God and Evil

Course at IAP-PUC, Second Semester 2008, by Daniel von Wachter

Contact: epost@ABCD.de - replace "ABCD" by "von-wachter"

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Content of this page

• General Information
• Sessions
• Bibliography

Descripción del curso

'If there were a God, why would he allow all the evil that there is in the world? If he were om-nipotent he could abolish it, and if he were good, he would do so.'

Many philosophers would agree that the argument from evil is the strongest argument against the existence of God. In the last two decades there has been a lively philosophical debate about this argument, bringing much clarity and understanding. David Hume's claim that the existence of evil contradicts the existence of God has generally been abandoned. Instead the 'evidential argument from evil' is being defended by atheists. Theists have pursued two differ-ent lines of defence. Some argue that our epistemic capacities in this field are so limited that the argumet from evil has no force. This is the 'epistemological defence'. Others undertake to discover reasons why God might allow the evils that occur. This project is called 'higher goods defence' or 'theodicy'.

The aim of this course is to understand the problem of evil and to answer questions about it. The interpretation and understanding of texts is essential for this course too, but it is subordi-nate to this aim. The professor will present all relevant alternative views but also present and defend his own views. The students are free to defend any view.

We shall start with contemporary texts but will also read ancient texts about the problem of evil.

Advice

Read http://von-wachter.de/lehre/students.html#englisch

Notes for the sessions

9/9/2008

Texts relevant for this session

• Plantinga, Alvin: "Free Will Defense"
• Swinburne, Richard. 1998. Providence and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Rowe, William L. 1979. 'The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism'. American Philosophical Quarterly. (PDF)

16.9.2008

Write an essay answering the question "Is there a contradiction between the existence of God and the existence of evil?".

Read:

• Swinburne, Richard. 1998. Providence and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Clarendon, pages 1-15 (thoroughly!)
• Rowe, William L. 1979. 'The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism'. American Philosophical Quarterly. (PDF)

21.10.2008

Swinburne 1998, ch. 1

For next week, study (Alson 1991) and (Wykstra 1984).

28.10.2008

For this session read:

• study and think through: Swinburne, 10-14
• Tracy
• Wykstra
• Alston

Bibliografia

A list of the texts in the Kopiervorlage which I gave you is HERE.

The most important texts:

• Swinburne, Richard. 1998. Providence and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Rowe, William L., ed. 2001. God and the Problem of Evil. Oxford: Blackwell.
• Howard-Snyder, Daniel, ed. 1996. The Evidential Argument from Evil. Indiana University Press.
• Craig, William Lane, ed. 2002. Philosophy of Religion: A Reader and Guide. Edinburgh University Press.

Internet Resources

• Tooley, Michael, 2002, "The Problem of Evil", Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• "Leibniz on the Problem of Evil", SEP
• Smith, Quentin, 1991, "An Atheological Argument from Evil Natural Laws" (pro Atheismus)
• Howard-Snyder, 1999, "God, Evil, and Suffering" (PDF-Datei) (pro Theismus)
• Verschiedene Texte zum Argument vom Übel auf infidels.org, einer Seite zur Verteidigung des Atheismus
• Weitere Verweise zur Religionsphilosophie finden Sie hier.

Lists of links:

• Wikipedia, "The Problem of Evil" and "Theodicy"

Philosophy of religion readers

All of these have texts on the problem of evil.

• Craig, William Lane, ed., Philosophy of Religion: A Reader and Guide (2002)
• Stump, E. & Murray, M., ed., Philosophy of Religion: the Big Questions (Blackwell, 1998)
• Taliaferro & Griffiths, ed., Philosophy of Religion: An Antology (Blackwell 2003)
• Davies, B. ed. Philosophy of Religion. A guide and Anthology (OUP, 2000)
• Peterson, M. et al Philosophy of Religion: Selected Readings (OUP, 1996)

Introductions into the philosophy of religion

• Peterson, M. et al Reason and Religious Belief 2nd edition (OUP, 1998)
• Yandell, Keith E. 1999. Philosophy of Religion: A Contemporary Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.
• Taliaferro, C. Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (Blackwell, 1998)
• (I recommend to read as introduction an opinionated clear work such as R. Swinburne, Is There a God?, OUP 1996.)

Further texts on the problem of evil

• Alston, William P., 1991, "The Inductive Argument from Evil and the Human Cognitive Condition", in Howard-Snyder.
• Armin Kreiner: Gott im Leid. Zur Stichhaltigkeit der Theodizee-Argumente. 428 Seiten, Verlag Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1997.
• Brentano, Franz von (1838 - 1917), Von Dasein Gottes.
• Bolzano, Bernhard (1781-1848), Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft
• Draper, Paul, 1989, "Pain and Pleasure: An Evidential Problem For Theists", in Rowe.
• Norbert Hörster, 1985, "Die Unlösbarkeit des Theodizee-Problems" (Ein gutes Beispiel für die heutige deutsche Sicht der Dinge)
• Hick, John, 1966, Evil and The God of Love
• Hick, John, 1981, "Soul-Making Theodicy", in Rowe ed.
• Draper, Paul, 1989, "Pain and Pleasure: An Evidentail Problem For Theists", in Rowe ed. Argumentiert, daß das Leid besser von Hypothese, daß Menschen von keiner Person geschaffen sind, besser erklärt wird als vom Theismus.
• Hume, David, "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion", Parts X and XI (auf dt. bei Reclam), in Rowe.
• Leibniz: Die Theodizee
• Mackie, J.L., 1955, "Evil and Omnipotence", in Rowe.
• Pike, Nelson, 1963, "Hume on Evil", in Rowe.
• Plantinga, Alvin, 1977, "The Free Will Defense", in Peterson et al. ed., 254-280 (aus God, Freedom, and Evil)
• Rowe, William L. 1979. 'The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism'. American Philosophical Quarterly. (PDF)
• Rowe, W., "The Evidential Argument from Evil: A Second Look", in Howard-Snyder ed. Bayesianisches Argument vom Übel.
• Tracy, Thomas M. 1992. 'Victimization and the Problem of Evil'. Faith and Philosophy.
• van Inwagen, Peter, 1988, "The Magnitude, Duration, and Distribution of Evil: A Theodicy", in Craig ed.
• van Inwagen, Peter, 1991, "The Problem of Evil, the Problem of Air, and the Problem of Silence", in Rowe ed.
• Stump, Eleonore, 1985, "The Problem of Evil", in Craig ed Philosophy of Religion
• Howard-Snyder & Bergmann & Rowe, "An Exchange on the Problem of Evil", in Rowe ed. Sehr zur zu empfehlen.
• Wykstra, S. J. 1984. 'The Humean Objection to Evidential Arguments from Suffering: On Avoiding the Evils of 'Appearance''. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion.