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    Alston and Wykstra argue that human cognitive limitations... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The sceptic does not need to prove that God cannot exist on the basis of evil in the world.

    Alston and Wykstra argue that human cognitive limitations prevent any reliable judgment that a good God would have created differently, neutralizing the sceptic's evidential standard.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Humans lack access to God's complete knowledge of consequences, so we cannot reliably judge what a perfect being would choose to create.
      ?

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    • 2.Our evolved cognitive capacities are optimized for survival, not metaphysical reasoning about divine decision-making across infinite possibilities.
      ?

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    • 3.The skeptic's standard requires us to know what an omniscient being would prefer, but this exceeds our epistemic reach by design.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.We can make reliable judgments about suffering's pointlessness in specific cases without needing omniscience about all divine alternatives.
      ?

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    • 2.If cognitive limitations block all judgments about God's choices, they equally block the theist's judgment that God exists and is good.
      ?

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    • 3.Some instances of suffering (e.g., animal pain before consciousness evolved) appear gratuitous even granting deep epistemic humility.
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    Key Terms

    Alston and Wykstra(as the main philosophers being discussed)
    William Alston and Stephen Wykstra are philosophers who developed arguments about God and evil; they're known for defending religious belief against skeptical challenges.
    Good God (or omnibenevolent God)(as the type of God being discussed)
    In theology, a God that is all-good and wants what's best; the statement assumes this type of God exists.
    Reliable judgment(describing what humans cannot make about God's choices)
    A conclusion you can trust because it's based on solid reasoning and accurate information, rather than guessing or incomplete facts.
    The problem of evil (implied context)(as the likely topic of the statement above)
    A famous philosophical question asking how God could be all-powerful and all-good if evil exists in the world.
    cognitive limitations(as referring to human mental constraints)
    Boundaries on what our brains can do or understand—like how we can't process infinitely complex information or make perfect distinctions between very similar things.
    evidential standard(as used in epistemology)
    A rule or criterion for deciding what counts as good enough evidence to believe something is true.
    skeptic(The side usually taken by Academics in epistemological debates)
    One who challenges the possibility of knowledge

    Connections

    2 topics

    Against an attribute of God1 linkedProblem of Evil1 linked

    Related

    Humans lack access to God's complete knowledge of consequences, so we cannot rel...If cognitive limitations block all judgments about God's choices, they equally b...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Our evolved cognitive capacities are optimized for survival, not metaphysical re...
    Some instances of suffering (e.g., animal pain before consciousness evolved) app...
    +3 moreShow less
    The sceptic does not need to prove that God cannot exist on the basis of evil in...The skeptic's standard requires us to know what an omniscient being would prefer...We can make reliable judgments about suffering's pointlessness in specific cases...