The problem of evil as a moral objection to theism

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" The problem of evil as a moral objection to theism "
Betenson, Toby George

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Record Number	:	895694
Doc. No	:	TLets809938
Main Entry	:	University of Birmingham
Title & Author	:	The problem of evil as a moral objection to theism\ Betenson, Toby George
College	:	University of Birmingham
Date	:	2015
Degree	:	Thesis (Ph.D.)
student score	:	2015
Abstract	:	I argue that the problem of evil can be a moral objection to theistic belief. The thesis has three broad sections, each establishing an element in this argument. Section one establishes the logically binding nature of the problem of evil: The problem of evil must be solved, if you are to believe in God. And yet, I borrow from J. L. Mackie’s criticisms of the moral argument for the existence of God, and argue that the fundamentally evaluative nature of the premises within the problem of evil entails that it cannot be used to argue for the non-existence of God. Section two establishes the moral objectionability of many responses to the problem of evil (theodicies). I discuss the work of the moral ‘anti-theodicists’, and support some of the key premises within their arguments via appeal to the moral philosophy of Raimond Gaita. I combine the claims of section one and section two, and conclude that theism inherits the moral objectionability of theodicy. In section three, I establish the plausibility of a morally motivated non-cognitive atheism, offering an example (Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov), before finally distilling the central claims of this thesis into the form of a slogan: God lacks humanity.
Subject	:	B Philosophy (General); BJ Ethics; BL Religion
Added Entry	:	University of Birmingham