Document Type : Original Research

Authors

• Zahra Yahyapour ¹
• Naimeh Pourmohammadi ²
• Malek Hosseini ³

¹ Ph. D. Candidate in Islamic Philosophy and Kalam, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy of Religion, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Iranian Research Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

There are three accounts of the problem of evil: (1) Logical problem of evil (The logical incompatibility between the existence of God and His attributes and the existence of evil); (2) The evidential problem of evil (Evil as evidence against the rationality of theism); (3) Existential problem of evil (Incompatibility between religious beliefs and a person's lived experience). The most important defenses proposed in contemporary Islamic philosophy (taken from the thoughts of Tabatabai and Motahhari) against the logical problem of evil are: (1) Evil is not real and is something imaginary; (2) Evil is of non-existence; (3) Evil is something relative; (4) The existence of a creature that its good is more than its evil is necessary; (5) The matter is the source of the evil; (6) The existence of evil is necessary for the existence of good; (7) The existence of evil is necessary for perceiving the good; (8) Evil is the result of not having a holistic look at the world; (9) Evil is the result of looking at the world from a human perspective; (10) Evil is the result of human free will. However, the modern philosophy of religion has raised strong moral objections to traditional defenses and theodicies, including contemporary Islamic philosophy. Accordingly, these defenses: (1) Somehow defend and legitimize the evil; (2) Have a passive and inactive position on the evil; (3) Have an instrumental look at the human and his suffering; (4) violate human autonomy; (5) Neglect the variety of psychological traits of human beings, and overlook the extent, diversity, and dispersion of sufferings; (6) Neglect the suffering of animals, children, and disabled people. Investigating these criticisms necessitates the need to modify, complete, invent and present new types of defenses in Islamic philosophy, ones that pay special attention to the practical aspect of evil.

Keywords

• Moral Criticism
• Defense
• Evil
• Logical Problem of Evil
• Contemporary Islamic Philosophy
• Mohammad Hossein Tabatabai
• Morteza Motahhari