Overview
- Argues that the existence of an all-good, all-powerful God is logically impossible, based on the problem of evil
- Uses resources from moral and political philosophy to support the argument
- Significantly advances the defenses of logical arguments from evil
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Using yet untapped resources from moral and political philosophy, this book seeks to answer the question of whether an all good God who is presumed to be all powerful is logically compatible with the degree and amount of moral and natural evil that exists in our world. It is widely held by theists and atheists alike that it may be logically impossible for an all good, all powerful God to create a world with moral agents like ourselves that does not also have at least some moral evil in it. James P. Sterba focuses on the further question of whether God is logically compatible with the degree and amount of moral and natural evil that exists in our world. The negative answer he provides marks a new stage in the age-old debate about God's existence.
Reviews
“Sterba does offer a sustained argument against many contemporary theodicies, especially those that appeal to the value of soul-making and free will. … it is a valuable contribution to the literature on the problem of evil.” (Michael Almeida, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol. 87, 2020)
“This book marks the most significant advance in defenses of logical arguments from evil since the seminal works of Mackie and Rowe. What makes the argument novel is, in part, the way in which it draws upon recent work in moral philosophy, and, in particular, on recent discussion of trolley cases and the Pauline Principle that one may never do sufficiently horrendous evil that good may come of it.” (Graham Oppy, Professor of Philosophy, Monash University, Australia)“James P. Sterba has put a new twist on the problem of evil by devising a set of moral principles which represent requirements for the actions of a morally perfect God. The requirements appear to be fairly weak and thus plausible, yet they clearly are not met in the actual world. Sterba thus makes a contribution to the contemporary discussion of ‘God's ethics,’ the principles that a good God would need to follow in governing the world.” (William Hasker, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Huntington University,USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
James P. Sterba is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, USA. He has published thirty-four books, including the award-winning Justice for Here and Now (1998).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Is a Good God Logically Possible?
Authors: James P. Sterba
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05469-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-05468-7Published: 25 July 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-05469-4Published: 16 July 2019
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 209
Topics: Popular Science in Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Secularism, Politics and Religion