the Problem of Evil

2/3/2021- Gene

In this video and generally speaking, it's remarkable how religion itself is responsible for fostering the two assumptions and definitions that atheist's make about God. You also make it very clear regarding the points-of-view on the subject by two of the most celebrated existentialists of modern times. Well done!

2/5/21 - Jeff

Thank you for this helpful summary of some of the major philosophical positions regarding theodicy, God, and religion. You note that atheists deny “the idea of God” which is a “big idea.” I would suggest, alternatively, that atheists do not argue against the idea of God, because ideas originate from thought, and any idea is clearly possible. Thus, I doubt that any intelligent atheist would argue against my having the idea of God. Rather, atheists deny the reality of God, which presupposes a real world. Moreover, if God is an idea, that idea must originate from a mind, either reducing God to human projection (ala Marx and Freud) or attributing the idea of God to the Mind of a real God, whereby the idea of God is synonymous with the real God’s Self-concept.

I appreciate your point that the major theodicy complaints can be attributed to religion, but this does not negate the possibility that they can also be directed toward God. I see this as a “both/and” versus “either/or” situation. For example, religion clearly has nothing to do with the huge loss of life connected with earthquakes, tsunamis, terminal illnesses, or accidental deaths, yet many would view these as “evils that a good God could prevent.” Others would argue that these things are not evil because evil does not exist and is as untenable an idea as the idea of God. This is especially a potential truth for atheists, who might also argue that “good” and “evil” are religio-moral constructions. For example, an atheist who is an evolutionary biologist might simply attribute all acts of violence/aggression to part of the process by which the fittest survive. Such an atheist could also thereby argue against making any moral attributions for human behavior, just as one would argue against making moral attributions when one animal kills another.

As such, in summary, it would seem that atheistic arguments against the existence of God cannot all be categorized as concerns with theodicy and/or human problems with abuses of religion. I am not suggesting that you have proposed this. However, I would be very interested to hear more on your perspective—outside the realm of theodicy—regarding the logic or illogic of atheism, which I propose is the belief that no real God exists versus an idea of God.