Leibniz, Augustine, and Plantinga: Classical Struggles with Theodicy
Theodicy, a term coined by Gottfried Leibniz, is a philosophical attempt to reconcile the idea of a rational God with the reality of evil. Leibniz sought to demonstrate that the world is a meaningful whole despite the suffering experienced within it. In the Christian tradition, St. Augustine is a pivotal figure; for him, evil possesses no substance of its own. He defined evil as privatio boni, or an ontological privation of good resulting from human free will.
Alvin Plantinga’s thought represents a contemporary continuation of these efforts. His Free Will Defense employs modal logic to prove that the existence of an omnipotent God and freedom (which carries the risk of evil) are not contradictory. Plantinga does not offer a moral justification for suffering but constructs a formal defense of the consistency of theism.
Stanisław Lem and Contemporary Perspectives on the Phenomenon of Evil
Where traditional theodicy falls silent, new interpretations emerge. Stanisław Lem proposed a thermodynamic interpretation of evil. In his view, the world is "unfriendly" due to the laws of physics: evil multiplies spontaneously like chaos, while good requires a constant expenditure of energy. Meanwhile, William Rowe formulated the probabilistic problem of evil, asking whether the sheer scale of pointless suffering makes
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Alvin Plantinga defend theism against the existence of evil?
Plantinga formulated the Free Will Defense, demonstrating with modal logic that the existence of an omnipotent God and free will permitting evil are not internally contradictory.
What is home in the philosophy of Bogusław Wolniewicz?
The home is a spiritual being and an institution of absolute values, constituting the last bastion of personalism and a sacred oasis of meaning in a secularized world.
Why does Wolniewicz attribute primacy to women in creating a home?
He considers woman to be the creator of the axiological order, whose nature allows her to create an aura of meaning, while man plays an auxiliary role in this process.
What is the philosophical justification for the death penalty according to the text?
The death penalty is perceived as an act of restitution of the violated order and the only adequate equivalent for an absolute crime, preventing the devaluation of evil.
How does theodicy differ from ethodicy in the thought of Hans Jonas?
Theodicy tries to justify God, while ethodicy is the ethical response of man who takes responsibility for the world in the face of the silence of metaphysics.
Related Questions
What is classical theodicy and how did Leibniz attempt to save God's reason?
How did St. Augustine define evil as the absence of being?
What is Alvin Plantinga's formal defense of free will?
How did Stanisław Lem interpret evil through the prism of thermodynamics?
What are the main voices in the philosophy of evil after the collapse of traditional theodicy?
How does the axiological theory of the home differ from the common understanding of the apartment?
Why does Wolniewicz assign women the role of creating the spiritual aura of the home?
What are Wolniewicz's arguments for the death penalty as the foundation of order?
What is the superiority of the retributive theory over utilitarianism in law?
Why is euthanasia described as the last line of defense for dignity?
Tags:TheodicyBogusław WolniewiczFree Will Defenseprivate propertyasymmetry of good and evilaxiology of the homefeminization of the homecapital punishmentretributive justiceontology of valueskenosisthe problem of evilKantian rigorismmoral ordermalum passionis
