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The Problem of Evil and a Plausible Defence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

Frank J. Murphy
Frank J. Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858–4353
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Abstract

This paper argues that God may create and exist in any possible world, no matter how much suffering of any sort that world includes. It combines the traditional free will defence with the notion of an ‘occasion’ for good or evil action and limits God's responsibility to the creation of these occasions. Since no possible world contains occasions for more evil than good action, God is morally permitted to create any possible world. With regard to suffering that is not due to free will, namely the suffering of beings who are not moral agents, the paper questions the idea that the relief of such suffering is a moral perfection.

Type
Research Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 1995 , pp. 243 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

REFERENCES

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