Philosophy of Humanity

Philosophy of Religion

Theodicy

The principal theme of 18th-century philosophy of religion was theodicy. Some atheistic philosophers of that time criticized religion on the grounds of the existence of evil in the world. The most active critic in this regard was the French philosopher Pierre Bayle (1647-1706). Instead of targeting religious arguments directly, Bayle focused on the attributes of God, evaluating them in light of the presence of evil in the world. Bayle questioned: if there is evil in the world, why does God not rectify it? The existence of evil contradicts one of the three attributes of God:

• If God knows that evil exists in the world and can eliminate it but chooses not to, then He cannot be considered good.
• If God desires that there be no evil in the world and can eliminate it but does not do so because He is unaware of its existence, then He cannot be deemed omniscient.
• If God desires that there be no evil in the world, knows of its existence, but cannot eliminate it, then He cannot be considered omnipotent.

Based on these three suppositions, Bayle concluded that God must lack one of these three attributes, and if so, He cannot be the being greater than which nothing can be conceived. This critique posed a new challenge in the philosophy of religion, as no thinker before had criticized religion from the perspective of the existence of evil. Bayle's accusations provoked a response within philosophical circles. In 1710, German mathematician, logician, physicist, founder and first president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), published the book Essays on Theodicy: On the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil, in which he analyzed and systematically refuted Bayle's charges. In the title of this work, Leibniz introduced the term "theodicy," derived from the Greek words θεός (God) and δίκη (justice), which can be translated as "defense of God." Thanks to Leibniz, this term entered the philosophical lexicon. It came to denote the practical discipline studying the possibilities of using the insights of the philosophy of religion, especially religious arguments, in polemics against atheism.

Regarding the main issue of theodicy, the response of religious philosophers is as follows: only free actions can be morally evaluated. Actions of plants or animals cannot be judged as good or evil. Only human actions can receive moral evaluation. Human actions can be good or evil because God created humans with free will. If God had not endowed humans with freedom, they would not be human, as freedom is a defining characteristic of humanity. Having been granted freedom, humans have the ability to choose their own path in life and their behavior in any situation. Therefore, moral evil is a consequence of the improper exercise of human freedom, not a result of divine inaction. God addresses the problem of evil by educating humans and shaping their high moral values. Any direct intervention by God in the problem of evil would deprive humans of their freedom and, consequently, of their humanity.