Evil -- The Facts That Need to be Explained
Evil -- The Facts That Need to be Explained
General handwaivey theodicies don't work
There are particular facts about evil, that seem to rule out God, and defeat all theodicies. Theism must hold that God has a good reason for allowing all the evils. Yet the theodicies generally present facile justifications for evil in some cases, that don’t address the particulars of evil. This will not do if theism is to be rationally justified. It must account for many of the specifics of evil. This post shall lay them out.
The horrors that theism must explain
1 Have been going on for millions of years before humans were ever around!! The suffering of the dinosaurs, for example, is hard to make sense of on theism. Did the suffering of every dinosaur who was devoured by a T-Rex have a morally sufficient reason!?
2 Present no obvious reason for their existence. There’s no reasonable account of the goodness of any of the commonly expected evils—malaria, parasites, cancer, and other diseases. The project of charting out why all the evils are justified is not merely partially completed—it hasn’t been started at all.
3 Are clearly gratuitous. Surely there is no justification for babies getting cancer, making the world better overall as a result of this.
4 Stem from entities operating the way they were designed. Leon gives a list of examples
“The sea lamprey:
Leeches are disgusting creatures, no one’s arguing that. Now, imagine a three-foot-long leech that feeds on the blood of larger prey. Congratulations, you’ve imagined the sea lamprey, a primitive vertebrate that resembles an enormous leech. The sea lamprey is considered a pest in the Great Lakes of North America, because it often kills the fish it attaches itself to. The reason the lamprey is so nightmarish a killer is that its victims have no limbs to fight it off and must wait for their attacker to gorge itself with their blood.
The lancet fluke:
Dicrocoelium dendriticum is a tiny fluke that, in one stage of its life cycle, can be found in the bodies of certain species of ant. The infected ants are controlled by the parasite and during the night, they leave the anthill, climb up grass straws, and simply wait. This leads to them getting eaten accidentally by sheep and other herbivores, inside which the parasite can continue its life cycle. Strangely enough, the ant returns to the colony during the day and proceeds with its usual activities.
The parasitic wasp:
Parasitic wasps are so horrifying and terrible that Charles Darwin used them as an argument against the existence of a benevolent God. To any of those amongst you that have seen Ridley Scott’s Alien movies. The wasps use a variety of host organisms, such as spiders, caterpillars, or the larvae of other insects. The prey is stung by the wasp, which lays its eggs in it. After the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae slowly consume the victim from inside out, leading to a slow, painful death. (Link to the examples here and above)
Not all natural teleological evil is predatory evil, however. A ready example can be found in the parasitic wasp just mentioned:
Once inside, those eggs "clone" themselves until the still-alive caterpillar is teeming with hundreds of larvae. Strangely, about 50 of the females emerge with large jaws and no reproductive organs. Their sole purpose for living? To devour as many of their brothers as they can, since only a few males are needed to fertilize their sisters.”
5 The evils must, according to theism, make the world overall better as a result of their existence. If they didn’t, God would intervene to prevent them. This means that their account has to not only explain the previous phenomena, but has to also explain why these evils which seem gratuitous are not only not gratuitous, but have a purpose so unique that an infinitely powerful, loving, and wise deity could find no other way of achieving their aim.
6 However, the evils also are things we should try to get rid of. Theists agree that it would be good to rid the world of malaria. Thus, these evils have to be such that preventing them is good, but it’s also good that they exist, such that a world without them would be worse. This must be true of all of the world’s evils.
7 The evils vary based on time and place. The further back in time one goes, the more evil there is. Thus, God must have a morally sufficient reason for more evil in the year 2000 bc than the year 2000 ce.
8 The evils aren’t proportional to anything. Many people experience evil that doesn’t cause them to develop or love God. Many good people experience horrific evils, and horrific people experience obvious goods. There is no reason why Hitler should have lived a generally happier life than the holocaust victims.
9 Despite the instances of gratuitous suffering, the world would be worse with a mechanism for filtering out gratuitous suffering. For example, we could imagine a mechanism resulting in beings who knew death was imminent no longer experiencing pain. This would avoid being fully conscious slowly succumbing to flames, or having their skin literally fall off as it melts under boiling water—as happened in a recent memorable instance of horrific abuse of power in a prison, or being brutally tortured to death by serial killers, who used sharp objects to take off limbs, fingers, and toes. Could God not allow us to avoid suffering during these instances of brutal misery?
10 There’s a conspicuous absence of gratuitous good. One could very easily imagine lots of ways of bringing about lots of good experience. Examples include
Making happy experiences produce 1000 times more happiness
Making atoms sentient and always very happy
Making experiences associated with virtue or wisdom produce more happiness.
