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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that If God exists, any moral evil and any natural evil must be necessary for some greater good.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.A perfectly good God would have no motivation to create a world containing evil when a world without evil is logically possible.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Leibniz's 'best possible world' thesis fails if evil-free worlds are conceivable, since a world without gratuitous suffering ranks higher on any coherent value scale.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The existence of genuinely gratuitous evils—suffering producing no discernible greater good—is empirically evident, as Rowe's 1979 fawn-in-forest-fire argument demonstrates.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The claim illicitly converts a theodical strategy into a metaphysical necessity, conflating 'God may permit evil for good' with 'all evil must serve greater goods.'
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Alvin Plantinga's own free will defense shows only that some evil is possibly permitted, not that every instance of evil is necessarily tied to a greater good.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If every evil is necessary for a greater good, moral improvement becomes incoherent, since eliminating any evil would destroy a good, contradicting ordinary moral reasoning.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.If God exists, then this is a best possible world.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If this is a best possible world, there could not be an evil unless it were necessary for some greater good.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Any state of affairs containing evil incompatible with there being a maximally good world is impossible.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.