God, Geography, and Justice. (18th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Linford, Daniel; Patterson, William
• Is Part Of: Essays in the philosophy of humanism. Volume 23:Number 2(2015:Sep.)
• Page Start: 189
• Page End: 216
• Publication Date: 2016-01-18
• Subjects: atheism -- problem of evil -- theodicy -- skeptical theism; Humanism -- Periodicals; Humanists -- Periodicals; 144.05
• DOI: 10.1558/eph.v23i2.28019
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1522-7340

Abstract

Abstract : The existence of various sufferings has long been thought to pose a problem for the existence of a personal God: the Problem of Evil (POE). In this paper, we propose an original version of POE, in which the geographic distribution of sufferings and of opportunities for flourishing or suffering is better explained if the universe, at bottom, is indifferent to the human condition than if, as theists propose, there is a personal God from whom the universe originates: the Problem of Geography (POG). POG moves beyond previous versions of POE because traditional responses to POE (skeptical theism and various theodicies) are less effective as responses to POG than they are to other versions of POE.