, the .1-ieedwir of Mail, it tilts i; 1873-1890) the Collremi C. J. Gerhardt's edition (New I laven: Yale Lniversity Press, 1952). 21. Gott tried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Vicodicy, trans. E. M. I luggard t,London: Routledge & Kega:t Paul, 1952), paras. 30-33. 22. Ibid., para. 201, 23. Ibid., p. ra. 127. 24. Ibid., para. 9. 25. "llie reader \Nil! remember Plaminga's remarks on Leibnii's Lapse that was discussed in Chapter 3. 26. Hick, Evil, p. 255. 27. Ibid., p. 256. 28. Ibid., p. 281. 29. Ibid., p. 287. ,
Jens( Nevn
.
-
.
,
,
,
,
,
77...eIitykorTilicodicy
107
30. Ibid,, p, 272,
31, Ibid., pp. 329 330, no (ibid., p. 324); of 32. Hick speaks 01 es il Which is utterly gra: "es it in so Car as it is purely and unambiguously evil ibid.. p. 325); and horrors which will dis!;gure the 11111VC!•.0 t■ Cie end ()fume - bid.. p. 361 33. 1 lick ibd.. p. $301es en quotes Shike peare in'iu Leau):",.V riirs to s. are we to the gods, The\ kill us lot their sport." a:11011 3-1. 1 bid., p„331. 35. Ibid., p. 176. 36. Ibid., p. 344. 37, 350. 38. Ibid., p. 363. 39. Mans of Hick's statements about the nature oicsil indicate that sin and stitlernn are to be regariled as "genuinely t'ivl and ruterly inimical to God's Nt 01 and purpose" ibid., pp. 15-16i; he also sass: "1-or it is an inctataple deliverance of our moral consciousness, of which 1 lnn must be , -,loved to rob us , th a t evil i n all us iorms i be abhorred and resisted and fe.ired - ibid. , p. 363). -10. Allred North 'Whitehead, Process ,vi?' Rrality Ness York; Macmillan, -
-
-
,
,
1929 p. 3 41. Nhch.tei Peterson, "1..litki and I Ptt h:l.",•■ 1 ntiodics," in Pim:its,- third ed. Ronald Nash (C.. 7, 1aild Rapids, Nlieh.: Bake IL ok Ilouse, 1987 p. 123. ) i nnip o i c no.•, •12. See, tor e\iimplc, t.'harles lianshornc, 1.111r;in, 1945 oiip'eitr n! ii:41.r.17i071, Cd. Fenn New irk: 17..icohiaic,!!
pp. 545t Secalso (diaries Ilartshorne. th.clakes
\H-,, u p, : s la t e 11 1 -l i vcr ... m • u! ' N cw IL ,
4i1. RI\ id Rat tint'iln. God, 1970 p. 280. •1.1. ti-ed Nor I h Vhitchca k i, Ian, 1920 p. 98: also see his
1•2721/
1954 ;, pp. Wesnninster,
Mr/Li:2/7 Ness • ,rk : Nca/itt., pp. 524-52Fi. ome poiccy, ;Milos, 'pliers have attempted to poi,. kic iscoecss S count ol'persoilal immortality, that is, lit' Mier death. See \CW,si011 ul
this i David Ras 1:11:ver.Sitv York Pte;s, 19)01 r pp. 34 40, 16, See thedli scac discussion of process theodicy in Peterson, "God and Evil in Ptocess Thcodicy," TT. 121-139. 47. Nancy Frankciibel rv, "Some Problems in Process Theodicv,"
b..111\
.
-
18.1. 48.1 suggested that Christian ilieists could take this kind of approach in my tt irk Lid tim/ ía ii ( .;,)d (Grauld R.upid , Mid.: Baker Boo]; House, 1982 particulark . ch.y. 5_ pp. 101-.133. 1 also recommended it in the book 1 wrote with_ \\ iH .....I asker, Bruce Reichenbach, and Dip, id ialies 17 ,.1981 1: 181
-
Basinger, Ren. 0/1 cif,1 Aa In ib? Hrt ,-
orThrodicy
108
R:ligloa, 2nd ed. (No\ York: Oird University Press, 1995 L. pp. 123 127. lasker r,-, 1 1;es a evse tor the possibiii:y or gratuitous evil from the p.srspecti\ c of Christian theism in his -rh, .1Gra:Mums Evil," Fa Xi IIIII Phiioyo ph) 9 (1992 ); 23 44, ReiChCl] NICh, Lpil am?' 0 Gwor ( . 7. 011 .19. See HaSkOf "Ni.siCS!siti"; crsit \ Press, 1982): David Basinger, /1.h(NcAN York: Fordham Tri'z Mil 77.14.151,7 (DOWACCS Cr:0\ C, InterVarsit■ Press, 19961, 4, PP., 83 104; and Peterson, Frit and he Christian God, -
,
-
Suggested Readings Adam ,, Marilyn NI, "Thcodicy Without Blaint.'," Pldlosophical1Opirs 16 (Fall ,
1985: 215-245. Adams, Marilyn NI., advisory Co. theological Contributions to Thcodicv, special issue of I Ohl) and Philosophy 13:1996)„ Basinger, David. "Di% ine Omni;)otence: P1a1ting.1 vs. Griffin." Proci.7sc.Vnii. icy 11 (1981:) 11....24. Davis, Stephen '1., ed. F.ncon?2, /InLT I.P11: Options ii, Theodicy. Kno\ Press. 1981. Files, 1:van. - Al t cdil vian Theodiey: Stump on the Fall." l'irirb tind Philosophy (i 1:1989 3 1 0- 329. . "Should ( d id Not Have Crelted Adam? Faith and Philosophy 6 (1992): 192 208. Chri.,rian Fnith. New York: Harper, 1947, Ferre, Nets, Fpi./ anzi Reprinted by Books tOr I krarics Press. New York, 1971. Griain, Da\ ici Ray. Erii krrisited: ilr.vionse.., rid Rcci. ;/_ /titm.c. Albany: State 11!niversity of New York Press, 1991. . God, Power, emit r'11.- .1 Proccss Theodicy, Phikdelpha: Westminster Press, 1976. G001, .1 401Ti% tin,! 1),"uirSS Flare, Peter. - Review of 1)-avid Rav 7 f 1977i! 44-51. Ilarshorne, harl::!-,. "A Nev,. Look at . ilk Pi ohiciii or Evil." In is :rent Phibb ophi,771 tv.vnes: •.v.,.../.7y.c Hoimr of Cirri John Olicr:“P, edited by I. C. foil Springlicid. (:harles Thomas, 1966, pp. 201-212. \V:ithun. "Suffering, Soul Making„ind Salvatior.." ): 3 19. P:Illosophi,77/ 0/w.rh•1'iy 28 1 985 flick ,. John. h./7 anti the ( do! Or b:PC. 2nd ed. New York: Ilarper "G o d, E\ i .i d Myst e ry." Rtlitiio,rr .Vn!it. 3 1968 539 •54.6. “The Pribblem of Exil in he First and I .ast fouiwal of7hr1965 5)1-602. o4iicai Kane., G. Stanley. - The (..once pt of Divine Goodness and ic Problem (A Evil," Rcligions Snedirs 11 (1975): 49-71. -
,
,
.
.
'
109
Li' Iayk ('1
Plii/osep/.7 at RIl"Evil i.ind Privai ion." ( 19S0 13 5 8 . "1 n. Rid en e tt Soul-Making Theodic." intc;.7urtio1eort Phiumr/ jihi 1973 ;: 12 2. Philikk.ripb.i. of
2:Ti.vie 11
1 : -
"Soul Making Hicodio.
lAuslialia)
19731: 24-$1.
