Abstract
The problem of evil is an intellectual challenge for philosophers and theologians and an existential threat to many religious believers. It is sustained by the commitments of what is now called perfect being theology, which is above all a philosophical theology centered on the conception of God as creator of the cosmos and as omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good. With Kontny and Müller-Salo, I do not try to evade the problem by treating evil as illusory or subjective. I agree that there are genuine evils of horrendous proportions. The question why there is evil at all is urgent enough in a world under an omnicompetent God—‘omnicompetence’ being shorthand for the conjunction of omniscience, omnipotence, and perfect goodness. But the question why there is so much and such excruciating evil seems on the face of it unanswerable. Kontny and Müller-Salo have contributed much to our understanding of the problem, and here, rather than elaborate on all of their points, I shall simply reply to those that indicate a need to reinforce or extend major theses I have defended.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Audi, Robert. 1979. The Moral Rights of the Terminally Ill. In Contemporary Issues in Biomedical Ethics, ed. John W. Davis, Barry Hoffmaster, and Sarah Polish Shorten, 43–62. Clifton: The Humana Press.
———. 2011. Rationality and Religious Commitment. Oxford/New York: Clarendon Press.
———. Forthcoming. Methodological Aspects of Theistic Appraisal. In Theism and Atheism. Opposing Viewpoints in Philosophy, ed. Joseph Koterski and Graham Oppy. New York: Macmillan.
McCord Adams, Marilyn. 1999. Horrendous Evil. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Audi, R. (2018). In Defense of a Theocentric Theodicy. In: Müller-Salo, J. (eds) Robert Audi: Critical Engagements. Münster Lectures in Philosophy, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00482-8_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00482-8_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00481-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00482-8
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)