ipl-logo

Mackie's Evil And Omnipotence

933 Words4 Pages

The question that is asked time and time again is whether or not god exists. It is evident that people hold different beliefs. It is evident that through some of the beliefs of J.L. Mackie that it could be argued that God does not actually exist. I find this argument to be more agreeable. In Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence, he argues many points to support why it should be believed that god does not exist. 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 …show more content…

Questioning if God is not omnipotent, the entire idea of God creating the world can be called into question. Another issue is that if it is said that God is no longer entirely good there is the possibility to say that God has evil or bad intentions, and we should denounce him. Lastly, if one says that evil does not exist, then there is no possible way to separate those people who are considered to be deviants of society. This would mean that those who commit crimes that are evil in nature like murder and rape would be considered to be normal and acceptable. In Mackie’s Fallacious Situation, there are four main points that are discussed. One of the points is “Good must exist with evil”. Another is that “Evil is necessary as a means to good”. Another one is that “The universe is better with some evil in it that it could be if there were no evil”, and lastly is “Evil is due to human freewill”. These ideas try to explore the co-existence of evil and good in the same

Show More
Related

Darkness In Elie Wiesel's Night

1026 Words | 5 Pages

Except there would be no explanation for the death of millions of jew since they did die before becoming stronger. Evil is a problem as it compromises the freedom of all individual if it is erased because there would no longer be free will. There is no concrete answer for the neglection of god light during the holocaust and most importantly in the concentration

Read More

Mackie's Argument Between Queerness And Relativity

1202 Words | 5 Pages

Moral realism is the common belief that there are objective moral values. David Brink states that a “fairly clear core element in moral realism” is that “(1) there are moral facts or truths, and (2) these facts or truths are independent of the evidence for them”. (1) and (2) are not sufficient conditions for all forms of moral realism, according to Brink, but he believes they are necessary, so rejecting them means rejecting moral realism. This is what JL Mackie intends to do in his arguments from queerness and relativity. The argument from queerness is more convincing than the argument from relativity, but

Read More

B. C. Johnson's Argument For The Existence Of God

1292 Words | 6 Pages

Evil and the existence of God has been at the heart of philosophical arguments for years. It seems that evil should cancel out God’s existence. Evil is defined in two ways. One definition is evil as gratuitous suffering. B.C. Johnson uses this in his argument against the existence of a monotheistic God.

Read More

Lewis Argument Analysis

1406 Words | 6 Pages

Defenders of the Argument from Evil have challenged the last premises of the presented by the critics of Theological Fatalism and have shown that free will is not possible under an omniscient god. Conclusion In conclusion, an omnipotent, omniscient, and all good God cannot coexist with evil. Therefore, seeing that evil still exists in this world in terms of natural disaster and human suffering, an omnipotent, omniscient, and all good God cannot

Read More

Examples Of Evil In Harrison Bergeron

1339 Words | 6 Pages

We as human beings both create and endure evil of many different varieties and levels of severity on a daily basis. Evil, both moral and natural, is recognized and spoken of constantly. Whether in sermons declaring the ultimate result of sin and evil from the perspective of the church, the daily news reports updating us on the War in Iraq or informing us of a local murder, or the knowledge of the ongoing struggle to rebuild a community which was destroyed during a catastrophic storm, earthquake, or wildfire, we without a doubt live amidst evil. Many of us have very differing philosophies on the proper way to define evil, for example, whether evil is intentional or a natural balancing force, whether evil is universal, or if one's particular

Read More

Richard Swinburne Why God Allows Evil Analysis

436 Words | 2 Pages

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).

