For theists, atheists, and philosophers of religion and beyond, the
"problem of evil" is at the core of stumbling blocks of western
monotheism.
How can a deity be both omnipotent, or all-powerful, AND omnibenevolent, or all-good?
Theistic
apologists often appeal to god's inscrutability. In a nutshell, they
claim that what appears to be evil now is for our ultimate good, or
similar.
Gary Gutting says we need more than an appeal to ignorance, if we don't want to have a blind faith.
But, he misses what apologists also miss.
That
such an all-powerful, all-good god, even if he or she must allow local
evils, or allow short-term evils for long-term good, could
still explain himself/herself better to sentient created beings, and
*has
chosen* not to do so.
That, as I have repeatedly
identified it, is the "problem of psychological evil." And, I've yet to
see a theistic apologist adequately answer it.
This is a slice of my philosophical, lay scientific, musical, religious skepticism, and poetic musings. (All poems are my own.) The science and philosophy side meet in my study of cognitive philosophy; Dan Dennett was the first serious influence on me, but I've moved beyond him. The poems are somewhat related, as many are on philosophical or psychological themes. That includes existentialism and questions of selfhood, death, and more. Nature and other poems will also show up here on occasion.
Friday, March 23, 2012
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