Posted: September 13th, 2017

J.L. Mackie's Evil and Omnipotence.

J.L. Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence.

Write a 4-5 page paper on the following question:

The following question has 2 parts:

In its simplest form the problem is this: God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists. There seems to be some contradiction between these three propositions, so that if any two of them were true the third would be false. But at the same time all three are essential parts of most theological positions: the theologian, it seems, at once must adhere and cannot adhere consistently to all three…However, the contradiction does not arise immediately; to show it we need some additional premises, or perhaps some quasi-logical rules connecting the terms “good”, “evil,” and “omnipotent.” These additional principles are that good is opposed to evil, in such a way that a good thing always eliminates evil as far as it can, and that there are no limits to what an omnipotent thing can do. From these it follows that a good omnipotent thing eliminates evil completely, and then the propositions that a good omnipotent thing exists, and that evil exists, are incompatible. (This passage is taken from the first page of J.L. Mackie’s Evil and Omnipotence.)

Summarize (formalize) the argument seen in the above passage &

Either criticize the argument offered in the passage above or defend it.

If you criticize the argument given in the above passage:
-Offer up and defend your best counterargument to the argument offered in the above passage
-Offer some positive reason(s) for thinking your counterargument is sound
-Defend your counterargument against possible objections

If you defend the argument given in the above passage
-Offer some positive reason(s) for thinking the argument given above is sound
-Defend the argument against possible counterarguments