Creating a universal feeling of immense euphoria when reading the bible.
11 The evils are often claimed to produce some greater good like soul building. It is a curious fact that these evils are randomly distributed, and often seem to undermine that purpose. For example, dementia seems to make it harder to have productive soul building as does death. Evils often occur as a result of people trying to do good and failing, such as medical errors that occur when people try to help others, antibiotic resistance, nuclear weapons that we discovered through development of other knowledge, and people who accidentally kill their babies. If evils served a purpose, then it would be a curious fact that these evils often seem to counteract many of the goals that they are trying to serve!
12 We also lack moral knowledge, often doing evils by accident. Given moral disagreement, we can’t all be right. Thus, God must have a reason for making us systematically deceived about morality—so deceived that many turn away from him, unable to understand his purpose for allowing evil.
13 Many of the evils that people do are a result of facts about them outside our control. While the person who brutally tortures and kills other people is acting on their will, if they had the common reaction that most of us had to torture—namely one of disgust and horror—they would not brutally torture people. Thus, theism has to explain why particular people would be given certain non willed properties that increase the probability of them committing horrific atrocities like rape, torture, child molestation, and murder. Why not just make all people revulsed by the idea of molesting children!?
14 While the jury is still very much out, it is not outside the realm of possibility that there is more total suffering than pleasure in nature!! This has been argued persuasively by Horta, Tomasik, and others. Thus, theism has to account not merely for minimal evils, but for arguably greater suffering than well-being in nature.
15 All of these evils must be unable to implicate God’s perfection. Theists would surely say that God experiences value—as the conduit of value itself. However, God does not sin. If God has free will then that means that a being who would never do evil can have free will!! So the account has to provide for how a perfect being would have free will and immense value in their life, in a way that would be impossible for created beings. Why is this?? It’s not at all clear.
16 All of the purposes of God’s allowing evil have to fail to rule out the goodness of heaven.
Let’s take a look at common theodicies
Skeptical theism can’t explain any of the 16 ones very well—each cut the probability of theism.
Soul building fails all of them.
Free will fails all of them.
So here is the data from evil that theism needs to explain. I look forward to see how theists are able to explain the data of evil. I suspect attempts will not succeed.
It is not obvious to me why soul building or the free will theodicy fail to solve most of these like you have asserted. Many have argued for the extension of both of these theodicies towards non human life, and I see nothing implausible about this. After all, if one wants to argue that animals are capable of experiencing X type of suffering, what justification is there for suggesting they can't experience a proportional y type of goodness or virtue? If this is plausible (which I don't see any reason why it isn't) This would mean that there could in fact be justifications for the suffering of non human life going deep into history.
This doesn't answer some of these points, but I think whether you think it is plausible for Soul Building and Free Will theodicies to be extended to animal life is a good place to start
Never fear Mr. Bulldog! It is I, God. Yes. Do not be Shocked. In my omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnirational, omnipresent, omnizoid self, I have deigned to answer your pathetic excuse for an argument against my existence.
First of all you CLAIM that *I* have to account for *all* the evil in the WHOLE world. That's completely ridiculous. Omnibenevolence means that all my actions are good, inaction is not action, that's why the prefix "in" is in it. That means that most of the stuff you talk about is complete NONSENSE.
When I created a PERFECT world (some might say that perfection required more beings, however A. Adam and Eve existed in an infinite number of universes, and B. Ethics is about making people happy, not making more happy people) where Adam and later EVE experienced ABSOLUTE pleasure, that was a very good act. BUT I, in my infinite generosity, also decided to BESTOW upon ADAM that great gift of FREE WILL, because as well all know the creation of beings WITHOUT free will is a SIN of the highest order. HOWEVER, Free Will requires CONSEQUENCES for one's actions, and I, in my infinite genius DECIDED to create the GREATEST consequence of them all. When I informed Adam and Eve that the fruit on the TREE was forbidden they KNEW the consequences of their ACTIONS and DECIDED to consume it. It was AT THAT MOMENT that they ensured a world of SIN that would GRIP Mankind until the second coming of my son.
SO you SEE Mr. Bulldog that it was ADAM and not myself who made that ultimate decision to create the world you DECRY as unjust, and only Adam's descendants in the form of YOURSELF can remedy it by FOLLOWING the act and word of me.
HOWEVER, due to my infinite WISDOM and POWER I will respond to your further arguments.
