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    The mere existence of evil cannot be incompatible with th... — Carmelics
    Home/Problem of Evil
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The mere existence of evil cannot be incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect being.

    Problem of Evil
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.The actuality or at least the possibility of certain undesirable states of affairs may be logically necessary for goods that outweigh them.
      ?

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    • 2.If undesirable states of affairs are logically necessary for outweighing goods, then the mere existence of evil is not incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect being.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.The quantity and distribution of suffering in the world vastly exceeds what any plausible greater-good justification could require.
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    • 2.An omnipotent being, by definition, could achieve any greater good through means that do not require gratuitous suffering as a logical precondition.
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    • 3.Therefore, the existence of gratuitous evil—suffering serving no outweighing good—remains logically incompatible with omnipotence, omniscience, and moral perfection.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Rowe's inductive argument establishes that specific evils, such as the prolonged suffering of Bambi or Sue, appear to serve no greater good detectable by careful reflection.
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    • 2.A morally perfect being with full knowledge and unlimited power would have compelling reason to prevent any evil whose prevention does not undermine a necessary outweighing good.
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    • 3.The persistent existence of such apparently pointless evils shifts the burden of proof decisively onto the theist, making the claim that evil is compatible with God epistemically unjustified.
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    Problem of Evil

    Related

    A morally perfect being with full knowledge and unlimited power would have compe...An omnipotent being, by definition, could achieve any greater good through means...If undesirable states of affairs are logically necessary for outweighing goods, ...Rowe's inductive argument establishes that specific evils, such as the prolonged...
    +4 moreShow less
    The actuality or at least the possibility of certain undesirable states of affai...The persistent existence of such apparently pointless evils shifts the burden of...The quantity and distribution of suffering in the world vastly exceeds what any ...Therefore, the existence of gratuitous evil—suffering serving no outweighing goo...

    Similar

    Given the existence of evil, an omnipotent and omniscient person would...93%If undesirable states of affairs are logically necessary for outweighi...89%If that person is not morally perfect, then there is no omnipotent, om...84%Any degree of unnecessary evil, however small, is incompatible with th...84%

    Source

    AI-extracted3/3 agreementValid
    SEP: evil
    View source passageHide passage
    The upshot is that the idea that either the actuality of certain undesirable states of affairs, or at least the possibility, may be logically necessary for goods that outweigh them, is not without some initial plausibility, and if some such claim can be sustained, it will follow immediately that the mere existence of evil cannot be incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect being.
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The extracted argument faithfully captures the conditional reasoning in the source passage: Premise 1 reflects the claim about logical necessity of undesirable states for outweighing goods, Premise 2 reflects the "it will follow immediately" conditional, and the conclusion follows validly via modus ponens (albeit with the hedged nature of Premise 1 acknowledged by "may be").

    Confidence: The argument is clearly laid out in the text as a conditional: if the claim about evil being logically necessary for outweighing goods can be sustained, the conclusion follows immediately.

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit