Summarised notes on ancient philosophical influences, arguments based on observation, religious experience, the problem of evil and the nature and attributes of God. I got A*s using these notes, they include all the A01 on the syllabus and the A02 that's necessary.
Moral evil – evil done as a result of human choices e.g.,, war, prejudice, discrimination
Natural evil – Evil found in nature. Owes nothing to human choices e.g., earthquakes
Evidential problem of evil - Overwhelming evidence and experience of suffering in the world. It is
part of human existence. Suffering is personal
Evil is always experienced by someone, individually, not just theoretical
This everyday lived personal experience of suffering causes the evidential problem of evil for
those who believe in God – where was God in all of this suffering
Causes people to question his nature and existence– why does he allow such extreme
suffering, why did he have to create humans with the capacity for moral evil
This is a strong challenge to Gods existence – an experience goes to the heart of who we are,
personal
Suffering witnessed in the world
Evil and pain is part of the fabric of the world. Throughout human history there has been
suffering e.g., Black death in 14th centaury killed 1/3 Europe
Holocaust 11m people dead
2015 Nepal earthquake killed 9,000
School buses in Syria bombed
Responses to the evidential problem of evil are less effective. Responses like we need evil to
appreciate the good are trivial, cold hearted and privileged. Ignores the severity of suffering
experienced by individuals
Logical problem of evil – The existence of evil in the world is logically incompatible with the
existence of an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, Judeo-Christian God
Characteristics of a Judeo-Christian God – Omnipotent, omnibenevolent. Bound up in his creation,
meant to love and care for it
Epicureans devised the inconsistent triad, a formulation for the problem of evil
God is willing but not able to prevent evil – he is not omnipotent
God is able to prevent evil but not willing – he is not omnibenevolent
God is willing and able to prevent evil – evil would not exist
, All 3 cannot coexist. Concluded that it is reasonable to suppose due to the existence of evil, God is
either not omnibenevolent/omniscient, or does not exist.
Theodicies
Theologians respond to the logical problem of evil. Attempts to justify the goodness of God given the
fact of evil
Augustine
Experienced the evidential problem of evil – confused by lust, his body not doing what it wanted, his
mother and son died within a year
Evil is either the result or punishment of our sin
God doesn’t stop loving us – redemption through salvation
Evil is a result of the misuse of Adam and Eve in the fall
Original sin brought disharmony into the world and the earth became corrupted and humans
will weakened
Soul deciding theodicy – emphasise that evil requires a decision from humans about whether
they will follow God
The fall
Genesis 1 God created the world good and perfect ‘God saw everything that he made and it
was good’
Moral evil is a result of Adam and Eves initial disobedience resulting in original sin that is
passed from generation to generation
Natural evil is the result of the disorder brought into the universe by Adam and Eves
disobedience and Gods subsequent punishment (‘cursed is the ground because of you’)
Still the fault of human free will – God warned them and gave them the appropriate
punishment
Satan (Manicheans)
Rejected their idea that Satan brought in evil, as this would give Satan too much power and
limit Gods omnipotence
He instead, believed that Satan was an angel that fell from grace due to pride. Jealous of
Adam and Eves unfallen state, tried to tempt them into disobedience
But the act was entirely the result of human free will, Satan merely tempted them into it
Privatio bonni (neo Platonists)
Accepted the idea that evil is the absence of good from the neo Platonists
God created people good, and evil came into the world through a lack of this
o A wound is the absence of flesh ‘defect in the fleshy substance’ rather than a thing of
substance
o Cold, according to the laws of physics is not a tangible thing, it is the absence of heat
o Darkness is simply an absence of light, not a thing in itself
God cannot be blamed for the evil in this world, as it is not thing in itself
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