(April 25, 2017 at 9:35 am)SteveII Wrote: 1/2. And how many times do I have to say that it is an atheist argument and all I have to do is undercut the premise that it is actually possible (versus broadly logically possible) that God could create a world were everyone would always choose good.
Ok, Steve, I have let you get away with the red herring distinction between "actually possible" and "broadly logically possible" for far too many posts, so I'm going to ask you to either provide an argument that there is such a distinction (using an illustrative example) or stop making the distinction without warrant. As far as I'm concerned, they're the same thing. Let me elaborate a little with an example:
It is logically possible for a flying teapot to exist per se but, under certain constraints, it is not logically possible for it to exist. This, however, does not mean a flying teapot is not actually possible, rather the flying teapot is actually possible as long as certain constraints are not imposed. So the distinction isn't between "actually possible" and "logically possible" but rather between "possible per se" and "possible under certain constraints".
Also, just to be clear, "actually possible" is not the same as "actual", nor is it the same as "probable" or "plausible".
So if you're going to concede, Steve, that it is logically possible for humans to choose good all the time, then this means the same thing as it being actually possible. And if you want to defeat this argument (I'm happy to call it an argument), then you need to provide an argument that shows that such perfectly consistent and universal human choice for good can never occur in any possible world that God could create.
Quote:I have undercut with it does not seem possible that such a world could exist. This is an intuitive and reasonable conclusion after observing human history. You do not have a defeater for that objection and that is just one reason the PoE argument fails and no one outside of atheist forums think it is a successful logical argument.
Steve, you only get to observe the actual world. There are other possible worlds in which every human chooses good all the time. Don't confuse "actual possibility" with "probability/plausibility".
And it is not true that only people on atheist forums have problems with the PoE. Some atheist philosophers (like J. L. Mackie) still find issue with the logical problem of evil. Funnily enough, I actually don't, believe it or not. My problem is really with your failure to defeat the objection being raised against the impossibility of a world where all humans choose good always. But if there is a PoE I would defend, it would be the evidential problem of evil as opposed to the logical one.
By the way, you might want to check this link for reference:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/evil-log/
Quote:3. No, I believe in dualism. The immaterial mind causes material things to happen. No determinism there. No determinism, no compatiblism.
lol, if no determinism, then the immaterial mind just randomly causes material things to happen? Dualism or monism, it's irrelevant. When you make a choice, the same logical rules apply, whether the choice was made by a material or immaterial mind.
