Draper on Pain and Pleasure: Part 2
This post is part of a series on Paul Draper’s classic version of the evidential argument from evil. In the previous entry, I explained Draper’s terminology and summarized the logical form of Draper’s two arguments. In this entry, I focus on Draper’s first argument, which attempts to show that known facts about the biological role of … Draper on Pain and Pleasure: Part 2
Draper on Pain and Pleasure: Part One
The academic journal Nous published an article by Paul Draper in 1989 on the evidential argument from evil. (The article used to be available online for free but is now only available behind a paywall at JSTOR.) The article is now widely regarded as a ‘classic’ in the contemporary literature on the problem of evil; it … Draper on Pain and Pleasure: Part One
Marilyn McCord Adams on Horrendous Evils
Marilyn McCord Adams is a Christian philosopher and a former Episcopalian priest who has thought deeply about so-called horrendous evils. I define ‘horrendous evils’ as ‘Evils the participation in (the doing or suffering of) which gives one reason prima facie to doubt whether one’s life could (given their inclusion in it) be a great good … Marilyn McCord Adams on Horrendous Evils
Lowder-Vandergriff Debate on God’s Existence Now Out!
I’m pleased to announce that my debate on God’s existence with Mr. Kevin Vandergriff is now out! Here are the options for accessing the debate. Topic and Format The topic and format for our debate was as follows. Topic: Naturalism vs. Christian Theism: Where Does the Evidence Point? Format: Mr. Lowder’s Opening Statement: 20 minutes Mr. Vandergriff’s … Lowder-Vandergriff Debate on God’s Existence Now Out!
Horia George Plugaru: The Argument from Physiological Horrors (2003)
This was recommended to me, but I haven’t read it yet. Please feel free to debate in the combox. P1: If human beings: (1) would produce extremely disgusting, abhorrent, horrible, pestilential, totally ugly results, (2) those results would be due to no fault of their own, (3) assuming that (some of) those results would help … Horia George Plugaru: The Argument from Physiological Horrors (2003)
The Evidential Argument from Biological Evolution: Part 1
Many conservative Christians and lay atheists alike claim that if biological evolution is true, then God does not exist. Ironically, while many conservative Christians have attacked evolution because it supposedly entails atheism, only one contemporary atheist philosopher has argued that evolution is evidence for atheism: Paul Draper. Draper defends an evidential argument from evolution for naturalism. … The Evidential Argument from Biological Evolution: Part 1
Repost: Brittany Maynard and the Problem of Evil
In case you’ve been under a rock (or you’re reading this in the future when it is an old, archived post), Brittany Maynard, a women with terminal brain cancer, died by assisted suicide last weekend in the U.S. state of Oregon, where it is legal. Brittany’s life and death are an especially tragic combination of two … Repost: Brittany Maynard and the Problem of Evil
Link: Darwin’s Argument from Evil by Paul Draper
Draper’s chapter was published in Yujin Nagasawa (ed.), Scientific Approaches to the Philosophy of Religion. Palgrave Macmillan. 49 (2012). It’s available online for free courtesy of Google Books. LINK
One Problem with Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 2
In a previous post I pointed out three different problems related to the third argument in Richard Swinburne’s systematic case for the existence of God. The third argument is the final argument of his arguments from the nature of the universe. It is his Teleological Argument from Spatial Order (hereafter: TASO):(e3) There is a complex physical … One Problem with Swinburne’s Case for God – Part 2
Quote of the Day by Paul Draper
“Suppose Wykstra is right that, if there is a God, then we shouldn’t expect to know what God’s reasons for producing or allowing certain evils are. Then it follows that our ignorance of those reasons (i.e. the failure of the project of theodicy) is not strong evidence against theism. It does not follow, however, that … Quote of the Day by Paul Draper