Yr 12

Yr 12. Assignment No 4

Resources available in school

The Problem of Evil

This is a central problem for both the Philosophy of Religion and particularly for Religion. To express the problem in terms of the monotheist religions of the West, if there is a God who is perfectly good and omnipotent how is it that there is evil in the world. The problem is very real an one which affects us all since suffering is, unfortunately, a matter for all, both human and animal.

This page contains:-

	basic information about what you need to know to pass the exam
	reading guidelines
	internet guidelines
	questions to guide your study
	sample questions taken from exam papers

1. What do you need to know.

Concepts:-

1. The nature of the problem. a) The logical problem cf Mackie

b) The evidential problem

c) Moral and natural suffering

d) Inadequate answers

2. The Freewill Defense (Plantinga etc. Mackie.)

3. The Augustinian Theodicy (classical Christian response)

4. The Irenaean Theodicy (Hick and Swinburne)

5. Process theodicy (Griffin after Whitehead)

2. Reading and Research guide

Jordan Lockyer & Tate Phil of Rel for A level Essential

Peter Cole Phil of Rel Access Series Chapter 8 Essential

Peterson, Hasker etc. Reason and Religious Belief Chap 6 Essential

J. Hick. "Problem of Evil" from Phil of Rel. (P) Essential

Peter Vardy The Puzzle of Evil (Text book stock) Excellent. The Freewill chapter is photocpopied

B. Davies Intro to Phil of Rel. Chap 3 (P) Hard but well worth it

T. McPherson Phil. of Rel. Chap "The Problem of Evil." (P) Excellent on Lewis

W. Abrahams Intro to Phil of Rel. Chp.6. (T & P). Very good as back up to Hick

Peter Cole Phil of Rel. Pamphlet.(P) Very useful for revision and an outline

3. Internet Research guide

http://www.faithnet.freeserve.co.uk/theodicyintro.htm. This is excellent as is the whole site. Well worth half an hour of research

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/evil.html
This site is really good as a general introduction to the problem of Evil. It covers the Logical, Evidential and Religious Problem. It is an article from a Christian Group but the author seems fairly open minded and is well qualified.

http://www.xenos.org/essays/evilpo.htm
This site is quite brief and gives and outline of the issues. It is good for notes and brief understanding.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz-evil/
Leibniz (who you really ought to know something about so check him out) wrote a lot on the problem of evil and his writings are important. He came up with an idea later used extensively by Hick which is the "best possible world" idea. Read when you study the Irenaean Response

http://www.comparativereligion.com/evil.html
This site gives some general notes about the problem of evil in world religions as a whole. Not every religion approaches evil in the same way and it is good to know of other responses besides the Judeo Christian response. Good general reading.

http://www.kcmetro.cc.mo.us/longview/SocSci/Philosophy/religion/evil.htm
This site contains information and discussion of the writings of J. S. Mill from 18^th Cent. & John Hick from the 20^th Cent.. It is very useful especially about Hick who is a key player in the debate. His book "Evil and the God of Love" is a modern classic.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~kenc/theodicy.htm
This site is a criticism of the concept of "theodicy" Theodicy is the attempt, principally by Christianity, to justify God’s presence and goodness in the face of the facts of evil. This shows that Theodicies fail. Useful stuff when you have read more about it all.

If you find any more sites the you really think are useful, email them to Mr. Radford

4. Questions to help you in your studies:-

1. What is the problem of evil? Exam both the LOGICAL and the EVIDENTIAL problem as described in Reason
and Religious Belief and in the first website above.

2. Is evil only a problem for theists? What is Theodicy and why is it necessary?

3. Hick offers an "inadequate explanation". What is it and why does he consider it inadequate? Do you agree?

4. What, in your mind, is the most difficult area of the problem to answer?

5.      Hick goes on to describe the Freewill Defense? What is it? Does it work? Read further into this and take
         detailed notes. Read Vardy "The Free will defense" which you have as a photocopy.   Make a very clear
         plan of who says what. Key players HICK, FLEW, MACKIE, PLANTINGA + some others.

6. Mackie offers a direct challenge to the Freewill Defense. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Mackie’s
contention? (Hick and Plantinga offer logical replies to Mackie). Vardy is a great help here.

7.      The Augustinian Response or Theodicy is the classic Christian response. It is based on the account of the
         Fall of Man. Read Genesis Chap 2 through 4.   What initial problems do you see in the Biblical account,
         remember it is MYTH and not intended as a simple literal tale.

8. How does Augustine develop the Theodicy? Why does he eventually rely quite heavily upon a life after
death?

9. What problems exist with the Augustinian solution? What strengths, if any, does it have?

10.     CS Lewis has a particularly clear approach in his short book The Problem of Pain    Read it if you can,
          then read Reason and Religious Belief and McPherson who both comment.   What insights does
          Lewis bring and what value has his response to evil?

11.     The Irenaean Theodicy was produced in a very short form by Irenaeas who lived before Augustine in the
          2nd Cent. Hick develops the Theodicy considerably and uses it as a Theodicy for the 20th Century.
          You can see this in his book Evil and the God of Love. This is Classic modern response. Swinburne
          has a similar response which Davies criticises. What is the basis of the Irenaean Theodicy and how
          does Hick develop it?

12. What weaknesses exist with the Irenaean Theodicy? Cf the moral and linguistic objections of D Z.
Phillips and A. Flew. (Have a look in Davies & Reason & Religious Belief)

13. In the end God obviously created man to have freewill and this remains the cornerstone of all theodicy. What
in your view is the remaining strength of the Irenaean Theodicy? See VARDY.

14. Process Theodicy uses 20th Cent. science to establish a new idea about the nature of God. It is
based on the work of A.N. Whitehead. Find out about this from Hick and other sources.

15. Does limiting God’s power work for the problem of evil. How can this help if at all?

5. Sample exam questions

Specimen Paper 2000

a) For what reasons may suffering create philosophical problems for a religious believer? (10)

b) Outline TWO solutions to these problems and comment on their success. (10)

June 2001

a) What do religious believers mean by the problem of suffering. (5)

b) Select any TWO theodicies and consider how far they offer solutions to this problem. (15)