(f/Pain. Ne\‘ Yi qt.: Macmillan. 1962. Madden. Edward, and p e l e r Harc. .;d. 1:1.: Charies C. .1110111:. 1968. ibl.,/"::;,//,,i3;) of Evil.. Milwaukee: Briicc Pub-Mari:ain, Jacques Gui lik,hing, 1960, Peterson. lichael. "God and Evil in P!ocess 1 heolop." in Pif1CCSS edited ON. Ronald Nash. Grand Rapids, Mich,: Baker Book Ilouse, 1987, pp, 117 139. . "Recent Work on the Problem o f E v il," 1hdoS0/0/17/1 13!1:r; tz.71r 20 1983:: 321-339. Rrodinos. N+o c Dame, Peterson, Michael, ed I P:whh-in or l'ni\ Notre Dame Press, 1992. Peterson, Nliehael, ltrilliiI1asker, Bruce Reichenbach. and. 1.).1%id Basin :;(T. hilioduciilm Brihf: 1/if' rbilm-ophy at R 17M1 2nd e d. N ew York,: ( hi -c ) rd in ersilic Prey,. 1998, chap. 0, pp. I I -- 143 Reichenbach, l',1'nce. Evil owi a COW?' GOzi. Nt.'‘A Universitv Pi-css, 1982. "Natural itch and >.a: rd 1.a .■\ : - 1 . 1icodio n Natural ■ 16 :1970i: 179-196, Ilicod .k.- s?" Cinvadia,i; jonimil. swinhurne, Richard. "Does Theism Nced. a/ Philos:14)y 18 i1988.: 287-311. - Krim\ let.11,:c (him 1"; \pcncii...- e, ai1 Inc fat Ra1ays i ll H an coitc,..1 b y i/m:2:71y Rckabills ,
.
Abraham and Steven 1 loltzer. PP . 41 167.
C aivn.don l're , s, 1987,
Oui:fiti..i11 15 (1978): 295-301. G Ulf Oxtord: Clarendon Problem or Evil." hi lb' . l'rcss, 1979, pp. 200 221. . 111 Hi( Illeodicv ()Clic:A\ en and N11711I T:nivcr Cad,ediced 1)!. Aided Freddoso. Notre I)aine, Ind.: Pres,, 1983, pp. 37 ."-S1. Piocc., ., ( ;oil. New York: Mellen Press, 1985. ‘Vilitnev, i kirr L. kriL:72,/ .
-
This page intentionally left blank
7 The Ems e Problem of Evil
As noted earlier, the problem of evil may he divided into theoretical and existential dimensions, We are familiar with We ■ triotis ticrsions of the theoretical problem: the loizieal, pi 4 ■liabilistic, and ex idential irmulations. Yet writers on the theoreticai problem trequently allude to another kind of problem lying beyond the so )t L.: of the logi:„ al, probabilistic, and epistemic concerns that gi‘e shape 0) the ariotTs theoretical expressions. This other dimension ofthe problem t): k.:\ it is more difficult to characterize. At the very least, it is rooted in the ac teal experience of evil and how that experience sapports disbelief in God. It has been called a practical problem, a psychological p ro bl em , and a moral problem) Alvin Plantinga has called it the "religious problem of evil and Marilyn Adams has called it the "pastoral problem of \\hal is clear is that, for a some people, the existeno the rejecti o n of religious belief.' Altial feel lot evil somehow leads t though there is no delinithe stud\ oldie existential problcin ofevil, shall explore major aspects of it hcrc and tic together sex era! important ideas about it from the current literature. -
,
-
-.
,
The Experience of Gratuitous Evil What one might call the "phenomenology of ecil"—that is, the stud of the all Of evil in human consciousness and how we assign mk.saning to it—is a rich field of imesti14ation. Jeffrey Burton Russell insists that evil is "perceived inimediateh, directly and existentially."; Many other authors also bclicve that there is something, forceful and primal about the way evil is experienced." John liowker writes that
71k' Lvistenti,q7P;o:57em or Tvii
112
"the sheer bloody agonies of existence" arc something of which all men are aware and have direct experience." 7 Actually, it is not the experience of evil per se that has such intensity but the experience of evil a meaningless, pointless, gratuitous. It is this aspect of experience that is expressed in the bitter lament- of the ordinary pers(,n as \yell as in the sophisticated reasoning of the antitheistic philosophert' Great literature also provides extremely effective representations of this experience: Consider the writ iligs of Dostoeyskv,`) Albert Camus," and Nliguel de Unamuno. 11 There is something about the experience of evil as gratuitous that can and often does render faith in God untenable. M. ,:ny persons say that the find themselves gripped at the core of their being by the horror of evil and that this awareness is prolOundlv transtbrmin!,2,. Those who have this kind of perception of evil often report that they cannot experience the universe as theistic—that they could never manifest attitudes of praise, adoratioit, gratitude, and worship toward God. After reflecting, on the horrible and absurd evils in the world that the di\ Me being is supposed to allow i( ii Stuart Mill says, "When I am told that . • . I must . . call this being lw the names which express and affirm the highest human morality, I say in plain terms that I will not. Whatever power such a 1 , eing may have over me, there is one thing which he shall not do: he shall not compel me to ■yorship him." 2 As long as theism is understood to entail that there arc no gratuitous evils and as long as human beings experience much evil as gratuitous, then there will be a continuing tension between theistic belief and c om m o n experience. Some defensive 'milieu ers by theists such as Planting,: seek to show that the facts of evil do not render theism improbable. Other theists, such as s',I.ephen Wykstra, argue defensively that we are in 110 1)0%141011 C012,1111.11CIV 10 affirm the existence for likely existence; of gratuitous evil. In a sense, Flantinga sums up the net result Hail such defensive strategies when he writes .
.
I he thekt nit\ find a rrIQll)ms prohlem H the presence of his or that Of S0131C011C Hear 10 111111 he m.w find P difficult to
0 0,11 Milk:ring ,
maintain ia hat he takes to he the proper attitude towards God, laced with great personal sofferin, or rro,fOrtunc, ic nay be tempted to rebel to shake his fist in God's fac :', or c% en to gi% C Up I CFCI God Atogedler. But this is a problem of a different J tension. Such a prohlern calls not for philosophical enlightenment, but for pastoral ,
dare."
,
"
113 So, prestitnably, at the strictly philosophical level the level of I( cally reconciling \ arious claims, confirming and discontinuing them—the critic's arguments can be staved off, and the intellectual doubts of believers can be assuaged.. If there is any remaining objection to rcFgious faith, then it must be emotional or attitudinal or practical in nature. Plantinga correctly intimates that there is more to the problem of evil than abstract exercises in juggling propositions. Rut how we conceive of this other dimension in relation to the theoretical dimension is of major importance. To suggest that further philosophical enlightenment is not reit:\ ant to the attitudinal or experiential dimension bitiircates reason and experience. When defense against the problem of e\ it is coupled w it h Retbrined episteir4ilog‘, \\ hich al lirms the theist's intellectual right to believe in G o d b as i ca ll y , man y th e ist s b e li eve th a i \ irtuallv e\ en thing related to the issue of God and evil that is phik) sophicall\ important has Neen addressed. Front another perspecti\ e, larilvn Adams indicates that the pas toral or religious problem of c\ it "has a philosophical dimension in that it might be partially alto iated by some sort of explanations of how God is being good to created persons, even when he permits and/or causes evils such as hCSC. -14 101' . \dams. to den\ the bifurcation between theoretical consideratii n : and th e actual ex p er i ence o f evil is to move in a more appropriate direction. After all, there are many convincin,, , philosophical and psychological studies, quite 11111 - C lated tO thC ktiLIC 01 God and evil, that argue tor the intimate li d. between "lope and emotion" (w belief and experience. 1 hese studies show that what a person helloes conditions the range and quality of his experience.' It is not surprising that, in disct.1 ,ing the problem (devil, critic Sidney I ty ) 1.; obser, cd th a t - no mono th e i s ti c re li g i on w hi c h omce i N es olGod as both omnipotent and benevolent, no metaph ys ic Na Inch asserts that the \\ odd is rational. 11CCCSSan„ind good has an room for genuine tr,P,2,1.24.11'. -1( ' Ihere \VC may 0,0.41111C that flook's term genuine tragedC !viers lo gratuitous oil. I he point, then, is that what one believes ;lb( ut theism and its implications afiects his experience of the world. We can see why theistft belie\ crs who understand the existence of God to exclude gratuitous e\ ii \\ ould encounter significant dissonance in the face of intense experiences of evil as being gratuitous. John Hick captures something of this dissonance when he argues that a theology cannot be repugnant to the moral sense on ,
,
, ,
-
-
,,
-
,
71,c Lyistenti,q7P;.o:57em or Tvii
114
which it is based) 7 In this same vein, we can comprehend why nontheists who ponder the credibility of theistic belietS have great difficulty seeing how they fit with the experience of real life. Adams is correct in suggesting that the religious problem can be somewhat alleviated by relevant explanations. in Other vords, a person's beliets about (lod and their logical implications may need to be clarified, amplified, or modified. Or she ruay need n cc encouraged, in an emotionally supportive context, to sec that the beliek she holds about God ecik call for attitudinal change or for a dilIerent personal response. Recogniving the seriousness of I lie religious problem. theologian Thomas Oden has articulated a "theodicv f(,r pastoral practice. The pastoral approach Oden outlines clearly discounts lake and harmful answers for e\ NOMC general explanations ik.ir why evil exists, suggests how some good may still he brought out of unnecessary evil, and presents some ;i. ..„.•neral themes ihotit (id ' s lose and care for persons in spite H the contingeheiek, 'h uman e vi s ten c e.is One does not has c to foll)w this sort of pastoral process cry long far s.inp.\ to see that it cannot ; 1 on the onceptual resources of restricted theism. Standard theistic beliefs about the divine attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and perfect goodness imply only the broadest outlines of ho\\ to thinL about the relation of ( h id and evil. Although sheer defense may be effectively based on restricted theism, any sufficient explanation of evil, 'vhieh ObVit. uslc rakes us into the area of theodicy, requires additional resources, drawn tram various doctrines and teachings ()fa faith tradition. -
,
,
-
Evil and Personal Identity We are now in a position to see how the experience of gratuitous evil supports the factual premise of the argument. For the person ofiering the argument from gratuitous e\ il, the factual :Lim such as Rowe's (R1 )--has stioitg experiential weight. Though the argument itself its c(mstituent propositions and their logical and epistemic relationsfOriw the theoretical dimension 0! the problem, it is intimately related to \\ hat we are callin:; L he existential dimension, After all, the argument must be advanced by someone who thinks it is sound, that is, a person who believes the premises to be true and that they lead to the stated conclusion. We generally assume that the critic who believes there is gratuitous evil is expressing moral protest, indignation, and outrage. We typically see him as wishing violently that things ,
Pic Lvstnli;7
of Evil
115
were not the w ay they are and insisting that God, if he exists, is blameworthy for allowing them to be the way they are. That is a large part of the existential dimension of the problem. but once a person experiences the world as containing gratuitous evils and is morally repulsed by their horrors, an interesting and subtle consideration arises. It is a deeply existential consideration pertaining to the person's value preferences toward himself and toward the word in general. Accordin to a certain way of thinking ab011t such things„i person can be 4x/sh/thrilv diutticutie r vitcuimllv honc.ci raising a theoretical statement of the problem oi evil oni■ if lie genuinch• regrets his n existence. vl his consideration pro\ Ides the basi s for an intriguing theistic response to the problem of gratuitous evil, a. response that does not advance an explanatory theory of \\ he God jtistifiahlv allo\\ s the e\ ils ot the \\ orld. Although it \\ ould be interest t1 splore other ivances of the attitude of regret in relation to ()flier statements of the problem of e\ii , I \\ ill focus here on the most formidable of ill statements: the argumcit from gratuitous e'.il, The particular theistic strateg\ here rests tin certain value prefercnees or attitudes. Plc first step in developing this response is to call upon each indi \ idual a no thinks about it in this case, the atheist adaticimig t he problem ofgratuizous evil— to declare his attitude toward his own existence. Ili ffil3111 Hasker straightfbrwardly poses a question to each person who might advance the problem of evil as a reason for rejecting theism: Am I glad that I cvi.q? He explains the exact meaning ( d the question as follows: ,,
-
The question is iv whether m\ ht (' all that it ()light to be or all that it conceivably onild be, It is not wheiHe;- pleasure pain balance ih my .
life to d, he has been, on the w hole, a 01%1He ()). 11111.1\ tff.lb1•:. it is not whether in, life is, in general. a benefit to those w Ito nc affected It is not even the question whether MN' consideNd, con tains ot these ltmestoll' ale deepik interesting, and the ,mswers to elp,m, 1: known, 'night affect in‘ ;.insw er to the kiLICsthinw HCII I am ask hut the !On s`..irliPIV„Im I cla d that I ,un p.,i.c;cc, on Ike \,\ hole, something Nk hiCh I regret? Is aliie? 01 is me EL. sonething which I 0,(ti;:ii, or do I wish, like Job, that I had never b e ,.,, ,19
Ob\ ionsle, this casts the matter in a person relati%e way. Each person must answer fig himself whether he is glad for his ow n existence or w ould rather it be replaced by nonexistence. And the question can -
.istenti,q7P;.0:5;tem or
116
obviously be extended to ask whether one is glad for the eNistenee of loved ones: Alll 1 11/1701 of their existent I'? The second step in laying out the theistic exists ntial respons e clarify ‘1 hat is necessary for human beings to exist as the unique indi viduals that they are. Haskcr proposes a thesis that is not uncontroversial but is widely accepted by thinkers who hold a variety of philosophical perspectives. The thesis is -
.
(50) A necessary e(mdition of natit w in into existence coming into-existence of my body.n In one way or another, then, my unique personal identity depends somehow on ha\ ing this particular bokh. Materialists, identitk theorist, epiphent:imenalists, belia‘iorists, and eke!) Fh(miisp; accept this ( :artesian dualists and the like, w ho do not hold that the body is a nk.‘cessorY condition of personal existence, will not feel the force of the follow reasoning. The third step in progressively folding this existential response is to show that, I( whatkner Is necessary for my body's existence i necessary ii)r is V existence. That is, if my body is necessary titr me to have individua p,:rs(,nal existence, then whatever is necessary for my body's existence is also necessary for my personal existence. '1 his principle, of course. holds for any person. When one honestl■, and thoroughly examines all +)1 thenecessary conditions for one's bodily existence, the results are impressive. In order for my body to come into existence, my parents would have had to have had a child. Had my mother married someone else, none oltheir children n■tdd have been wt., since none of their bodies could hake been Ibis hods,. Moreover, not just any child of my parents would have been me, with mu identical genetic heritage donated by a specific pair of male and temale reproductik e cells at a specific time. 111 of this means that the comint. :,r into L.. \istenee of any partii.:tilar indi\ :dual is, antecedently, an extremely improbable cent. iii fact, alitifccidtintk. it is quite improbahle that any given individual \\mild Collie Ink ) c‘istunce iii vie\\ (It Ills I It her dependence on a multitude of other highly improbable events, such as the tOrtuitous ircumstances surrounding how one's parents met and got married, which could include events as routine as a school prom or as dramatic as a world \var. And behind one's parents stand a whole series of their progenitors, persons whose coming into-being must have depended •
,
:
-
me Lvist ,71!
1'. .:111c1)1.
Eva
,
on yet other c:ontingent events. All of this leads Hasker to conclude that (51 Had Mu():' or significant events in the world's past history been different than they Were, than in all probability neither I nor the persons whom I love would even have existed. This secures the connecii)n between one's attitude toward one's existence and the World , total hiNtory. The meeting and mating of our ancestors w as influenced by the ey ems of their times—many of w hid) 15 ere undoubtedly calainii()us, such as wars, epidemics, crimes., accidents, and so tbrih. •Nlid yy e already know that no person has any reason yyllateN'er lc) suppose that he y‘ (mid hay(' existed had the course ()nt' Yy orld's history been subhestantially different. We arc no's in a position to grasp the i.l eLkii one's indiYidual existence and 111c existence ()Call the evils of the w orld leading up to his coming into being. As Robert Adams ohserves, "The farther back we go into history', the larger the proportion of evils to which Wt.' OWC our being., for the causal nexus Ric\ ant to our individual genesis widens as we go back in time. We alinost certainly xx rid never have existed had there not been just about the same evils as at occurred in a large part Fhuman histor,." 21 Let us now explore the bearing of this link on the original question, Am I dial I cvi. 1? -,
,
The Logic of Regret At this point, we need to specify some principles goy erning the logical relationships between certain attitudes. The relevant attitudes arc expressed by the plu - ases - being glad that" and being ,orry I hat. Such attitudes nnot be true or fake, as belicis are. I lasker contends that they share with ()click, moral judgment, and imperatly es the property of being rivionnlii coils/stew or ihconsisfrnt. Ihe sense of "glad" and "sorry." with l‘hi. 11 \NC are concerned is not essentially a matter offeclika gladness or sorrow, although it might inyolve these feelings. Hies,: attitudes atv largely dkHined by pij'crence. Thus, my being glad that P entails my pit:ft/Thyr that be the case rather than 'wt. P. (on' erselv if I am sorry or nyriet that P. this means that I irimidpri::k;- that not. P be the case rather than P. (Here P stands for the sentence that expresses the proposition that P, and P is the name -
-
,
71/c Lyistenti,q7P;.0:57em or Tvil
118
of the state of affairs such that .1),) By virtue of these prcicRliccs, the attitudes in question are rationally consistent or inconsistent. At this point, we can begin to discern important logical principles that apply to the attitudes in question. Surely, we can say that 52) If I am glad that P, I rationally cannot be sorry that P. Of course, a person may feel both gladness and sorrow about something. This is what we mean when we say that an event in life is "bittersweet" (e.g., a parent whose child is getting married may be described as "being sad" that a family menlI)cr is leaving home but "being glad" that she is finding committed companionship). But "being glad" in the relevant sense here involves an attitude of preference w hid) principle (52) applies. Let us !tow spek. il'Y sonic key definitions that will enable us to sec the significance or some other important principles. Hasker first suggests this: -
clicum.tiaika/iiii that I" - di 'A is glad that l', rt,f. there is some state uLaftairs 0 such that A knows that if Qdid nco: ohtain neither I', and A regrets that Q.'
One may, tUr c \ ample, be circumstantially glad that the University of Kentucky defeated the L'niversity of Ctan to N, in the 199S Nt:.-VA. baskciNall championship but not prefer Kent dekv's victory wide/. all puccu/1Jc cuic11111511 lir CS on the whole). ha example, one may have placed a large her on Utah (a believe that the NCAA's existence is a had thing because its championships, tele\ ision contracts, and the like foster corruption and an undue emphasis on athletics in our society. So, '.u,/ eircumstance.‘, one may he glad for Kentucky's vic;ory. But this dues not mean that one is glad on the whole. We are ni:.i‘v ready for Ilie second definition we need: -
the wholc I tat V df is glad that P, and for any statc-oraibirs Qsuch that A knovs.7-. that if 0 did not obtain neither would 1),A
'A
is glad that Q.' Modifying our example, e may say that one may be glad on the whole when, rccognitin, that the NCAA involves some undesirable consequences, he still definitely prefers Kentucky's championship victory. Finally, we may say that a person reglits on the irlioh• that P ‘yhenever he is clearly riot glad on the whole that P or is only circum stantially glad that P.
me Lvstfm,,,I
wf7ra
119
In light of . these definitions, we can now see the significance of the foliowing principle: (53) If I am glad on the \\ hole that P, and I know that Pentails Q, then I rationally muse be glad on the whole that Q. And (54), If I am Jad on the whole that P, and I know that if 0 did not obtain neither would P. then I rationally must be glad that Q. These principles seem quite clearly correct. lint'a hen principle k 54) is combined with tSi from the prek ions section regarding sell-identity, we get an .mtotinding conclusion: (55) If I am glad on the whole about my own existence and that of those whom I love, then I must be glad that the history of the w 4)rld, in its major aspects, has bcen as it has. Of course, this conclusion does not follow deductively from (54) and (51) as they have been stated. Principle (54) speaks of my knoiriag that if 0 did not obtain neither would P. whereas (51) says only that in 11,11 p,-0//ability there is such a connection. This should make little difference in our attitude toward ; 55 Perhaps, then, the reason why (55) has been largely ignored is the fact that (50) and (51) are not obvious. The ideas expressed in 5-1) and (55) have been discussed in philosophical literature. Benedict de Spinoza, for example, says that our ordinary judgments of goodand evil are irrational precisely because in making them, we overlook the necessary connections hei.veen events. 2 '
Existential Authenticity and Evil If what we have said so far is sound and if the truth of (55) has been established, w hat bearing does all this ha\ e for the problem of evil? Put inure precisely, w hat eftect can it Have on one who advances or considers ad\ ancing the argument from gratuitous evil? For a person who is glad on the whole that he exists or even that someone he loxes exists, then it gallows —due to alli,ve that he must be glad also
the rxistentifdr57em ri
120
about the world's existence and about the general course its history has taken. But then it is very difficult for him to be existentially 1711 thiVI lit' or existentially honest in advancing the argument: from gratuitous e% I,Ct us see div this is so. The argument from gratuitous evil involves affirming a factual premise about there being evil in the world that serves no good purpose. To have the experiential grounds for affirming this crucial premise is to have certain moral convictions, to consult one's experience of thc. goods and e' ils oL life, and to be morally repulsed by what one finds. To assert the fict ii premise is, in effect, to issue a complaint that there is something drastically wrong with the world as a whole. And we now arc 1:CChil' ..1W are of lie intricate causal interconnc ,li ons b e t ween a ll th e e ven/ s Ri th e wo r ld (including evil events) and our own existence. Thus, the critic \\ !to is glad On the whole for 111owii existence or that or those xx hom he loxes cannot be existentially authentic in advancing the tactual prcinise. Robert Adams \■ rites: "The het that we owe our cx sleilce to evils wis . es rise to a problem of evil, not only for theists but tOr anyone ' h ha es an actual human individual— himself or anyone else. How is our l o ve for actual human sel\ es to be reconciled with moral repudiation of the evils that crowd the pages of history? Arc we to wish that neither we nor the evils had existed?" 2. I Based on this line of reasoning, the following existential stance simply becomes ludicrous:
-
(56) The world as we know it is morally so objectionable that a God who tolerated it could in no meaningful sense be called good nevertheless. / 111 ,fin" Ufl 01111 existence and then:lipy I ow it /so alad that ti n ' lvo;-ld exists and that the WO CPCJITS ail!! 11a11/ITS of its histo7 ha pc been as they
have. We ma\ say that such a posture is c.visiciiiially sc/r-snibifyins or exis-
sell=d073/Ing. len It shotdd now be intuitively e\ ident that (57) If I am glad on the whole .1hout my own existence and that w the of persons close to me, then I cannot reproach general character or the major e\ Cuts Ot t he world's past history. '
Pic vs:;:;. ;
of Evil
121
Since reproach is attitudinal, preferential, and existential in nature, the critic is hereby blocked from reproaching God by citing the general character and major events of the past, nunv of which Nere tragic for the persons invoked. It ill1a,so nor do tiir the critic to base his argument from giatuitous evil just on events in his own lifetime, events, therefore, on which his own existence does not depend in the way in which it depends on those tragic CVCIUS of the past. After all, the tragedies of our lifetime .ire simply the same kimis of events as those that ha\ e occurred countless times in the past. For a critic to mount his moral complaint solely on the basis of evil events that occur only in his lifetime is (or mu to express a position too egocentric deserx cseriouc at tention. Tims, the critic \\ ho is posinx el\ glad .ibout i.e.. does not positively grat tiregret 1 his own existence cannot ad\ dnie the general problem One interesting aspciat oi this itous Oil in an existentially authentic w approach t() the existential problem is tIrtt, without ming us crap ln God allows ex il, it strikes on .1 \ el'1 deep lex el at one's sense 4, 4:: existence. Furthermore, it logically connects one's existence with the overall state of the \\ mid . this restlonse capitalises on an often neglected fact: that we do not come to our judgments about the goodness Or pathless of existence tioni he standpoint of - a cosmic ideal obser\ cr." 1 his is a standpoint we can never attain. Instead, each of us comes to these judgments from a personal standpoint as an e\isting human being one who prospers and struggles, reiiiices and sorrows, laughs and xx ceps. and is glad for the opportunity to live out his life upon the earth. It IS the critic who adopts Lilly standpoint who cannot raise the problem or gratuitous esci in an existentiall\ authentic 1 Here ace, H course, other types or critics w ho are glad that they exist and \ et are not deterred by the 1 u ecediitg line ,)i reasonmg. One t\ pc 0 mId he the antitheistic critic ■\ 11( ) is indeed glad on the whole that she exists or that her loved ones eidst and who collet:hes and presents the problem of cxii merely as a Hatter of internal inconsistency t"()I - theistic belief taS explored in (:hapter 2). .1nother t\ pc of critic may take the probein or evil to be a probabilistic difficulty for theistic belief i light of ecil ill the world t as explored in Chapter 4). In either case, the critics in question need not support any substantive .
-
premises, commit to any moral principle , or form any value judgments about the actual state (.4' Cite world. So, the theistic response here does not directly address them. Of course. "C have already seen that the logical and probabilistic arguments from evil are ,
122
to rebuttal in other ways. As shown in Chapter 5, the argument from gratuitous evil is the most difficult for the theist to rebut anyway. Chapter 6 reviewed several theodicies that could be interpreted as attempts to answer the argument from gratuity by offering theoretical explanations. But now we see a different way for the theist to respond to the antiLheistic critic who advances the aquunent. This still leaves us with the one very tbrmidable type of critic— the person who is willing to say that he positively icgrits his own existence on the whole. This is the person presumably a cry rare indkidtial indeed—who is able honestly to sa\ that he would truly wisn and would prefer that some other world, in which no one now li\ lug hat, •i share, or perhaps no w odd at all should exist in place of this present (\ ii world of which he is unhappily a part. Out of the depths of his own pointless sintering, the ancient patriarch Job cursed the ti\lV of Ins birth: .