Read More

Voltaire On Religion

1596 Words | 7 Pages

Religion and its Fallibility under the Scrupulous Light of Rational Inquiry: the Satirical Critiques of Voltaire and George Bernard Shaw For those perplexed by the overabundance of evil in the world, religion has always provided an avenue for hope, and people throughout history have sought God for understanding, and reconciliation. If God, by definition, is omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient, how do we account for the immense suffering, evil, and injustice that exists in the world? Moreover, a world with an astronomical amount of pain and unnecessary suffering? Could such evil exist and the existence of the aforementioned God still be plausible? To address the problem of evil, philosophers and theologians have put forth theodicies,

Read More

Alvin Plantinga's Arguments Against The Existence Of Evil

464 Words | 2 Pages

Alive today, Alvin Plantinga is an American analytical philosopher. Alvin Plantinga argues with the topic the problem with evil, referencing John Mackie’s conclusion who argues against the existence of God with Evil and Omnipotence. Plantinga thinks those who believe like Mackie are mistaken in thinking that the existence of evil is contradictory with the existence of God. Plantinga believes that there is no logical unpredictability between the existence of evil and the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, wholly good God. Plantinga describes sets of propositions may or may not be contradictory and/or to be inconsistent.

Read More

Evil And Omnipotence Analysis

1167 Words | 5 Pages

Everything around us is built of our faith in our senses, and our faith in other people. Without faith we are surrounded by the fear of the known, every neighbour could be planning our death, our senses could be simulated by some machine; and without faith in God, for many people can be the difference between bearing the evil of the world and slipping into the world of oblivion and chaos. Yet is this faith in God rational or not? Mackie thinks not, in his essay “Evil and Omnipotence” he uses the problem of evil in the world to expose the irrationality of God. He shows how, the contradicts of an Omni God makes the belief in such a being irrational.

Read More

JL Mackie's Argument For The Existence Of God?

295 Words | 2 Pages

JL Mackie was persuasive in his argument by showing that belief in an almighty God is not rational. He proves this by posing the problem of evil. According to JL Mackie, if God exists and is omniscient, omnipotent, and good then evil would not exist. However, evil exists in this world, sometimes in the form of undeserved suffering (diseases that affect humans, earthquakes, famines ...) and others perpetrated by man (murders, wars ...). If God exists and has the capability to be powerful, good, omniscient and omnipotent, why would he let evil be perpetrated?

Read More

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong's Argument Analysis

2349 Words | 10 Pages

This paper will discuss the problem of evil. In the first part, I will discuss Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s atheist stance and William Lane Craig’s theist stance on the problem of evil. In the final part of this paper, I will argue that Walter Sinnott-Armstrong’s argument is stronger. The Problem of Evil

Read More

Problem Of Evil Mackie Analysis

1089 Words | 5 Pages

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 strongest argument in contradiction to God’s existence is the Problem of Evil, presented by J.L Mackie. In this paper, I aim to describe the problem of evil, analyse the objection of the Paradox of Omnipotence and provide rebuttals to this objection. Thus, highlighting my support for Mackie’s Problem of evil.

Read More

Cosmological Vs Ontological Argument

1444 Words | 6 Pages

There have been an innumerable amount of arguments for the existence of God for hundreds of years. Some have become much more popular due to their merit, and their ability to stay relevant through changing times. Two arguments in particular that have been discussed for a very long time are the ontological and cosmological arguments. Each were proposed in the period of the high middle ages by members of the Roman Catholic Church. They each have been used extensively by many since their introduction.

Read More

Argumentative Essay: The Problem Of Evil

877 Words | 4 Pages

“The Problem of Evil” is simply the question, why does God allow evil to happen? God is omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving, and rational, therefore why does evil exist? There is either no God or he is not what we think he is, since evil could be prevented by him with no risk. Atheists and anti-theodicist see a problem with the idea that God could prevent evil. They believe that because God is so powerful and perfect, that he would not allow such immoral actions to be done.

Read More

The Argument For The Problem Of Evil

929 Words | 4 Pages

A lot of arguments have been known to prove or disprove the existence of God, and the Problem of Evil is one of them. The Problem of Evil argues that it is impossible to have God and evil existing in the same world. Due to ideal characteristics of God, evil should not have a chance to exist and make human suffer. In this essay, I will examine the argument for the Problem of Evil, a possible theodicy against the argument, and reply to the theodicy. First of all, to be clear, the Problem of Evil is an argument that shows that God cannot be either all- powerful, all-knowing, and/or all good.

Read More

More about Mackie's Evil And Omnipotence

Open Document