Philosophy of Religion Research

The Frequentist Problem of Evil (Based on Wesley Salmon's interpretation)

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Student of Philosophy, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The problem of evil is one of the most important topics in philosophy of religion. This article, based on original texts, analyses the frequency interpretation of probabilistic argument from evil and review some of its main critiques. This analysis based on the application of Bayes’ Theorem by Wesley Salmon. He uses the mathematical Probability to show that the possibility of the existence of God, based on the Bayes' theorem is little. He called his method as “empirical atheism”. In this kind of atheism, the denial of the possible intelligent agents and their role in the creation of the world is the main reason to reject an omnipotent and omniscience god. Bruce Reichenbach and Nancy Cartwright are among those who reject the Wesley Salmon’s ideas. Their critique includes the rejection of Salmon’s Probabilistic method and its atheistic results as well.

Keywords

پلنتینگا، الوین (1376)، فلسفه دین: خدا، اختیار و شر، ترجمۀ محمد سعیدی‏ مهر، تهران: مؤسسه فرهنگی طه.
Cartwright, Nancy (1978), “Religion and science; A new look at Hume’s Dialogues,” Philosophical Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2.
Peterson, Michael (1998), God And Evil; An introduction to the issues, United States, Westview Press.
Plantinga, Alvin (1979), “The probabilistic argument from evil,” Philosophical Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1.
Reichenbach, Bruce (1982), Evil and a Good God, New York: Fordham University Press.
Salmon, Wesley (1953), “The frequency interpretation and antecedent probabilities,” Philosophical Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3.
Salmon, Wesley (1978), “Religion and science; A new look at Hume’s Dialogues,” Philosophical Studies, Vol. 33, No. 2.
Salmon, Wesley (1979), “Experimental atheism”, Philosophical Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1.
Swinburne, Richard (2004), The Existence of God, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Van Inwagen, Peter (2006), The Problem of Evil, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 13, Issue 2 - Serial Number 2
November 2016
Pages 53-72