The God Beyond Belief.. in Defence of William Rowe's Evidential Argument from Evil

Nick Trakakis mounts a comprehensive defense of William Rowe's evidential argument from evil, seeking to demonstrate that the existence of apparently gratuitous suffering provides strong evidence against the existence of God. The monograph represents a significant contribution to contemporary analytic philosophy of religion by systematically addressing the most influential theistic responses to Rowe's challenge while advancing new formulations that strengthen the evidential case against theism.

Trakakis begins by carefully reconstructing Rowe's argument, which centers on the claim that instances of intense suffering that appear to serve no greater good constitute evidence against the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good God. The work then examines major theistic counterarguments, including skeptical theism, the appeal to divine hiddenness of reasons, and various theodicies that attempt to justify suffering through greater goods like free will or soul-making. Through rigorous analytical scrutiny, Trakakis argues that these responses fail to adequately address the evidential force of apparently pointless suffering.

The monograph's originality lies in its development of refined versions of the evidential argument that anticipate and circumvent standard theistic objections. Trakakis employs modal logic and probability theory to formalize the argument's structure, demonstrating how even modest claims about the likelihood of gratuitous evil can generate significant evidential pressure against theism. He particularly targets the skeptical theist position, which holds that human cognitive limitations prevent us from determining whether any instance of suffering is truly gratuitous. Against this view, Trakakis argues that such skepticism, if consistently applied, undermines the theist's own positive claims about divine goodness and purposes.

The work engages extensively with contemporary figures in the analytic tradition, including Alvin Plantinga, Peter van Inwagen, and Michael Bergmann, while drawing on Rowe's original formulations from the 1970s and 1980s. Trakakis positions his defense within the broader context of evidentialist approaches to religious belief, where the rationality of theism depends on the available evidence. His meticulous treatment of objections and counter-objections exemplifies the dialectical rigor characteristic of contemporary analytic philosophy of religion, making this monograph essential reading for those engaged with the problem of evil as an argument against God's existence.