Intentionality, Belief, and the Logical Problem of Evil
Citation:
Kenneth L. Pearce, Intentionality, Belief, and the Logical Problem of Evil, Religious Studies, 56, 3, 2020, 419 - 435Abstract:
The logical problem of evil is the appearance of inconsistency between the
existence of God and the existence of any evil at all. A defence against the logical
problem of evil is an argument that purports to show that this appearance is
misleading and in fact there is no such inconsistency. Such defences, like all
philosophical arguments, generally rely on controversial premises. For instance,
Plantinga's Free Will Defence relies on a Molinist account of the metaphysics of
freedom (Plantinga 1974, ch. 9). The use of these sorts of controversial premises
limits the dialectical e ectiveness of such defences, so that no one defence can
eliminate the logical problem in all contexts. In this paper, I provide a new
defence against the logical problem of evil, relying on a di erent package of
controversial assumptions, and capable of going places Plantinga's Free Will
Defence can't. My aim will be to show that certain views in the philosophy
of mind, which are popular among naturalists but might also reasonably be
endorsed by theists, have the consequence that it is not possible for created
minds to exist in a world without evil. Since the existence of created minds is a
very great good, it seems that if this theory of mind is correct then God would
be justi ed in creating a world containing at least some evil.
URI:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/intentionality-belief-and-the-logical-problem-of-evil/DC1968A77ED307815F718A90A555DEF1http://hdl.handle.net/2262/90799
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/pearcekDescription:
PUBLISHED
Author: Pearce, Kenneth
Type of material:
Journal ArticleURI:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/intentionality-belief-and-the-logical-problem-of-evil/DC1968A77ED307815F718A90A555DEF1http://hdl.handle.net/2262/90799
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Series/Report no:
Religious Studies56
3
Availability:
Full text availableSubject (TCD):
Philosophy of mind , Philosophy of religion , Problem of EvilDOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0034412519000088ISSN:
0034-4125Metadata
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