Given the vast disproportion between human and divine cognition, our inability to identify a justifying good for E1 and E2 provides negligible evidential support that no such good exists, undermining the 'eminently reasonable' characterization.

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1 reason against

Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Human cognitive capacity is finite; we cannot comprehend purposes operating at scales vastly beyond our experience or temporal horizons.
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2.An absence of evidence for justifying goods is logically distinct from evidence of absence—especially given epistemic limitations.
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3.If God's cognition truly exceeds ours infinitely, confidently asserting 'no justifying good exists' commits us to an unreasonable certainty.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.The cognitive disparity argument proves too much: it could justify any evil, making divine benevolence empirically unfalsifiable and vacuous.
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2.We can reasonably identify *some* goods (pain avoidance, moral development); failing to justify extreme suffering suggests incoherence in theism.
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3.Skepticism about our ability to identify justifying goods should equally undermine confidence that such goods exist—it cuts both ways.
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Key Terms

Divine cognition(Chatton's threefold characterization of how God cognizes): A mode of awareness that is (1) non-judgmental and non-voluntaristic, (2) not necessarily of determinate existents, and (3) complete, non-discursive, and direct
E1 and E2(represent instances of suffering or evil): Symbols representing specific examples of suffering or evil events being discussed; like placeholders for 'bad thing #1' and 'bad thing #2.'
Evidential support(as what the functions measure): The strength and quality of reasons or evidence that suggests something is true or false.
cognition(Interpretation of Kant's use of 'cognition' (Erkenntnis) as pertaining to meaning/intelligibility rather than merely knowledge): A semantic notion (on the interpretation described)
disproportion(as used to describe the gap between human and divine knowledge): A significant difference or imbalance in size, amount, or quality between two things.
eminently reasonable(as used in logic and philosophy to describe arguments or conclusions): Highly rational, sensible, and clearly deserving approval or acceptance.
justifying good(as used in theodicy (the problem of why evil exists)): A sufficiently valuable outcome or reason that explains why something bad is allowed to happen.
negligible(as used to describe weak evidence): So small or unimportant that it barely matters or should be ignored.
theodicy(Central concern of Plutarch's era): The philosophical problem of reconciling the existence of evil and unpunished wrongdoing with the existence and goodness of divine providence.

Connections

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Problem of Evil1 linked

An absence of evidence for justifying goods is logically distinct from evidence ...Assumption (1), as interpreted by Rowe, is eminently reasonable.Human cognitive capacity is finite; we cannot comprehend purposes operating at s...If God's cognition truly exceeds ours infinitely, confidently asserting 'no just...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit