
While The Problem Of Evil Remains A Perennial Challenge To Theistic Belief, Little Attention Has Been Paid To The Special Problem Of Animal Pain And Suffering. This Absence Is Especially Conspicuous In Our Darwinian Era When Theists Are Forced To Confront The Fact That Animal Pain And Suffering Has Gone On For At Least Tens Of Millions Of Years, Through Billions Of Animal Generations. Evil Of This Sort Might Not Be Especially Problematic If The Standard Of Explanations For Evil Employed By Theists Could Be Applied In This Instance As Well. But There Is The Central Problem: All Or Most Of The Explanations For Evil Cited By Theists Seem Impotent To Explain The Reality Of Animal Pain And Suffering Through Evolutionary History. Nature Red In Tooth And Claw Addresses The Evil Of Animal Pain And Suffering Directly, Scrutinizing Explanations That Have Been Offered For Such Evil.
This work investigates whether traditional theistic explanations for evil can account for the reality of animal pain and suffering throughout evolutionary history. Michael Murray, a philosopher of religion, examines the tension between the existence of a benevolent deity and the biological reality of predation and suffering that has persisted for millions of years. He evaluates whether standard theodicies—arguments intended to justify God's actions—are sufficient to address the specific problem of non-human suffering in a Darwinian context.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars and philosophers frequently cite this text as a significant contribution to the intersection of evolutionary biology and philosophy of religion. Readers often note the academic rigor of the prose, which provides a structured approach to a complex and often overlooked theological challenge.
Page Count:
224
Publication Date:
2008-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press, Incorporated
ISBN-10:
0191553271
ISBN-13:
9780191553271
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