Problem of Evil

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J.L. Mackie and The Problem of Evil

In J. L. Mackie’s article, “Evil and Omnipotence”, he discusses the problem of evil. He finds several seemingly possible solutions to the problem of evil, raises objections and then dismisses the possible solutions. In my paper, I will defend two of the arguments Mackie posed objections to. The two I am choosing to defend are: the belief that good cannot exist without evil and the belief that the universe is better with some evil in it than it could be if there were no evil. If I can defend these two arguments, then I can prove that Mackie’s objections are not logically reasonable and work to prove that the problem of evil is false.

The problem of evil is simply defined as the problem that God is considered omnipotent and entirely good, yet evil still exists in this world. According to the book, the problem of evil is outlined as:

1. Some of the evil (pain and suffering) in the world is unnecessary

2. If God existed, there would be no unnecessary evil in the world.

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3. Therefore, God does not exist. (Barcalow p. 43)

According to Mackie, there is a contradiction between these three statements (Mackie, p. 200). By this, he means that if two of these statements were true, the third statement would be false. So Mackie says, for instance, that if God is omnipotent and wholly good, evil should not exist. If God is wholly good and evil still exists, then Mackie argues that God does not exist. Lastly, if God is omnipotent and evil exists in this world, then God is not wholly good. These acquisitions would go against the definition God, which for the purpose of this paper, will be defined as J. L. Mackie defined it in his article “Evil and Omnipotence”. He is omnipotent and wholly good.

The first argument Mackie mentioned in his article was the belief that good cannot exist without evil. Mackie stated his belief...