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Mackie's Argument Analysis

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The existence of God has been presented by a multitude of philosophers. However, this has led to profound criticism and arguments of God’s inexistence. The problem of evil provides the strongest argument against the existence of God, presented by J.L Mackie. In this paper, I aim to explain the problem of evil, examine the objection of the Paradox of Omnipotence and provide rebuttals to this objection. Thus, highlighting my support for Mackie’s Problem of evil. Mackie’s argument highlights the inconsistency that arises between the premises of God’s existence. Mackie proposes the problem of evil to be that “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; [God exists]; and yet evil exists” (Mackie, 1955, p.200). He essentially states that these four …show more content…

In stating this there has been a multitude of objections against the Problem of Evil that aim to present themselves as solutions to Mackie’s problem. The most famous is the Paradox of Omnipotence, which arises in the connection of the problem of evil and the issue of free will (Harris, 2011, p.81). Some believe that evil arises as a result of the independent actions of humans, as opposed to being ascribed to God. Meaning the evil in the world is a consequence of free will and it is this free will that is permitted by God in the creation of mankind. The paradox states that an omnipotent being can “either make things which he cannot control, or an omnipotent being cannot make things which he cannot control” (Keene, 1960, p.74). Whilst, this paradox intends to remove the relation between God and evil, placing the responsibility in the hands of something independent from God, it fails to successfully do so. This is because if God is omnipotent, then he is all-powerful. If God is all-powerful, then his power should not be contested by limitations. Therefore, if he fails to control human free will, then he fails to be omnipotent and thus, inconsistency is found between the premises from the Problem of Evil. Continually, if free will is controlled, it is not free will at all and therefore, God is wholly responsible for the evil in the world. Furthermore, this …show more content…

This is achieved by stating that evil is an illusion and thus, non-existent. However, this statement is invalid because evil is profoundly unavoidable, as it exists in correlation to the good that can be observed. Essentially this means that evil is necessary for good, acting as a counterpart. This is because if there was only good in the world a lack of evil would mean that this goodness would fail to be recognised, and thus a world with only goodness fails to exist because it cannot be appreciated. Additionally, by no means can the suffering of moral or natural evil be justified as good, and thus, if it brings a negative state to an individual or group it cannot be classified as good and in turn, it must be categorised as the opposing force, this being evil, therefore evil

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At the beginning of the article, Mackie states that the initial issue with God’s existence is that, “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists” (Mackie, Paragraph 3). If god is such a pure and good being, then he should be able to combat all evil. The first statement that showcases that God is omnipotent, God is wholly good, then evil cannot possibly exist. The definition of omnipotent is

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In this reading reflection I will be discussing Richard Swinburne’s argument on “Why God Allows Evil” which starts on page 254 in “Exploring Philosophy: An Anthology” by Steven M. Cahn. This was also discussed in class on 9/15/16. In his argument Swinburne states that “An omnipotent God could have prevented this evil, and surely a perfectly good and omnipotent God would have done so. So why is there evil?”(Swinburne, 254).

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For years, many have questioned G-d’s role when it comes to addressing the problem of evil. Why is it that bad things always happen to the best of people? Oftentimes, we find ourselves wondering how an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good divinity could allow for such atrocities to occur, such as the Holocaust and the enslavement of millions. G-d’s role and existence surrounding the problem of evil is most often debated by philosophers and theologians alike such as English philosopher, John Hick. Hick introduces a consoling outlook to why such atrocities exist, framing G-d’s role and reasoning for evil's existence as a way for us to learn, grow, and better our souls.

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The logical argument concerning the problem of evil stems from two propositions that seem difficult to hold true at the same time: there exists an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God and there are great amounts of suffering and evil in the world. This argument concludes that since there is moral and natural evil in the world, that an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God cannot exist since an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God would not create evil, or would at least seek to destroy it. To argue against this, the free-will defense is used. The free-will defense is successful as it provides a reason for moral evil, but it fails to address natural evil. However, it is still logically consistent to believe in

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Mackie’s argument highlights the inconsistency that arises between the premises of God’s existence. Mackie proposes the problem of evil to be that “God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; [God exists]; and yet evil exists” (Mackie, 1955, p.200). Mackie states these four propositions cannot coexist, therefore, if evil exists, God cannot and conversely, if God is real evil must be

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On the other hand, theists like Swinburne, believe that evil is necessary for important reasons such as that it helps us grow and improve. In this paper I will argue that the theist is right, because the good of the evil in this specific case on problems beyond one’s control, outweighs the bad that comes from it. I will begin by stating the objection the anti-theodicist gives for why it is wrong that there is a problem of evil. (<--fix) Regarding passive evil not caused by human action, the anti-theodicist claims that there is an issue with a creator, God, allowing a world to exist where evil things happen, which are not caused by human beings (180-181).

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and that is Leibniz question. It quiet obvious that they both coexist, but it is that either God doesn’t exist or he does yet when it comes to evil it is always around. Leibniz then had to explain why he believes that God allowed evil to exist in this world. He believes that if God did not evil to be here it would not be, but he put it here to challenge to the people. He puts forth 3 types of evil, which are metaphysical evil that is that nothing will ever be

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But if God is not limited in either power or benevolence, why is there evil in the world?” In this paper, I will respond to this quote to defend that God is not limited in either power or benevolence and how evil still exists so that we as humans understand what the term good is. I believe that God has the power to prevent evil but chooses not to because he wants us to know the true meaning of being good. God shows us he is all loving by having

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