This concise, well-structured survey examines the problem of evil
in the context of the philosophy of religion. One of the core
topics in that field, the problem of evil is an enduring challenge
that Western philosophers have pondered for almost two thousand
years. The main problem of evil consists in reconciling belief in a
just and loving God with the evil and suffering in the world.
Michael Peterson frames this issue by working through questions
such as the following: What is the relation of rational belief to
religious faith? What different conceptual moves are possible on
either side of the issue? What responses have important thinkers
advanced and which seem most promising? Is it possible to maintain
religious commitment in light of evil? Peterson relies on the
helpful distinction between moral and natural evil to clarify our
understanding of the different aspects of the problem as well as
avenues for response.The overall format of the text rests on
classifying various types of argument from evil: the logical, the
probabilistic, the evidential, and the existential arguments. Each
type of argument has its own strategy which both theists and
nontheists must recognize and develop. Giving both theistic and
nontheistic perspectives fair representation, the text works
through the issues of whether evil shows theistic belief to be
inconsistent, improbable, discredited by the evidence, or
threatened by personal crisis.Peterson explains how defensive
strategies are particularly geared for responding to the logical
and probabilistic arguments from evil while theodicy is an
appropriate response to the evidential argument. Theodicy has
traditionally been understood as the attempt to justify belief in a
God who is all-powerful and all-good in light of evil. The text
discusses the theodicies of Augustine, Leibniz, Hick, and Whitehead
as enlightening examples of theodicy. This discussion allows
Peterson to identify and evaluate a rather dominant theme in most
theodicies: that evil can be justified by designating a greater
good. In the end, Peterson even explores how certain types of
theodicy, based on specifically Christian renditions of theism,
might provide a basis for addressing the existential problem of
evil. The reader of this book gains not only an intellectual grasp
of the debate over God and evil in professional philosophy but also
the personal benefit of thinking through one of the most important
issues in human life.
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