The Argument from Evil
The traditional problem of evil is set forth, by no means for the first time, in Part X of Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion in these familiar words: Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent. Is he both a...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
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Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[1969]
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In: |
Religious studies
Year: 1969, Volume: 4, Issue: 2, Pages: 203-211 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | The traditional problem of evil is set forth, by no means for the first time, in Part X of Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion in these familiar words: Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?' This formulation of the problem of evil obviously suggests an argument to the effect that the existence of evil in the world demonstrates that God does not exist. The purpose of this paper is to examine this argument, with a view to showing that while it is not a conclusive argument, it is much stronger than some apologists for traditional theism allow. |
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ISSN: | 1469-901X |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Religious studies
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0034412500003590 |