Thursday, March 17, A.D. 2011

Gratuitous Evil and Begging the Question

Maverick Philosopher has a post this week on the common atheistic case against God that asks how evil could exist in a world governed by God: “Gratuitous Evil and Begging the Question: Does LAFE Beg the Question?” As always, it is a joy to read Maverick Philosopher, who writes clearly and logically about important matters.

I have never understood why people find the “Auschwitz argument” so convincing. It just does not make sense. The problem of evil should trouble us greatly, but the problem presupposes a good God. Without a benevolent, omnipotent God, there really is no problem of evil. Evil is then just another fact of reality—a constituent and condition among others. It is only when we come to hold that the nature of being is good that we confront the problem of evil. As such, we Platonists, Jews, Christians, and other adherents of the world’s fundamental goodness must address theodicy, yet such is a very different problem from the atheistic case against God based on the presence of evil in the world.

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf recently mentioned a Latin phrase on his WDTPRS site that merits mentioning here: Qui Bene Distinguit, Bene Docet. It is a repeated lesson from the masters’ works throughout the centuries—and for good reason.

Posted by Joseph on Thursday, March 17, A.D. 2011
Philosophy | Metaphysics • Permalink