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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
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    It is not the case that Marilyn McCord Adams argues that God's 'larger picture' justification mirrors precisely the consequentialist reasoning classical theists use to impugn utilitarian ethics.

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

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Divine permission of evil differs fundamentally from human utilitarian action: God possesses omniscience and creates all options, while humans act under uncertainty with constrained choices.
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    • 2.Classical theists can consistently reject utilitarianism while accepting divine justification by appealing to God's unique authority to override natural rights—a privilege humans lack.
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    • 3.Adams conflates metaphysical justification (why God permits evil) with normative ethics (how humans should act), which operate under different epistemic and moral constraints.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Classical theists reject utilitarianism by claiming individual rights cannot be sacrificed for aggregate welfare, yet invoke similar aggregate justifications for divine permission of suffering.
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    • 2.Adams correctly identifies a performative inconsistency: if God's 'larger picture' justifies permitting evil, the same logic should justify utilitarian policies that maximize overall good.
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    • 3.Both theistic and utilitarian frameworks prioritize outcomes over deontological constraints, revealing that the classical theist critique of utilitarianism is epistemically unstable.
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