Explain the problem of evil (25 marks). Are the theodicies attempts to deal with moral and natural evil and suffering doomed, in the face of so much evil and suffering?
The problem of evil A) Explain the problem of evil (25 marks) The fact that there is evil in the world is a problem for theists as they claim to worship a god who is all-knowing, all- powerful and completely good, the problem arises because surely such a being would be aware of evil and suffering in the world as they are all-knowing , would have the power to prevent it from happening as he is all-powerful and as he is supposedly completely good ,and he would not allow for such evil to ever even occur, as Christians believe him to bear all three of these divine attributes , the allowance of evil to persist on a daily basis throughout the world surely disproves the existence of God. There are two separate types of evil that affect the world, firstly there is moral evil. Moral evil defines the bad actions of us as humans such as: rape, theft and murder, where as Natural evil makes reference to the natural processes of the world such as: volcanoes, earthquakes and forest fires, it is said that as humans commit such atrocities as murder through moral evil , natural evil occurs as punishment. The logical problem of evil is defined by Epicurus "If he is willing and is unable, he is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of God, if he is able and unwilling, he is envious... if he is neither willing nor able, he is both envious and feeble...if he is both willing
Mills comments about the problem of evil are fatal to the teleological argument.
'Mill's comments about the problem of evil are fatal to the teleological argument.' Mill was born a year after the death of Paley, the most famous advocate and contributor of the teleological argument, and as an empiricist, fervently disagreed with his works and the works of his predecessors in Aquinas and the classical philosophers of Plato and Aristotle among others. Mill challenged the idea that evidence of design in the world proves the existence of the God of classical theism because evidence supported either the non-existence of God or a God that did not have the attributes accepted by Christianity. Mill pointed towards natural empirical evidence to disprove the teleological argument. He argued that because there is evil and suffering in the world, then the designer cannot have been all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving; the very foundations of modern Christianity. Mill believed that had the creator been all-loving then the suffering of humanity would not have been included in the design. As it is, then at least one of these three essential attributes must be missing. This argument on the problem of evil and suffering points potentially fatal flaws in both the teleological argument and the Christian concept of God in general. As Mill points towards the Problem of Evil and Suffering, the Christian perspective of this problem must be used. The theodicies of Augustine
The strengths and weaknesses of utilitarianism
(i) What are the main advantages of utilitarianism? (21 marks) (ii) Identify the main problems of utilitarianism. To what extent do these make utilitarianism unacceptable? (9) Utilitarianism was developed by Jeremy Bentham and is a modern form of the hedonistic ethical theory which teaches that the end of human conduct is happiness, and that consequently the discrimination norm which distinguishes conduct into right and wrong pleasure and pain. The aforementioned Bentham lived in era of great social and scientific change and unrest. He therefore, because of his social surroundings developed a theory that stated that right actions are those who produce the most pleasure for everyone affected and wrong actions consequently are those who do not. He coined the phrase "the greatest good for the greatest number" which summarises his aim which was to iron out the deep inequalities of his time. Bentham being a hedonist believed that all humans naturally pursued pleasure and conversely avoids pain. To measure this pain and pleasure, Bentham created the 'hedonic calculus' which weighs up the pleasure and pain which might arise from moral actions to decide the best option. The formula should determine which act has the best tendency and therefore right. He measured happiness with seven different elements including; Intensity and duration; certainty and uncertainty. John Stuart Mill
Theodicy Essay: - St Augustine and Ireneus
Theodicy Essay: - St Augustine and Ireneus . St Augustine's Theodicy In the beginning, God created a wholly good creation that was mutable meaning that it had the potential to change. The creation was rich and diverse and there was harmony and balance in it. However, God gave the angels and mankind freewill, which brought sin and decay into the world. Sin is the absence of good and those who sin will be punished. They will be punished in hell. [Augustine's theodicy 5th century] He wrote it in a book called the confessions of St Augustine. Evaluation Therefore, God is not responsible for evil the angels and mankind are, since God gave them freewill. A question that could be asked is why, if creation was wholly good, would the angels choose to rebel. This could be responded to that since the creation was rich and diverse there must be grades of morality as well. I.e. greater and lesser goods. It can be said that Augustine's clarity on evil merely being a lack of good is successful. Augustine said that evil is a 'privation', merely a lack of goodness. Like a bird without a wing or as St Basil said an eye without sight. Many point out that if God is all loving then why would He plan hell as part of His creation. Scholars respond that since God is all knowing and, knowing that man would rebel he planned for His only son Jesus to give people a second chance. That is why in
Assess reliabilism
Assess Reliabilism In order to asses Reliabilism, it must be viewed within its context as a philosophical idea and with and against the conditions it establishes. Reliabilism is the philosophical ideas that, what we use to justify our beliefs, are methods that have proved to be reliable in the past, or rather a method that we know, or normally just believe, to be reliable. The idea of Reliabilism can be seen as coming as a response to the Gettier problem. The Gettier problem being that all of the tripartite conditions for knowledge can be met, but there may be no actual knowledge, by the accepted definition of Plato, as justified true belief. One such example of a Gettier problem is this: say I have a friend, Fred. I walk into Fred's room and see Fred on his bed. I shall then know that Fred is in the room. However, who I believe to be Fred, is actually his brother Tim. So, I now have no justification to believe that Fred is in the room; or rather I have a false justification, as Fred is not in the room. However, Fred is in the room, but hiding under the bed. Would I be right in my knowledge that Fred is in the room? No, as I am not properly justified. I have only true, belief. So, quite obviously the problem with this Gettier example is that my true, belief, was not justified in a reliable way. It was only by accident, Fred's hiding under the bed, that I had a