"Let the day perish in k\ Inch I was born, and the nigh: that said, 'A man child is cum - med.' et that day he darkness! May God above not seek it, or light shine
011 :11c.1 deep darkness claim it Let clouds settle upon it; let "I A' the blackness of the day territi it. "Thai night let thick darkness seize it! let it not icloice among the days of the year; let It mil come into the number of' the months. - Yes,let I ha nirin I b.lrren; let no jo ,, cr‘ he heard in it, "Lct illose curse it \\ Ito curse the Sea, those ho are skilled to rouse up Leviathan, "Let the stars of its ita\± n he dark; let it hope !",w light, but have none; may it not see ilie evelds it the morning "because it did not shut the doors of Inv mother's womb, and hide trouble front in , ekes. - N\!1\ did I not die at birth, come forth from the V\ omb and evirc? "Why \\ CrC there knees to l'Cv Ci e IIIC or breasts for me to suck? - No\AI :\ ould be lying dow n and quiet; I would be asleep: then I wouki be at rest -with kings and counselors of the earth 51111 ic ikt ruins for themSell es, “01 1\ itli princes who line gold, k\to till thin . house s \\ jilt sl iver, "Or why was I not buried like a stiliborn ch d Ift,e an infant that never sees the light?" 25 -
•
,
.
,
This is the deep existential regret that is required for one meaning fully to raise the argument from gratuitous evil. To be able to assert
Pic visten
of Evil
123
the factual prcmise that there is gratuitous evil, the critic must positively rc firct on the whole that he, his family, his friends, all his Ion ones„ind the rest of us have ever lived. Perhaps Ivan Karamazov is the paradigmatic figure here. Ivan resists his brother's declaration that all events in the world contribute to a divinely designed "higher harmony - that will be revealed at. the end of time ‘
You see, Alvosha, per!laps it really may harper , :iv ,: fl live to that moment, or rise again to NCC t (11.), perhaps 111.1. L:IV .,iload with the rest, looking at lIte ntother em6racing INC childs tot hater, "Thou art just, 0 1,ord 1. - hut I don't want to cry aloud then, \nil,: there is still rime, I hasten to plotCCI 1111 ri.:11C',111CC the highe . harmont altogether. Its n o t v0 , l':11 the tcars olthat onc ii , mur,..t.1 child Y., on the breast with its little fist and prayed in its stinkintY outhouse, with, its uneArated Fears to - dear, kind (;od": It's not north it, because those tears tie unatoned for.'"
Summarizing his existential posture. Ivan declares, "In the final result, I don't accept this world of God's, and, although I know it exists, I don't accept it at all." 27 Here we have a person who is willing to say that the existence and history of the world has not been worth it. for Ivan, many of the world's evils arc gratuitous because whatever purpose they serve is not worth the price. A rebellious existential hero, Ivan , - learly seems ready to embrace the implication that he must be willing NY !lis own existence ti be replaced by nonexistence. What Ivan does, then, is to answer the penetrating question with w hich V. e ha \ e been working1 /.17/mi ahri 1 cvi..4 ,..= and to answer it negati\ el\ . This answer n vs :11111 I lie e Lilly honest or authentic in rejecting the evils o■ the world.?.$ It is these kinds ( -If persons the Ivan K.11,1111,1/01 s of this w odd who are unaffected by the theistic response to the problem 01 e\ that has been sketched here. is in is the person who can honestly sa% that he regrets his own existence and the existence of all w how he Imes, since too great a price in terms 01 nlisery and suffer ing has been paid for their existence. 2 ') In tact, for such a person, framing his objection in terms of the genproblem of gratuitous evil is somewhat unnecessary because he can consider the evils occurring in his own life as the only factual instance of gratuity he needs to cite. On that basis alone, he might oh jeer that the God of theism does not exist. )r he might cite as a case -
124
71/c r istenti,q1".1); o:',i/em .
.
s not seem to be good on the \\ hole , not a the person living it. An implicit assumption here wol c that a morally good deity would not allow even one individ. ual to have a life that is not a great good to him on the whole, regardless of what broad reasims there are fOr thinking that our world is good on balance. This of thought, of course, pursues thc attack in an Ivan-like directi(m. And it certainly makes the attempt to apply gencral explanations tiir evils to individual cases irnpertinent, at least, and dama;:in;:, ar most."
The Defeat of Horrendous Evil it is not clear w !tether restricted theism oilers enough rich ideas to fashion an (M .o.- like response t.o the person who says that he regrets his oy% n existence or that of the whole world. The critic's charge here \\ mild have been better if God—if he exists at CSSe1111111V 1— had not created this world. For one thing, the theist might erv, "Better f%), ' whom?" si;ice if God had not created this world and Titie had not come into existence, it could hardly be better fOr itic. For another thing, the theist who accepts the tact of gram'1 in a theistic universe may stress the overall value of the moral enterprise even if there are no guarantees that all evils will always be compensated with greater goods. But all such tactics may still be met with the Ivan-like response, "Ah, but what about all the horrendous suffering? It is just not worth it. Nothing can make it worth it," Ivan even admits that all people may indeed be resurrected at the end of time and that victims may their torturers. But that will all be too unjust, he insists, since some the sullerings are too a■A to be compensated..' 1 l'or ,u), there are too marn people w ),(2 \ es are not a great good to rhem and may, on balw ice, not have positive alue. Thus, no just and lovin;: deity could ha\ e created a k‘orld that contains them. Pill another way, the magnitude of the horrific e\ ils that some tragic human lk es include cannot be e\en approximately estimated w idiom that they arc inconnnensurate vtith any c(>1Ick- Lion of goods. Althoug,h we are entering a tem - y of tinidamental disagreement betw cell the theist and critic, a territon that is hu - gely uncharted, n Adams has offered a response that is distinctively Christian as Well as theistic, She observes that - most responses to the problem ot evil arc generic specifying a general reason for evil) and global (fo,
The Ls:;:;. ;J l':-171■:?;/. of Evil
125
casing on some feature of the world that makes evil possible). Yet she points at the insufficiency of generic and global solutions for the problem raised by horrendous evils. "Horrendous evils" are evils the doing 01 suffer ing of which gives one prima facie reason to doubt whether one's life could (given the inclusion of such evils in it) be a great good to oiic on the whole. Adams argues that the attribute of divine .,.00dness must be analvtcd to show not only that God would create a world that is good on the whole but also that he would not allow any individual lives to be lived that are enguhed and overeome by evil. The difficulty that the Christian t heist faces here is not only that do we not know God's acrmt/ reason forp ,...rm]ttin ,.,, horrendous evils but also that we cannot even coneciiw of ;t111 plaiisil 1e reasons. 32 Hui -dosing sy hat she calls the "resources of religious value theory.," Adams des clops an ar...uament that horrendous evils can he defeated in the contest of the lives or inkt \ :duals who cs periencc them. Let us simpl, say that c'.f is "defc,itc(1" when it is part ila life dot is good on the m mole. when it is related appropriately to rekv ant and great goods. Adams agrees with rebel':, like Ivan Karamazos and John Stuart Mill in insisting that there is no set of temporal and unitegoods that can guarantee that a persc.m whose life includes horrendous es us will be a great good to him or Iler on the \\ hole . Accordiml to Adams, it is the intimate relationship with God that has value incommensurable with anything else: .
From 1. Christian nt iF siew, God is a hentg rcmh . r thin which cannot be o.occivcd„; incotlinicnsurme with Foth created goods and temporal Is likewise, the ;.stood heoli;ic, face 10 face intimac% With Cod k dmph ncommensurate. \N ith any merely non transcendent goods or ills aperson might c \perientx. Thus, the good ()Cheat:1 1c intimao il.h God would • eveo the honvildimis t humans experience in tIns prcscm life here below, and iv comic any prima-t(cie rcomm he Hdi‘idual had to donFt whether his/her life would 0i cotild hi." ,vorth :
.
.