FIRST, you CLAIM that SUFFERING has been going on without CAUSE for BILLIONS of years prior to humanity. This LAUGHABLE point is DEEPLY flawed for numerous reasons. A. The World was created when the Garden opened, all evidence of what would have come before was made at that moment. B. Even if the world existed before that, NOTHING was CONSCIOUS because the FIRST conscious creature (that you could comprehend) was ADAM, even if other prior beings LOOKED and SEEMED conscious, they were NOT. C. Only MAN can suffer as that term is properly understood, a dinosaur is EQUAL to a rat which is EQUAL to a gnat which is EQUAL to dust which is EQUAL to nothing! D. The IMAGINED suffering of the past you conjure up has created immense JOY for MAN. EVERY explorer, and scientist, and DISCOVERER of the bones of the ancients has held JOY in their HANDS and ADVANCED both the greatness of MAN and their own SOULS.
SECOND, you CLAIM that there is no OBVIOUS reason for the existence of some suffering, such as cancer, parasites, and the like. BUT there IS. A. The laws of the world must remain CONSISTENT. Would it not CHEAPEN the experience of MAN if the rules of reality were reshuffled on a WHIM and forever arbitrary in their operation!?! AS SUCH the consequences of those laws must remain consistent so as to render the world one that man can expect to thrive in. B. EVIL must exist in order for MAN to use his FREE WILL and Cure it. A PERFECT WORLD as you imagine would be a HELL of monotony and would DESTROY the purpose of the SOUL. ANY LESS EVIL in this world would DIMINISH the function of man as a being of WILL, and I an my INFINITE BENEVOLENCE have ensured that EVIL is ALREADY at its minimum level REQUIRED for the task at HAND. C. Absent STRUGGLE there is NO DRIVE in man. Without what you decry as Evil the descendants of Adam would have stayed where they were, never able to advance to the cusp of the HEAVENS ABOVE.
THIRD, you CLAIM that SOME evils are CLEARLY gratuitous. A. Some of the PERFECT arguments ABOVE apply here, such as CONSISTENCY in the rules of the world. B. A BABE with NO CHANCE for EVER meaningfully being a PERSON is NEVER given a soul, SO LONG as their killing is by no one's choice. C. THOSE FEW babes that do get CANCER do so as a NATURAL consequence of the unhealthy actions OF MAN (plastics, toxic chemicals, Military Base water pollution by people not wearing polaroid sunglasses, etc.)
FOURTH, you CLAIM that suffering arises from the way that SOME entities are DESIGNED. A. All of the examples you give are of ANIMALS, who are INSIGNIFICANT compared to the GLORY of man at their BEST. B. The HORROR or the suffering you DESCRIBE is the REASON why man has MOTIVE to use their FREE WILL to ADVANCE and improve the world. C. The aesthetic BEAUTY of an ALL EATING parasite FAR OUTWEIGHS any marginal suffering it may cause.
FIFTH, you CLAIM that all EVIL must be the BEST way of making the world GREAT. A. NO this is incorrect, as explained above SO LONG as each action I take is PERFECT the effects of WILL need not be. B. What EVIL there is is NECESSARILY the best way of PERFECTING the rebuilding of MAN from its ORIGINAL SIN. What motive would man have to advance if there was not EVIL to END. What motive would there be for philosophers to PONDER if there existed no application of that knowledge or EVIL to see it compared against. C. FALSE EVIL or the CREATION of FALSE beings in a way that would create Less SUFFERING is a MORTAL SIN that DECEIVES the SOUL and is TANTAMOUNT to the DECEPTIONS of LUCIFER himself - those that exist MUST be AUTHENTIC if they are to be MEANINGFUL.
SIXTH, you CLAIM that BECAUSE Evil should be FOUGHT it cannot be JUST. A. The ACT of fighting IS the JUSTICE of evil! A world where evil was fought and bested CAN be better than a world where struggle and the STRIVE at the heart of MAN never existed. B. The ABILITY to fight EVIL is necessary to bring CONSEQUENCE and truth to the use of FREE WILL, for without a true and grave consequences to that most important and holy spirits use it is MEANINGLESS.
SEVENTH, you CLAIM that EVIL Varies based on TIME AND PLACE, and is thus fundamentally unjust. A. The PROGRESSION of MAN is the use of FREE WILL that is critical to all that is good and holy. As one can see from the burning LIGHT of PROGRESS, your species is NATURALLY good and JUST, but to GIVE that JUSTICE meaning it MUST be allowed to IMPROVE the world over time. Just as the world in your eyes was HORRIFIC at the time my SON allowed your return to HEAVEN, the beings 2000 years hence will GASP at your existence as they reside within structures you cannot even IMAGINE. B. EVIL lessens as one travels farther and further from he who committed the original sin. And while the salve of TIME cannot absolve one from it, the touch of the SNAKE lessens by it.
[Continued BELOW]