Plato used the analogy of the cave to criticise the unphilosophical and to 'get back' at the rulers of the Athens who had executed his tutor, Socrates. He argued that the world that we perceive is a world of illusions, of 'shadows'
Criticisms of Plato's theory Plato used the analogy of the cave to criticise the unphilosophical and to 'get back' at the rulers of the Athens who had executed his tutor, Socrates. He argued that the world that we perceive is a world of illusions, of 'shadows' of the 'real world' of the form. He thought that every object in our world corresponds to its form in the world of ideas. Plato believes that our experience of the form pre-dates our experience of the 'real object.' Aristotle, Plato's pupil was critical of this idea as he believed that the 'form' is developed through continued experience of physical things. It does not seem reasonable that we have the 'world of ideas'. It may be reasonable that there can be 'perfect forms' of concrete objects, and those ideas can exist eternally, where as the concrete objects are subject to constant change. There could be concepts of perfection such as beauty, justice and the good but Plato's argument that there is a world where these concepts exist seems unreasonable. Are these concepts a simple way of understanding the world around us? If this is so, they exist only in the realm of language and not in a real 'world of the form'. Plato argues that the world of the form is 'self-evident' but most people would disagree. Self-evident is usually taken to mean that there is evidence that is incontrovertible-Assuming these are the
Explain the cosmological argument for existence of God
Explain the cosmological argument for existence of God The cosmological argument is an a posterior argument which has a long history, going back to the great classical philosophers of Plato, Aristotle, Leibnitz and Kant. All of them believed that the universe was the result of a transcendent being called G-d. Although these philosophers may have had different ideas about G-d, they all agreed that the universe was not self explanatory and must have had a sole cause in order for it to come into existence. Although the cosmological argument had various forms, each version focused on a key fundamental question: Why the universe began, why it was created and who or what created it. The case for the Cosmological Argument is best and most famously put forward by St Thomas Aquinas in his book Summa Theologicae which contained the 'Five ways' The argument starts off with his rejection of the ontological argument, as he says "[...] an argument that says G-d's existence is self-evident we cannot use [...] as we can't see the self evidence." He argued that one first needs to argue about G-d from evidence we find in the world today. This is quite an Aristotelian concept; Aristotle was a philosopher who Aquinas studied in Cologne and translated his works. His first argument was the "Unmoved mover" argument. The argument is concerned with things which change. Everything that is in motion
St Thomas Aquinas and the Cosmological Argument
St Thomas Aquinas and the Cosmological Argument Background of Thomas Aquinas * St Thomas Aquinas (1224-74) was born at Roccasea, near Aquino in Italy. He was of aristocratic background and studied at the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino before entering the University of Naples. * Aquinas was a Dominican and hence a friar, he committed himself to the Order, to live and work wherever they instructed him. He went to Cologne where he was a pupil of St Albert who wanted to provide an account of the newly discovered and translated work of Aristotle. * Albert moved to the University of Paris, and Aquinas followed. He began studying for a degree of Mater of Arts, which he completed when he was 30, writing a commentary on The Sentences of Peter Lombard. He wrote many commentaries on Aristotle and other authors. * He is best known for his two great Summas, Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologicae. The Five ways and the Cosmological Argument * In "Summa Theologica" Aquinas gives his five ways for the existence of G-d, the first three are better known as the cosmological argument. * He rejects the Ontological argument, as he says an argument that says G-d's existence is self-evident we cannot use as we can't see the self evidence. He argued we need to argue to G-d from evidence that we find in the world. This is quite an Aristotelian concept. * UNMOVED MOVER: -
Criticisms about Agustinians Theodicy, and the strengths and weaknesses.
Criticisms about Agustinians Theodicy, and the strengths and weaknesses. A theodicy (literally 'righteous God') is and argument that suggests god is right to allow the existence of evil and suffering because in some way or another, they are necessary and essential. The Augustinian Theodicy; Augustine starts from the point of view that God is perfect, the world he created reflected that perfection, this is evident in Genesis as after each day of creation 'God was pleased with what he saw'. He continues by suggesting that evil is not a substance, it is the absence of good. So sin and death enterd the world through adam and eve and their disobedience to god, because they ate the apple from the tree when god told them not too. This bought about disharmony both in our human nature and in creation, it also destroyed the delicate balance of the world (the good world god created) and caused the world to become distanced to god. Hence, God created a perfect world which was very good. Natural evil is a consequence of the disharmony of nature brought about by the fall, human actions brought about it. Moral evil is the second and flourished and spread in a now imperfect world. We all share in the evil nature brought about by Adam and Eve because we were seminally present in them, so therefore we deserved to be punished. However, God is justified in not intervening, because the
Religious Experience presents a convincing argument for the existence of God. Analyse this claim.
"Religious Experience presents a convincing argument for the existence of God." Analyse this claim. The argument from religious experience is an a posteriori, inductive argument for the existence of God. A religious experience is an encounter with the divine, and for believers, this makes religious experience the most convincing proof of God's existence. According to Saint Therese of Avila, "God establishes himself in the interior of this soul in such a way, that when I return to myself, it is wholly impossible for me to doubt that I have been in God and God in me." The question is: How does one move from the conviction that a person has experienced God to the claim that he or she actually did experience God? I will argue that although the argument from religious experience demonstrates a likely probability that God exists, the evidence is not enough for it to be a proof. Scholars have defined religious experience in many ways. Ninian Smart, in The Religious Experience of Mankind, said that "A religious experience involves some kind of 'perception' of the invisible world, or a perception that some visible person or thing is a manifestation of the invisible world." Martin Buber argues that God reveals himself to people on a personal level as they experience him through life and in the world. He wrote, in I and Thou, that everyday human relationships are of a simple level,
