PHIL 2010H Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Frugality, Omnibenevolence, Omnipotence
3 May 2017
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The divine mind is incomprehensible to us: part ii (demea, 15) Furthermore, human mental processes are successive, uncertain, fleeting, etc. these characteristics are essential to the human mind . Divine mind comprehensible (philo): problem of evil. If god is omniscient, then surely he knows what evils will occur in the world. But if he is also omnibenevolent he would wish no evil to happen to his creatures. And if he is omnipotent he could surely prevent evil from happening in the world. So either he does not know and is thus not omniscient, or he is not able to prevent it and is not omnipotent, or he does not wish to prevent it, and is thus not omnibenevolent. Or any combination of the above, of course. The lives of animals are driven by needs for the necessities of life--- food, shelter, etc. --- which often go unmet. In addition, they are constantly prey to fear and anxiety because of predation.