,
The central lo;T,ic at vs ork here is that the \viwst evilsdemand to be de-featcd bv the hest goods. (Ihristian theists such as Ni,tril‘ it Adams argue, then, that horrendous evils can he 0\ t..Tonnc only bv the infi
nitc goodness f God. Adams claims that it is not necessary to rind reasons (even merely logically possible reasons) God might permit horrendous evils. Thus, theoretical theodicy is not essential. it is enough lor the Chris
126
71'r Lxistenti,q .1); o:57eni or Tvii .
tian theist to show how God can be good enough to created persuls despite their participation in such horrors. For Christian theists to show this, according to Adams, they must work out the implications of divine goodness conceived not just as aiming at the excellent production of global goods but also as not allow' anv individual life TO SUSlain evils that would ultimately engulf ii 11cr conclusion, then, is that, tOr a person who experiences horrendous evil, God can ensure that his life is a great good to him only by integrating participation in those evils milt() a personal relationship with God himself. This is, in effect, to oriel - a practical or existent I low shall \ve think about \\ in it means or Gud tO integrate horrendous 0 it into • relationship \\ ith hini.eli Ndains argues that God's l u identification with the sufferer, k i\ ilk disph\ ed in his own sell-sacrifice in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, Is a helpf u l Christian model ill this cunte\t. 3, :Site asserts that Christian theism teaches that God thrintgli .hrist participated in horrendous evil, experiencing, human horrors. Thus, the sufferer can identify (either svmpathetically or mystically) with :hrist and thereby have a(ceY, to the inner life of God. According to Adams, this experience of (iod preempts the need to knov, w, b y horrendous r\ ils exist.'" At the end of his ling ordeal wit anguish and loss, the biblical character Job Was not privileged to know the reasons why he suffered so terribly. But he was given an intimate vision of (..;od that seemed to satisfy him and let him sec that his lifc was indeed a great good. Job answered the Lord: "I know that you can do all things„md that no purpose of yours can he thwarted I have uttered what I did not undcrst and, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I had heard of von bv the hearing of the ear, but now thy eve sees you." 37 In the final analysis, the lssue comes down to \\ Nether Adams's case o acceptable to the one to whom it is addressed. Adams can maintain :ht her owi distinctikel\ Christian ,ipproach is internally consistent, although the Christian theist and the critic \\ihl predictabl\ Mier on the truth and plausibilit■ or its claims. The antithcistic critic, by contrast, could agree that (lod, if he exists, is a good incommensurable ili 111 other goods. But he might object that u ne means by \\ hich people can be connected to God (e.g., horrendous suffi...ring) are so intrinsically an t ul that they still violate other moral prinjples we hold. The critic might also complain that Adams has shiticd ga iind in answering the theoretical problem by giving a practical solution. .11w critic might even press the point that it is extremely difficult to
P..-171■:?),,. or Evil
71w Lvist
127
tmderstand \\ hat it is for one person to experience another's pain or for suffering to be an avenue of interpersonal identification and thus that the 'acceptability of Adams's answer hangs, in part, on fuller analysis of such concepts. Adams and other Christian theists may eventually offer complete accounts of these concepts so that this strand of existential I hcodicx may advance. It is hard to say exactly where the future dist:ussion of the existential problem of evil will lead, but it is sure to be both fascinating and important.
Notes theoretical Irum practical probleniN 1, Kenneth Surin in his ibt-olqin. and Problz-,,ii al l i'll Blackwell. p. 112.. Roller', Adams calls it a pm chtilogical prohle:;t inUS liii 1 Yroic of Faith /1 /id Phil,nophicar Theo1617 .v. iNC' Y(>11 ,:: 0116rd L • rtn,,,T , itv Pr Other 1987l, p. 75. William 1 lasker alludes in the problem being a iO! in of moral protest in "On Kepi citing the lrIs orthis World," Soutbeiv, lo.fopip: 1.9 (1981 'n 4 )5. 2. Alvin rantinga, God, Fi.‘Tito,vi, aud Evil ((hrand hch.: herd tnms, 1 0 77 , , Soiutiun to the 3 • N1-1Hk i "RcticIllirj's Suricrirc: Pri•Iblem u I\ IP in lilt: Problan yd. cd. Michael 1.. Pe1...'itiversiity of Notre Dame P: ess, 19921, p. IT.. terson Notre 1),tme. .1. 1:clwarii Nladden and Pil.C1 I Inc. (,ail //IC • (Ii des C. Tlionns. 196S). p. 25. field. 5. lenfes . Rurion Russel!. `` .. r Expel-le:1,x of F ii," 1974 72. ô. l'aui P.:cutler, 'Mc (.)/ Et'!, trans. lniiBliel),m311 R t im un: Beacon Pre“, s;•c, for 5. n instance, pp. 7.h it Ih k er. ],„);;,,,,.,„ no /71 R t: ,9113. ,11 : Uni\ er,ity Press, 1970 ;, p. 2. eontenThorary cask, is riten f(); the layperson, that expr esses grief ,•1 and bitterness in ,s NI:niggle to Inaintain religions faith is .5. L e s, An: :-er hook in the same York: Nlacmillan, G,"1.c/ . 01).,-ervol spirit is Nicholas \oirerstortt, In wc;ir fa i• (i...irand Rapids. Nlich.: Lerdnian,.. 1987). 9. I'voc'.4 ri),itoe.;. sky, Kii1,inazotit trans. Constance Garnett (Ness Vi i Norton, 1976). particularly pp. 217-227. 10. AI 11, all I it Alber; anuh's writings can be seen as dealing with the robiem ol grittunous CVi: and the senselesi., destruction i thiitn ul VaiLIC. nod "The NIVth Of Sisyphus, - in ..1/yrb P, A. see Jason, :fans. jusrir O'Bvicn in Ness. York: Allred A. Knopf. 1055), pp. -
,
-
-
-
-
.,
i/o' Lviste211i,q7.
128
1-138. Also sec C.amus, 7h trans. Sttlart Gilbert !, No\ York: Alited 1948). Unamuno, Hi( Sriise tif trans. J. Crawford Flitch NC11. OH DIJsk.A , 19;14 ?. 12. I'vom John Stuart Mill, " 1 Philosoph\ of the Conditioned Ap plied I'' Mr. Nlan e1 to the Limits or Reit:rious Thought," in /11! 11(r)! 0t iI Ii /111, Hii Philoophi, rCpril )]i Pike, cc God -
'
.
.
,
-
IC.'! '
a
ProlVeni oj'Evi1
.
NJ.: Prentice-1 Lill, PRO:, p. 43. /Id Le ', pp. 03-64. 13. Plantinga, (;oo'. 14, M. Adams, "Redemptive Sufferin.," p. 171. firihilf)s13. Ed ard kValter, " i he Logic of Emotio:1 ,." nplit 10 19721: 71-78, 10. Sidttcv Hook.. "Pragmatisnl and the Tragicense 0: Itre," n t o k er 1960), till Li • di! it.V.VCS !if thr A ill I,' 1 'hi/OS(1phi la I A SSOCi it IIIII ( reprinted in RA■bert otrigan, c d„ j iwi ricciy; L s i ol; ; H i d Jhniii!.Sart rancisco: ChmWer, I 90;;:, p. (58, 17 John I lick. Era fold the God of Love, 2nd ed. an Francisco: I-larper &Row, 1978], n. 92. Theodicy for Pastoral Practice," in his Pastoral 18. Thomas i n. 1983), pi'. 223-248. Theoloav !.San Franciso): ilarper 19. lIasker, "Regretting, pp. 425. 426. 20. !Kid_ p. _ 127. / . here 1 .1,1 „. ( ,. renum b ere d H a „k er '., prinopies lor the sake of cominuity contest oh is book. Ail remaining principle cited here context of I Iasker's art,..les and A id not carry Curtner may he tOunt_i reteren,es. 21. Robert M. Adams, "Lxistence, S.:11 Interest, and the Problem of at his loll/i.' 0f Faith, p, 66, 22. Flasker, "Regretting, p. 431, Husker writs-',: "No: e first of all that, given:he truth oti A, it is ..r; tain, and not u.isi probable, Ella: subsequent to anv major ca!amitv, tich as It war, matt v of the :)cHons who come into existence are ditferent individuals from those who would have existed had the calamity not occurred. ;\ !any per s ons who would o th erw i se lt ne N ee ,, me lieu n their parents (',:c e, thou! haying children. Those 'a hoc o uld haVC bee mate have children willt other partners, and so on, Within a lew genect tions, it is likely that hardiv aiwone Ibing in the affected ar e a Ii identical \Nall v% Ito Aould have existed, had the calamity lull occurn...d. Ntrhat Is more difficult is to show that this is true in the case 0th .,..!,iyen individual. SeeMitt even in the individual 1.•.1 Ls, the probabilities mount :1 ,) vein pose. ft )r exaqyle, that had the Firs. World War not occurred thcr,.. is one chance in ten that my parents would have met each other. I eta sure that this is too high. But at this point 1 can allOrd to be cmscrvan■e.) Suppose, furthermore. that on just 1■\ 0 previo‘ts (.,...ca.sions the rneetiro. , and mating of ,
'
-
,
,
-
-
,
.
-
,
,
,
,
,
-
129
EPil
Lvistemi, ;7.1'n iitcw .,
ndittenccd in similar t,‘ s by ...talarniarit:01(.11.,-; ii p. ncOccling all other factors :all of touts events ( tf.' Their own Times. 1 the likelihood V1hich, it considered, v,ottld further strengthyb:nis argumert
.50111ti.
-
.
01 In'. existing, II just these three :11,t'or calamities had not 'ACC:tried, is no better than one in a thonsandl Thc iriot' is, that I have no reason: whatever to suppose that I would have ems:'. had the t ourse worlds histot's e no tcason b suppose I rcc MUM . But hat I been sub.stainiall■. z";/ must he accepted. 1:rilChC.11 pillICV•es he disrcp,:c'deel. Su) 23. Renediet de Spinoza. ifIncs, ed. I Icon 1-rowde, ttaiis. \ I Idle White, Re■ised by Arneli: , Hutchirison Sitting (London: Oxfold 1... ni‘ersity Press, 191W, pp. 80 81, 24. R. Adams, 1Aistenee." p. 75. 25. Job 3:3-7 'New Re'. ised Standard Version, 26, Ivan 1<aramazov in Dostocvskv, The 1 i.")7,7 4- l■,i.an.tazot713. 225. 27. Ibid., p. 210. n case 01 Leo Thisibv 28. We note here Hit can,lot pursue the '.'.e!1 who came to the coichisionk that lite had to meaning and was not w■. and thus came to the brink of suicide. It the critic raising me problem orgrattt how, 0, 1 1 toll he lertiels :us own existence, that his own e.i. oil m g to tence is lul a positive c; )()d to him then the theist mte,ht a s k‘vh.v .
,
-
,--;. .
-
,
-
,
he does not conmut sweide. What we nught call the suicide anzument seem espcciallv strong iii the title 'Ma) is ‘‘illin:2,ii cc he rq,rels Itis cm y1clicc. See Leo re.)Istov, 1.1v 'wifr.q ions.„ trans. co Wiener i ondon: 1. \ I. 1)cm, 1905), 29. Although we cannot explore the matter here, the realip of suifering lies tt and the search for the proper the heart tp.11:iddhiqn. Nil- va n ; .1 (honeN i s i cnce; iohn
,
,
.
flow ker, bridge
L'iiiveNii■
Rehifio:o or TO' Press, 1970 pp. 237- 2:71X.
30. TEIc iendencv dISCLINSCki Ill I L'ir ,.., 11t.- C.
it'll;t1t1 .I lle. Iii'
i.(:Ambridge: (.arn-
persons is Was1thigton,
allsWiTS 10 di) ■..H1 . 1,y,i.! Or .1
Oeorgetowtì L'itiversit‘ Press, 1991 pp. 22.1. 220, /30).thrIS ICVSky, 3 I . bait Kaallla/CIV $2. .\ ..\dams, 11orrendous Evils and the Ooodness ot tod. Pro(ccd i;q,./?.1/4' /h,.. supplemen:,,Av ■1>1. 63 1989 I: 297-310. The present quote is fi om the reprin:ek'. pic.:c in Robert Nlerri1lcw .\dams and \lard\ n :\lc(.ord Adams. eds., 717.T of 1:v1/ (Nen., York: 0 ;: ord Um versn, Press, 1991) p 215,. p. 218, Thc reader silo:did consult 33. XL ,\dams, I lorrendous -
-
,
-
the eompiktte article :t).o technical distinctions between balalicui,g ort: dejear i; .bt, and riwilltino es II. ,
3-1. Tolstov mentioned in Note 2X) earn' to accept this k:nd t,I loi . t hat orth the iniinite meaning to tie fatite. Thus. 1 ,verted .",ancicie and claimed to find Incateing in his hie.
77./c Lvistent1q7P; o:57e111 .
35. M. Adams, "Redemptive Suffering," pp. 169-187. 36, M. Aclaws, "Horrendoth a. 220, 37. job 42:2, 3b, 5 New Revised Standard Version.
Suggested Readings Nlarihn M. - Horrendous 1:..\ ils „Ind the Goodness of God." The tt soci c ty : .11pplethetu y l'()/niut• 63 (1989): 297-310, II: \iore . "ProbHus 0! ice to Christian Philosophers." kairh and Phi fo3ophv S ( I 988 121 1.-1,'; • "koiernplive Nitriering: , Chris? inn Solm ion It the Prohh:m of EAR. - Iii itationaliry, .8clicj; am! Moral ( oinwitmolt, edited by ]titer: Audi and Mika:n .1. tVaiim right. Ithacd: Corncli1. 7 niyursity Press,
7
1986, pp. 21S 207.
Robert :\1.. -le..1.f.-Interest, and the Problem or Evil." NOUS 13 (1979 53 6S, Pc Dupre, look. u' Mysicry." failh and Philosophy 7 (1990): 261-280.
"On Repelling tite J l fThis W, ‘ ,.rphi/ o .,-; ,pin 19 (I 9S I ,
1 latterv.i.,., Stanio.
Sondiri-n
.12S 137. thc
G(o?, itcdicuic, anti the P.:.oblem Suffcl - iqa. (irsmci Rapids, Niich.: Lerdinall,, 1990. rh II i• 4 1 ),' It / )/ 111.71diCaPpCii, alit? (71111Th, NOH C 1) u nc, Notre Dame Press,. 1985. kohak, Fix/rim. "The Person in a PciNonal AP Inquiry into the Nict , l ph■ - sical of the I ragic Skinse of I 1!,,' 11%-i) 71 t r /1111/ Pri iSoptiV 1 I 1977): 51- OA,. L ov i s , 1962. /'Pub/,'n/ 01 Pain. New York: S. Pe!crsm, Michael. "Reccit Work (01 the Prol , len of 1:Ail." Anicricarl top/;1,0I Olin7r:v .1' 0 1983 ;1+21 330, Peterson, Nlicho.cl, ed. rim Probh ;;iii pit: Selected Read ;hr 's, Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame hiess, 1992. ,
.
.
.
Index
Abiluetne argument from evil, 81( n 1 1) Adam biblical chavak:tc0. 91, 94 Adains, Marilyn, 111,113-114, 12.4 127 Adams, Robert, 117, 120 Aesthei e theme. 91-92,93 aestim is. aims (God's), 102 Sce atco plentitude .Alier!iie, 9$. 101, 1.07(n45), 124 AIDS, 1 All •good. God as. 7, 9, 18, 23, 36- 37. 48-49, 55, 70-71, 102 103 Alston, William, 58, 86 Animal inil, 5, 74. See also Evil, nal:11%11 Anselm. Si., 94 Antecedent Nature (God's). 100 -101 Appears I( icut ions, 75. SIT obv gratuitous Thomas, 94 Augustine, Sr, 4, 34, 85, 89-93 Aushwit..... 1 ANii•ilog,i,•, 9 Basinger, IT)as id, 107i. n48). 108(n49) Bin es theorem, 67 64, n113). -
Beliefs bx,:k , 59-61
incorrigibe. 59-60.
1
Ot.i L. \
C1amits, Albc 1, 112, 127-128(nlO ) Character building theme, 88 Chisholm, Ri ticrick, 75 Clifford, W. IC, 58-59 Cobb, John, 101) Cocks, H.1: Em u r, 5 CogniliN lii imanons, 75-78, 86, 105! 111%, 112 Cognitive (episteinic) powers, 60, 75 Compatibilism, 35-36. Sec also Leibniz's I apse Condition of Reasonable Epistemic Access (CORNEA), 75-76 Consequent Nature (God's), 100-101 Consisteilcv of theism, See Free Will Dciense Compatilisnu. Control. (di\ in Incomnatibilism: Smereignts ,
Cornman. John, 47 FM, 72
argument, 9 -10, 56 Creation, 51), 89-91. .Sec do God, as creator Credence imit teti00, 75
.
Sdr
Berger, Peter, 6 :,is sou«e of ideas for theodie!,•(, 8$ Blake, William, 12 Ilowk/..r, John, 111 3, 13 Kt: Buddhism, 6, 129(1129)
ildaionaIi i, Illeir 5Q0.. ,
r Foundationalism, i theistic, 8-9, 18, 41, 57, 07 .
