Quote:
Originally Posted by dnlgfnk
"The Riddle of Epicurus"...
Of course the theist rejects A, B, D, ...
|
Why "Of course?" On what grounds does the theist reject A, B, D?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnlgfnk
... and wrestles with C.
|
So what is the theist's answer to C? Have theists even come up with an answer?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dnlgfnk
Objective evil cannot exist w/o God. Objective morality requires a Lawgiver over all. Christopher Hitchens conceded this.
|
Hitchens conceded quite a lot that I do not.
This is the point where the question becomes quite complex. You probably noticed that in my restating the Riddle of Epicurus I used the word "suffering" rather than "evil." I did this because the word "evil" is hard to define, "suffering" not so much.
"Morality" is likewise difficult to define.
Some years back in Yellowstone National Park a female bear with two cubs attacked and killed a park ranger. The attack was predatory, i.e., the bear saw the ranger as food. Park rangers hunted down and killed the bear and the cubs. (The rangers reasoned that the cubs had learned the lesson that humans were food.)
Was the bear evil? No. It was simply being a bear. Were the rangers evil? Again, no.
There is a documented case from about 200 years ago where sailors in a lifeboat ran out of food. They drew lots to decide which of the would be food for the others. The loser of this lottery was murdered and eaten. The rest survived. Were the survivors evil? You tell me. But evil or not, they survived.
What can be said about morality is that it encompasses a set of behaviors which benefit the group, the tribe, the nation, the entire species. These behaviors are the result of evolution. We have evolved to be a social animal. As hunter-gatherers we hunted and gathered in groups. This provided more food per individual than a single individual could obtain alone, plus it was (and is) a more varied diet, ergo, a healthier diet.
Good, evil and morality are all human constructs guided by the force of natural selection. They are not the dictates of a deity.
The answer to the Riddle of Epicurus is there simply is no deity. God is powerless to prevent suffering because he does not exist. God is not willing to prevent suffering because he does not exist. Since God does not exist then of course there is suffering.
Sapere aude
