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DEBATE: Could God Be Evil? | Alex O'Connor vs Max Baker-Hytch

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DEBATE: Could God Be Evil? | Alex O'Connor vs Max Baker-Hytch

Philosophy (Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics)DuelAdded 41d ago

Alex O'Connor and Dr. Max Baker-Hytch debate the "evil god challenge," a philosophical thought experiment that questions the logical consistency of the problem of evil. O'Connor, representing the challenge, argues that if the pervasiveness of good in the world leads us to reject the existence of an all-evil god, then, by parallel reasoning, the pervasiveness of evil should lead us to reject the existence of an all-good god. He contends that the arguments used to dismiss an evil deity could, in principle, be applied to a benevolent one, thereby undermining traditional theological defenses against the problem of evil. Dr. Baker-Hytch, a philosophy tutor at Oxford, pushes back against this symmetry, arguing that the "evil god challenge" does not hold up to scrutiny. He defends the coherence of an all-good God despite the existence of evil, likely by distinguishing between the nature of good and evil, the implications of divine attributes, or the logical structure of the arguments involved. The debate explores the philosophical underpinnings of the problem of evil and the nature of divine attributes.