RE: Epicurean Paradox
April 8, 2012 at 9:49 am
(This post was last modified: April 8, 2012 at 11:10 am by The Grand Nudger.)
There is nothing that you could add to the statement "able and willing but nothing" that would leave it intact, no qualifiers can be made. That's the problem.
"If able and willing but nothing" is not the part which leads to malevolence, this part leads to something altogether different. That's the part where we ask "Then wtf?"
Able but not willing is where people invoke malevolence. You could give a number of other explanations which might lead to other conclusions (convoluted ones involving nothing more than bare assertions in each case, and in each case I could offer a similarly derogatory remark.) Able but not willing is a problem for omni-benevolence, not evil. I think that this has been addressed at least twice in the last few pages..remove an attribute and you have no problem of evil at all. I think Min summed up the reason we invoke malevolence in this case as best as one can hope for.
I'm willing to wager that you won't be able to offer any explanation that doesn't fall under the "Willing but not able" or "Able but not willing" categories btw. For example, your remark about god not choosing to make something so. Is god able but not willing? Willing but not able? Round and round we go.
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he could change it, but it remains so." Able but not willing.
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he wants to change it, but it remains so." Willing but not able.
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he could change it, he wants to change it, but he gave his word." Not able (see how the qualifier makes this bullshit?)
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he could change it, he wants to change it, but he doesn't want to interfere." Not willing (see above)
"If able and willing but nothing" is not the part which leads to malevolence, this part leads to something altogether different. That's the part where we ask "Then wtf?"
Able but not willing is where people invoke malevolence. You could give a number of other explanations which might lead to other conclusions (convoluted ones involving nothing more than bare assertions in each case, and in each case I could offer a similarly derogatory remark.) Able but not willing is a problem for omni-benevolence, not evil. I think that this has been addressed at least twice in the last few pages..remove an attribute and you have no problem of evil at all. I think Min summed up the reason we invoke malevolence in this case as best as one can hope for.
I'm willing to wager that you won't be able to offer any explanation that doesn't fall under the "Willing but not able" or "Able but not willing" categories btw. For example, your remark about god not choosing to make something so. Is god able but not willing? Willing but not able? Round and round we go.
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he could change it, but it remains so." Able but not willing.
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he wants to change it, but it remains so." Willing but not able.
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he could change it, he wants to change it, but he gave his word." Not able (see how the qualifier makes this bullshit?)
"Well, god didn't choose to make this so, he could change it, he wants to change it, but he doesn't want to interfere." Not willing (see above)
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