PHL101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Omnibenevolence, Omnipotence
Document Summary
The problem of evil is the philosophical problem of reconciling the existence of god (construed, remember, in accord with the standard monotheistic conception) with the existence of evil. We can set out the problem more precisely as follows. (here i follow the classic discussion in john. The following propositions would be endorsed by anyone who accepts the standard monotheistic conception: (a) god is omnipotent (include omniscience in this). (b) god is wholly good (omnibenevolent). (c) evil exists. Good is opposed to evil: a good thing always eliminates evil as far as it can. (**) there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do. The quasi-logical rules are designed to spell out what we mean by the terms good and omnipotent. But now notice that (a), (b), and (c), together with (*) and (**), entail a contradiction: Assume that god understood in accord with (a), (b), and (c) exists. (1) (2)
