Van Inwagen and the Problem of Evil The problem of evil is a concept that is often heard of in this current century. Many movies depict the battle between what is good and what is evil (Symbols of them), and many church’s preach the word of God in order to combat the evil in the world. Yet, the question often still arises that says: Why is there evil in the world? In his essay, Peter Van Inwagen discusses this topic as well as the objections that arise. In Van Inwagen’s paper, the problem of evil
highly debated argument. An objection commonly used against the existence of God is the argument from evil. However, philosophers have offered plausible defenses against this argument, the most successful one being the Free Will Defense. Peter Van Inwagen, a widely known philosopher and professor at the University of Notre Dame, evaluates the objections to this defense and offers his own version in hopes of combating these challenges. The Problem of Evil, or the argument from evil, is considered
terms. Peter Van Inwagen’s reading, “The Problems of Evil, the Problem of Air, and the Problem of Silence,” defines evil as undeserved pain and suffering to the world’s creatures. God is defined as the being that is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and morally perfect. The problem of evil states if there were an omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect God, there would not be such great amounts of evil in the world; however, since there is an immense amount of evil, there is