Davis, Stephen T., 41 Death, 5 • 6
131
132 Deleater (01 60-61, 68 Defense, a!, d 1l.ic strategy, 33, 69, 85, 89 Related to Reft,rmed epistetnol, '
60 61 Sci• f/':° i•!'cc
Free
Den, 29, 33-43, 14( 3), 73 applied to natural evil, 50-52 Iii
pricc
cc, R.01c,
.Necaiso ,ffp,timcra
I: \ odor, 3, 13, 112
concep,ed by classical theism, 7-8 creator,18, 88, 91, 93, 95, 125 iLIP, with the ,triicrer, 125 127 -11(111.) a', ne, cNsAt aim l'nwes` hci:ni -
,
'Eiot.. T. S., 6 Epicurus.. 18 Lpistonic distance, 95-96 Lpistonic tramcwot t b•lieR 57 Fristemology, 9 Eschatalogical motif', 0 8, 101 FN idcmialism, 58-60, 64(n22), 67 FN (dtiNitiCdlion of, 10-13 deltnition ol, 2, 10-11 dvsteleological, 98-99 as an eternal citic cmity, 6, 39 gtatuitous t pointless. meaningless), 30, 7 1 -79, 92, 9 1, 9 7 - 9 9 , 102-103, 111-115, 119-126 in t:ic media.. 1-2, 6, 7 metaphysical. 93, Sec also Privation (of good:, moral. 11-12, 24, 35, 38-4.2, 50 natural, 4-5, 12-13, 50 Existential attitudes toward evil, 115-124 Faith, relation of to rational process, 10 Fallen angels, SO, 52, 61-62(n7), 90 Flew. Antony. 35-36, 38-39, 58-59, 96 Founkl.“14»hilisill, strong, 59-60,
Great et t, iood strateg), 89, 103-104, 106m7) Gritlin, Da, id Rav, 100-101 Hail, Thor. 8 Hare, Peter, IL, 72, 85-86, 104 Hartshorne, Charles, 100 111,107-10& 1(18.:n19), 115 119 Flick, John, 11, 85, 91., 94-99, 113 111 Higher hat - nut:1y solution, 123. See tyin) Aesthetic theme Hinduism, (1 Hook, Sidney, 113 lloward-tinvdet, 1),‘„niel, 9, 72 pride 1 fume, David, 11, 12, 18, 24, 58 -
Incompatiblit, 37-41, Sc.. iitco Leibnit's Lapse Inconsistency in tEeisni. 17-23, 33 Incorrigible beiiefs. .Se BelieR, incorrigible Inductive argument from evil, 47-52. Nee ti/cu Prtibabilitv (as a method incict:titnt 16:naeus, 94 Islam, 8, S2'
6-1;112 2) ill
89 -90, 94-96, 1 03
as sell: determination, 100 Sei• II./III
Jesus, S. 120 Job (biElical character), 115, 122, 126 Judaism, 8, 52
133 Karainazov, 1\ an. 13, 104, 123-125 Kauluuul, ttordon, 71 1aultnaun,1Vaher, 70, 71 Fans, 10
Pantheism, 100 pastoral thcodicy, 114, 126 Paetora! problem 4 evil, 112 Paul Hie Apo...He l'encHt in. It rcnec, 24 .
1 Pcters(w, 1 chief , Keith, 47 50, 72 107 1.0titie-18 11.181149 1ihii. (.;.1h-ti kV 11telin ion, 38, kii,11(.\-lk. 09. 8• 3 3 3 ,A,;\ HI, I is , 91 0 -13.', 39 • 42, 3ti ,11, 49, 94 »H9,11 n1,1. I. -49- F.,O, 7,ti 127: ;18 in, 39 62eTw1.1.1.-.-;,16:. (X, 75, Itickt% 91 Itit. (-joy, 111•• 112 -
,
.
.11ackic, I. I ., 17 19, 22, 24. 27, 29, 33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 96 5iati(21k-1, F.J.\‘.11 - (1, 11 , 72, 35 86, 104 lationna, tile. 3 lanichacankin (Ct tsmic Dualism), 39 ;\ la\ rodue, t lei FUL 58 1.111t ,7tu-Hi•tn ) , .11c(40e)cy, FL J., 13, 24 Mt:ailing (Alit.' (in relation ice cell), 2, 4. o. 10, 123,125( n28
P1,no, 91 Possible cc iii Ii' best 4 all poseiblc worlds, 48-49, )•
-
.
-
L'LlPhYsics,
9
NIci ii he
88. See also Thcodicy 5101, John St nail. 112, 125 .\111 ron,lohn, $5 Man 1)1, 4., 4-5 .‘dorrira, iai..:. 1, 7 -
,
-
Togic (di 37 $S.
God\ relation to, 38-41, 56 ['tract , iod's e, 11)1-102 persuasive, 101-102 the Onmipttence c.) Prctiesci Prceinnotion itlaihcism, 58 Principle of plcm it tide, 91. Sec also (heinc Principle t :roil:lint 75 Privation so[goot 11, 90. .cc also NIctaphysieal c\ Probability !as a :tu. thod of induction frequency theorI of 55-56. 62i n141, 02-64(n18 tka! Wenn o- 5 -4 - 55 pct. so:tails( thcon 5A-54 Process theism, 99-10A Punishment theme, 88, 91-92 -
-
-
-
Natural i.c.c (1 tcrue. 29. 61-62(n7), 105 Neopiatoniern. 100019 i MiIII, a, h. 129; n29) tel ic ,\\ ers cpistcmic), 60-61 -
Wen ; 1itouht-.„ 114 ()Innipotcni_e ha\ in?..t .ell power), 7-9 in relation to human .ict-done. , H to """15i' t1141. ompatibilienet proit..ss o itique 0 1, 1(10 101 ,
, 1:d% !P.,!, LI
(lino
,:
11 knowledge),
o 9, 56
.,
-
(...)_oasd thelsn, , 2. Clii',
cc ce ,tire ) P rocess
Ii
,tr religious biller tilli110, 9-10 Fourulationalisilt, elrolut, Rettu tiled epistcmidor,y
134
1.11 t/ eV
Ref orinetl 68 69, 86 87, i
,A
II
l.\5L1i
l'k016tal argument, 10, 62(ri14)
Theism ( standard 18 litishan, 7 8, -13, 86, 124
iti).11/411,
64(
k:NPalltik'd, 8, ./1, 77 7 9, 80 , b 7 ),
8 I( (119), 87 88, 111, 1 -!-1
108(n-1.9)
Rust HW3L Ilan , . 2 Rt(t‘ t William, 8, 17, 18, 47, 73-79,
moilleisni, 52, 70, 113 restricted. 8, 18, 71, 77-79, 88, II!.. 121
83. Russell, Bert rand, 58 Russell, Bruce, 73, 81(n11)
Tlitiodie‘, 13, 33, 39, 105(115) as r,lat 2 IIIcredibility of reli0 -0, Fel, 6 8, 11 -15(n18)
Russell, Jet :re\ Btu ton, 111
,,,ihil(1% (it, 8S-88 Salluiin, Wesley, 55-56 (cycle t,( birth-death cbirt:, 6 r S.11,1(1..S't( Fallen angels. Schlciermacher. Friedrich, 90
S
ti
Aletailicodict .
I co, 12 9, 1128
1 .131-y
Tbial evIdence, 56 3$, (i2 ii 67 (i8. Sec 015!) brid depr,b
idemialism -10 -12
Schlesinger, George, 70 Scriven, Michael, 38
Unatiltinu, Sltgiici de,112
Seitle% ident beliefs, Sec Beliefs, sell evident Sell-refcrential incoherence, 59-60
Value diet):
relil.t.lbus, 125
van lin\
l'crer, 79-800151, 86
Settle. T. W., 7 siti, 4, .34, 77, 90-91, 97. See also \ il„ moral
Whitchea,i, Alt( - ed North, 85, 99-101
Smith, Susan, 2
WolterstbriI, Nicholas, 58
Sh\ ereigniv (Clods:, 89, 91. See also
Wvkstra, Stephen, 8, 75-79, 112,
Oinniputena. Spino , Benedict de, 119
Wittgenstein, 1 mix\ ic. 3
127: It8
ibert L.'ruis, 3 Ste\ ensim. Suicide, i29tii28) and (113.4)
Yandell, Keith, 41, 86
SiinL.titnc , RiChArd, 7o, 81(t114)
Liiroastrianism, 6
