Thursday, October 05, 2006

The Problem of Evil

Premise 1: If God exist, then he would eradicate evil.
Premise 2: Homework is evil.
Premise 3: I have to do homework, hence evil exist.
Conclusion: God does not exist.

If you are a reader of this blog, please send in at least 1 comment on the above argument. We look forward to an interesting discussion.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Premise 2 is false. Homework is made for us to test us and when we overcome them, we are stronger in knowledge.
Premise 4: If something that is made with the purpose of benefitting us, it cannot be evil.

Conclusion 2: Since Premise 2 and 3 are false, then Conclusion 1 does not stand, and God does exist! =)

Benita said...

'Eradicated' is being defined as 'torn up by its roots' (dictionary.com).

There're many examples to break the stand of the argument, but I'll just state the strongest point I have in mind.

Standing on the point of the Bible since God is mentioned, the final war between Jesus and satan hasn't started nor the the beast, captured (Rev 19).

So technically speaking, God hasn't 'eradicated' evil (the beast/satan) yet. Premise 1 thus isn't valid.

If the insistence is on Premise 1, then no humans should exist.

Arguably, all humans are evil because no one can truly call themselves a saint (not counting those from SA schools lah).

And based on the biblical truth that all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, men are inherently evil and applying Premise 1, God should have eradicated men.

So why are we still here?

Premise 1 therefore is ambiguous and can't hold its ground.

Vic said...

Haha... Funny!

But Premises 2 and 3 are dubious to me though...

Homework is only evil to the person who percieves it as evil. What if I say I view homework as a blessing? Then Premise 2 will be wrong right?

Then Premise 3. It's a choice whether or not to do the homework assigned (consequence of action aside). Does that mean then, if by a person's free will, she decides to try not to do homework, the so-called homework doesn't exist?

Taking Premise 1 to mean that evil exists anyway before it is eradicated, if God exist, does it then mean that hypothetically, if a person does not do evil, evil doesn't exist?

Argh... Do I make any sense? =P

Anonymous said...

1st premise is faulty. Therefore whole argument wrong. Haha, got you.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with premise 2 & 3... Especially if the lecturer is a psycho case... Not uncommon, you know.

Latria said...

To all readers, you have to get a Blogger account to make a comment, or so I've been told. But please do so to help us estimate the readership better. Also, be aware of the word verification.

Dear Anonymous, you have to state more clearly why you think the 1st premise is faulty. Then a healthy debate can ensue. I eagerly await your reply.

Anonymous said...

The Bible says that God would eradicate evil only on the Last Day. So for now, we have to live with uncle Evil... Therefore premise one is faulty. Yup!

Wilson Tan said...

would you then consider someone evil if he/she has the power to help someone NOW but doesn't?

dragonfly said...

Hmm...firstly, who is to say that Homework is evil?...it's just like the chinese saying "Good medicine is a bitter pill to swallow"...haha..

Anonymous said...

Presmise 1: Satan is evil.
Premise 2: Green is evil.
Conclusion: Satan is green.

Something I saw scrawled across a lab bench. In this case, premise 2 is debatable.

Vic said...

What is evil?

Vic said...

In the first place, what is evil?
Secondly, why is homework evil?

And I don't quite agree with anonymous that premise 1 is faulty. If God would eradicate evil only on the last day, that means he WILL eradicate evil. Just a matter of when right? If that's the case, then premise 1 is not faulty.

Wilson Tan said...

great discussion! But no-one has yet to challenge my question: would you then consider someone evil if he/she has the power to help someone NOW but doesn't?

come on you people, give me your best shot!

Anonymous said...

First, the existence of God does not depend on man's construction of what He should/shld not do.

Second, homework is not evil becos hw has no nature.

With regards to the above question, I would consider someone as evil if the person has the power to help someone NOW but doesn't. Help could be something like giving of efforts or money, rebuking etc... And, I think evil is related to both the motive and also the action. BUT, the sad news is...becos' of our sinful nature, either one or both motive & action would be stained with sin.

Anonymous said...

My goodness! Analytical skills in action! Can't remember this form of argument.. is it modus ponens? Hrm... premise 1 is probably incomplete. God would eradicate evil but in his own time. As for premise 2, homework is not evil. It is to hone our skills in whatever field we are in. We may want to define evil here too. I just realized that the form of the argument is invalid too. Modus Ponens is:
1. If p, then q.
2. p.
Therefore, q.
In your example, you affirmed the consequent (q- God would eradicate evil) when in fact you should affirm the antecedent (God exists).

The premises are shaky and the argument form is invalid.

For more information, wikipedia modus ponens, modus tollens, etc. Maybe google invalid argument forms too.

zac said...

yoz.
basically, premise 1 is kinda of wierd or rather kinda of doesnt really make sense..or say incomplete...i kinda of dont really understand premise 1..though.. for premise2 ..hw can homework be evil? homework meant to help us improve in our course of work etc etc..hence premise 3 is kinda of wrong..conclusion here does not stand at all..in the first place..cos God exist!

In regards to the challeging question.."would you then consider someone evil if he/she has the power to help someone NOW but doesn't? "
i would nt consider that someone as evil..why should i right? it could be tad someone wants me to learn sth instead of helping me totally..den wad's there to learn should it be an important lesson?
am i right to say that?

-isaac wong-