Philosophy
When it comes to the philosophical problem of evil (the question of how an omnipotent and benevolent God would allow unnecessary suffering to exist), religious believers tend to argue that suffering is a necessary consequence of our having free will: sure, our freedom does tend to produce all kinds of nightmares every now and then, but overall, the net benefits of having free will outweigh the bad.
Whatever merit that answer may have (it doesn't), it's a great distraction from what philosophers call "natural" evil: the suffering created by non-human related causes: things like disease, animal suffering, earthquakes, etc., and the suffering and destruction experienced by non-human animals. So how do you explain that?
Well, The Onion thinks that you can do it through Intelligent (but evil) Design :)
I bet zebras hate giraffes and ostriches :)
- The Problems Of Evil And Free Will
Guest-post today from Todd Furman at McNeese State: A plausible theodicy must accomplish at least two tasks. First, it must clear God of bringing evil into the universe; and two it must absolve God from being culpable for any existent evils. The Fall,...
- The God Of Love And The God Of Power
The conversation last week has had me thinking about religion. The first of the Ten Commandments essentially says that there is one and only one God in the Abrahamic faiths. But when you look at them, this is false. There are at least two. Ludwig Feuerbach...
- The Problem Of Non-evil
Is the standard notion of heaven self-consistent? Can you have both the necessary freedom from suffering and freedom of the will for those in heaven? If you say that there is no suffering in heaven because the only people allowed in are those who would...
- Comedism And Evil
Brothers , Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere: For those who are new to the Playground, weekends are for the weekly Comedist sermons. For an introduction to Comedism, the new religion; passages from The Comedist Manifesto, our holy book;...
- Id, Ego, And Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious
Schadenfreude -- enjoying the suffering of others... Freudenschade -- suffering in the delight of others... Freudundschatze -- A famous psychologist and his sweetie... Freudenschadenfreude -- suffering at others enjoying the suffering of others......
Philosophy
Horrifying Planet - Zebra: Nature's Ultimate Prey
Whatever merit that answer may have (it doesn't), it's a great distraction from what philosophers call "natural" evil: the suffering created by non-human related causes: things like disease, animal suffering, earthquakes, etc., and the suffering and destruction experienced by non-human animals. So how do you explain that?
Well, The Onion thinks that you can do it through Intelligent (but evil) Design :)
I bet zebras hate giraffes and ostriches :)
- The Problems Of Evil And Free Will
Guest-post today from Todd Furman at McNeese State: A plausible theodicy must accomplish at least two tasks. First, it must clear God of bringing evil into the universe; and two it must absolve God from being culpable for any existent evils. The Fall,...
- The God Of Love And The God Of Power
The conversation last week has had me thinking about religion. The first of the Ten Commandments essentially says that there is one and only one God in the Abrahamic faiths. But when you look at them, this is false. There are at least two. Ludwig Feuerbach...
- The Problem Of Non-evil
Is the standard notion of heaven self-consistent? Can you have both the necessary freedom from suffering and freedom of the will for those in heaven? If you say that there is no suffering in heaven because the only people allowed in are those who would...
- Comedism And Evil
Brothers , Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere: For those who are new to the Playground, weekends are for the weekly Comedist sermons. For an introduction to Comedism, the new religion; passages from The Comedist Manifesto, our holy book;...
- Id, Ego, And Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious
Schadenfreude -- enjoying the suffering of others... Freudenschade -- suffering in the delight of others... Freudundschatze -- A famous psychologist and his sweetie... Freudenschadenfreude -- suffering at others enjoying the suffering of others......