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Response to Fallacious Solutions

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RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 1
Response to Fallacious Solutions According to Robbins (2012), the problem of evil states that if God exists and he is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, he would eliminate all evil from the world. However, since evil obviously exists, as we see people suffering and bad things happening everyday, if God existed, and he was all-knowing and all-powerful there would be no evil in the world (Robbins, 2012). Mackie presents several solutions to the problem of evil that he deems fallacious. I will argue that "Good cannot exist without evil" and "Evil is due to human free will" are in fact adequate solutions to the problem of evil. Mackie (1955), defines God as an omnipotent and omnibenevolent being, meaning God is all-knowing and all-good, and should be able to eliminate all evil from the world, and yet evil exists all around us. Mackie (1955), defines evil as needless suffering. There is human evil, something done by people, to people and natural evil, like natural disasters. The first fallacious solution Mackie (1955), presents is "Good cannot exist without evil." 1. If God is omnipotent, he would be powerful enough to stop all evil. 2. Evil exists. Therefore, God is not omnipotent, or there are limits on God's omnipotence.
The first premise states that if God were in fact omnipotent or all-powerful, then he should
RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 2 be able to eliminate any evil in the world without any problem. The second premise simply states that evil exists, which we can clearly see in the world around us through people suffering due to natural and human-caused disasters. Mackie (1955), then presents the conclusion that because evil exists, God cannot be omnipotent or that there is a limit to what an omnipotent being can do. Another argument presented by Mackie says, "Evil is due to human freewill." 1. God is omnibenevolent 2. God gave humans freewill. 3. If God were omnibenevolent, he would make humans always freely choose good. 4. Humans often freely choose bad. Therefore, God is not omnibenevolent.
The first premise states that God is omnibenevolent, meaning he is a all-caring and wholly good being. The second premise points out the idea that God gave humans freewill, the ability to make their own choices. The third premise states that if God were a wholly good being, then he should make humans that always use their freewill ability for good. The fourth premise points out that humans often choose evil or bad decisions which brings us to the conclusion that God cannot be wholly good, or omnibenevolent because if he gave humans freewill then he would have always made them choose good.
RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 3 Mackie's first fallacious solution, while I agree it is a valid argument against evil being necessary for good, I don't think it is sound. I don't agree with the first premise. Although I think that God is omnipotent and able to stop all evil, I believe it is logically necessary to have evil for good to exist (Robbins, 2012). If there was no evil in the world, then there would not be any good either (LaFave, 2007). Evil is necessary for us to be able to recognize good. In order for good to exist, there must be an opposite, evil, to compare it to (LaFave, 2007). If nothing bad ever happened, how would we know when something good was happening? We wouldn't because we wouldn't know what good looked like. Mackie (1955), would say that good and evil are not counterparts and that if they were, good would eliminate evil. According to Mackie (1955), "If good and evil are counterparts, a good thing will not "eliminate evil as far as it can."" (p. 204). I think good and evil are counterparts, not in that good can eliminate evil, but that good can balance out evil. I also believe God keeps a balance between evil and good, never giving the world too much evil that it couldn't handle. For every evil thing that happens, I believe God makes an equally good thing happen and that there is a constant and necessary balance at all times. Mackie (1955), may say everything does not need a counterpart, that something can exist by itself. He, Mackie (1955), gives the example that if there is something red, then everything could be red and there would not be the need to have something non-red to
RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 4 compare it to. But, I disagree, there would have to be something non-red to compare it to, even if it was a small dot of non-red. Without non-red we wouldn't know everything was red, red would be nothing without non-red to compare it to (LaFave, 2007). The same idea applies to good and evil, without some evil to compare good to, we wouldn't know when something was good. Mackie's next fallacious solution states, "Evil is due to human freewill." Mackie (1955) argues, "if God has made men such that in their free choices they sometimes prefer what is good and sometimes what is evil, why could he not have made men such that they always freely choose the good?" (p. 209). While I understand his point, I believe if God created humans with free will that always chose good, then that isn't free will at all. If freewill meant always choosing the right thing, then they really don't have free will because they are always making the same choice, the right one (LaFave 2007). Obviously, when humans are given freewill, there will be some evil and bad choices made, but the ability to have freewill and make those decisions outweighs the fact that freewill can cause evil. Also, when evil comes from freewill, then God is no longer the cause of the evil so he can still be omnibenevolent (LaFave, 2007). Mackie (1955), might argue that God should then stop people from making bad or evil choices because God is omnipotent. But, if God were to stop people from doing those evil things they wouldn't have free will.
RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 5 Both of these solutions are presented to solve the problem of evil, the problem that God is omnipotent, omnibenevolent and yet evil exists. The idea that, "Good cannot exist without evil," is an adequate solution because evil is necessary as a counterpart to evil, not to eliminate it, but to balance it out and have something to compare good to. The solution of "Evil is due to freewill," is also an acceptable solution, because God created humans with freewill, the ability to make their own decisions, good or bad. If or when someone does something evil, it is not God causing the evil it is that person. Mackie deemed both of these positions fallacious, when they can be acceptable solutions to the problem of evil.

RESPONSE TO FALLACIOUS SOLUTIONS 6
References
LaFave, S. (2007, January 28). Notes on the Problem of Evil. Retrieved from http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/problem_of_evil.htm
Mackie, J. L.(1955). Evil and Omnipotence. Mind (200-212). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Robbins, P. (2012). Does God exist? [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://bblearn.missouri.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-901368-dt-content-rid-18143121_1/courses/philosophy_1000_pr/1000_god_F12.pdf

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