The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St. Andrews in 2003

198 Pages·2006·0.85 MB·English

by  Peter van Inwagen

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
This page intentionally left blank
The Problem of Evil
The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the
University of St Andrews in 2003
PETER VAN INWAGEN
1
1
GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP
OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship,
andeducationbypublishingworldwidein
Oxford NewYork
Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi
KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi
NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
Withofficesin
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress
intheUKandincertainothercountries
PublishedintheUnitedStates
byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork
PetervanInwagen2006
Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted
DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker)
Firstpublished2006
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,
orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate
reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction
outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,
OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove
Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover
andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Dataavailable
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
VanInwagen,Peter.
Theproblemofevil:theGiffordlecturesdeliveredintheUniversityofSt.
Andrewsin2003/PetervanInwagen.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-19-924560-4(alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-19-924560-6(alk.paper)
1. God—Proof. 2. Goodandevil—Religiousaspects—Christianity. 3. Theodicy. I. Title.
BT103.V352006 214—dc22 2006006153
TypesetbyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India
PrintedinGreatBritain
onacid-freepaperby
BiddlesLtd.,King’sLynn,Norfolk
ISBN0–19–924560–6 978–0–19–924560–4
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
ForLisette
This page intentionally left blank
Preface
These lectures were delivered in the University of St Andrews in April
and May of 2003. It is difficult for me to find words to express my
gratitudetothemembersofUniversityofStAndrewsforgivingmethe
opportunity to deliver a series of Gifford Lectures in their university.
Having attempted and discarded several more elaborate expressions of
gratitude, I will say only that I am very grateful indeed for the honor
they have done me. I am also grateful to many individual members of
theuniversityforalltheydidtomakemystayinStAndrewsapleasant
and productive one, and for their many acts of kindness to me and to
my wife Lisette and my step-daughter Claire. Special thanks are due
to Professor Alan Torrance, Dr Peter Clark (Head of the School of
Philosophical and Anthropological Studies), Professor Sarah Broadie,
and Professor John Haldane. I wish also to thank the audiences at the
lectures for their insightfulcomments and questions, many of which I
haverespondedto(howeverinadequately)inthisbook.Theseresponses
aretobefoundintheendnotes;inafewcases,theyhavetakentheform
of revisions of the text of the lectures. Finally, I thank the two readers
towhomtheOxfordUniversityPresssentadraftofthemanuscriptof
thisbook.Ihavetriedtomeetsomeoftheirconcernsabout particular
passages(andIhaverespondedtosomeoftheirmoregeneralcomments
andsuggestions)inthenotesandinthetext.
I have not, in turning the text of the lectures into a book, tried to
makeitanythingotherthanwhatitwas:atextwrittentobereadaloud
toanaudience.(Withthisqualification:intheprocessofrevision,some
of the‘‘lectures’’ have become toolongactually tobe read in thehour
that academic tradition allots to a lecture.) Many passages in the text
ofthelectureshave beenextensively rewritten,but all therevisionsare
ones I would have made before the lectures were delivered—if only I
hadbeenthinkingmoreclearlyatthetime.
Mostofthematerialinthisbookthatwasnotintheoriginallectures
isintheendnotes.Thelectureswerewrittenforageneralaudience(as
opposedtoanaudienceofphilosophers).Afewofthenotesaresimply
thoughts that could not be fitted into the text without ‘‘breaking the
flow’’. Most oftheothers(citationsof booksand articles aside) are for
philosophers. I advise readers of thebookwho are notphilosophers to
viii Preface
ignorethenotes(unless,perhaps, theyseeafootnotecueattachedtoa
passageinwhichsomethingI’vesaidseemstothemtofaceanobvious
objection;theymayfindtheirconcernaddressedinthenote).
I will not summarize the content of the lectures here. The Detailed
Contentscontainsasummaryofeachofthelectures,andthefirstlecture
givesageneraloverviewoftheircontent.
Citationsaregivenin‘‘minimal’’forminthenotes(e.g.Adamsand
Adams, The Problem of Evil). For ‘‘full’’ citations, see Works Cited.
Quotations from the Psalms are taken from the Book of Common
Prayer.OtherbiblicalquotationsarefromtheAuthorized(KingJames)
Versionunlessotherwisespecified.
PI
SouthBend,Indiana
August2005
Outline Contents
DetailedContents xi
Lecture1. TheProblemofEvilandtheArgumentfromEvil 1
Lecture2. TheIdeaofGod 18
Lecture3. PhilosophicalFailure 37
Lecture4. TheGlobalArgumentfromEvil 56
Lecture5. TheGlobalArgumentContinued 75
Lecture6. TheLocalArgumentfromEvil 95
Lecture7. TheSufferingsofBeasts 113
Lecture8. TheHiddennessofGod 135
Notes 152
WorksCited 177
Index 181