Matthew A. Benton, John Hawthorne, and Yoaav Isaacs
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198757702
- eISBN:
- 9780191818448
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198757702.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
The problem of evil is the most prominent argument against the existence of God. Skeptical theists contend that it is not a good argument. Their reasons for this contention vary widely, involving ...
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The problem of evil is the most prominent argument against the existence of God. Skeptical theists contend that it is not a good argument. Their reasons for this contention vary widely, involving such notions as CORNEA (Condition Of ReasoNable Epistemic Access), epistemic appearances, ‘gratuitous’ evils, ‘levering’ evidence, and the representativeness of goods. This chapter aims to dispel some confusions about these notions, in particular by clarifying their roles within a probabilistic epistemology. In addition, the chapter develops new responses to the problem of evil from both the phenomenal conception of evidence and the knowledge-first view of evidence.Less
The problem of evil is the most prominent argument against the existence of God. Skeptical theists contend that it is not a good argument. Their reasons for this contention vary widely, involving such notions as CORNEA (Condition Of ReasoNable Epistemic Access), epistemic appearances, ‘gratuitous’ evils, ‘levering’ evidence, and the representativeness of goods. This chapter aims to dispel some confusions about these notions, in particular by clarifying their roles within a probabilistic epistemology. In addition, the chapter develops new responses to the problem of evil from both the phenomenal conception of evidence and the knowledge-first view of evidence.
