The Problem of Evil: Eight Views in Dialogue

This edited volume presents a comprehensive dialogue on one of philosophy of religion's most enduring challenges to theistic belief. Nagasawa assembles eight distinct philosophical perspectives on the problem of evil, structuring the collection to facilitate genuine intellectual exchange rather than isolated position statements. The work addresses how the existence of suffering and moral wrongdoing bears on arguments for and against God's existence, particularly the God of classical theism characterized by omnipotence, omniscience, and perfect goodness.

The collection's dialogical format constitutes its primary methodological innovation. Each contributor not only articulates their position but also responds to the other seven perspectives, creating a multilayered conversation that exposes points of convergence and fundamental disagreements. This approach moves beyond traditional anthology formats by requiring contributors to engage substantively with competing views, thereby modeling philosophical discourse as it actually unfolds in academic contexts.

The eight views span the spectrum of contemporary responses to the problem of evil. These range from skeptical theism, which questions human epistemic access to God's reasons for permitting evil, to various theodicies that attempt to justify evil's existence within a theistic framework. The volume includes defenses that aim merely to show the logical compatibility of God and evil, as well as more ambitious accounts that purport to explain why a perfect God would create a world containing suffering. Atheistic perspectives receive equal treatment, with contributors arguing that evil provides decisive evidence against God's existence.

Nagasawa's editorial framework situates these debates within recent developments in analytic philosophy of religion, acknowledging both the logical and evidential versions of the problem of evil. The collection engages with the post-Plantinga landscape, where the logical problem is widely considered resolved in theism's favor, shifting focus to probabilistic arguments and the challenge of explaining apparently gratuitous suffering.

The volume's significance lies in its comprehensive mapping of the current state of play regarding evil and God's existence. By bringing together leading defenders of each major position and facilitating direct exchange between them, it serves as both an advanced introduction for students and a reference point for specialists. The work demonstrates that the problem of evil remains philosophically vital, continuing to generate sophisticated arguments on all sides while resisting any emerging consensus on its resolution.