{"product_id":"the-problem-of-evil-the-gifford-lectures-delivered-in-the-university-of-st-andrews-in-2003-9780199543977","title":"The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St Andrews in 2003","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Peter Van Inwagen\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: OUP Oxford\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: OUP Oxford\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Good \u0026amp; Evil\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is generally supposed that the fact that the world contains a vast amount of suffering, much of it truly horrible suffering, confronts those who believe in an all-powerful and benevolent Creator with a serious problem: to explain why such a Creator would permit this. Many reflective people are convinced that the problem, the problem of evil, is insoluble. The reasons that underlie this conviction can be formulated as a powerful argument for the non-existence of God, the so-called argument from evil: If there were a God, he would not permit the existence of vast amounts of truly horrible suffering; since such suffering exists, there is no God. Peter van Inwagen examines this argument, which he regards as a paradigmatically philosophical argument. His conclusion is that (like most philosophical arguments) it is a failure. He seeks to demonstrate, not that God exists, but the fact that the world contains a vast amount of suffering does not show that God does not exist. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlong the way he discusses a wide range of topics of interest to philosophers and theologians, such as: the concept of God; what might be meant by describing a philosophical argument as a failure; the distinction between versions of the argument from evil that depend on the vast amount of evil in the world and versions of the argument that depend on a particular evil, such as the Lisbon earthquake or the death of a fawn in a forest fire; the free-will defense; animal suffering; and the problem of the hiddenness of God.","brand":"OUP Oxford","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47611352776855,"sku":"9780199543977","price":3234.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780199543977.webp?v=1775070630","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-problem-of-evil-the-gifford-lectures-delivered-in-the-university-of-st-andrews-in-2003-9780199543977","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}