According to Ted Poston, the problem of evil includes more than just the familiar categories of moral evil and natural evil. It also includes social evil, which he defines as any pain or suffering brought about by game-theoretic interactions of many individuals. Social evils cannot be reduced to natural or moral evil. Moreover, traditional defenses for natural and moral evil fail against the problem of social evil.
http://www.ammonius.org/assets/pdfs/Social%20Evil.pdf
http://www.ammonius.org/assets/pdfs/Social%20Evil.pdf
RESPONSE: An argument against the existence of God is never explicitly stated in this article but I suppose it would go something like the following:
1) If God is all-loving, then He would not create us with limited resources.
2) If God is all-powerful, then He could create a world with unlimited resources.
3) If God is all-good, then He would prefer a world with unlimited resources since this would eradicate social evil.
4) Social evil exists.
5) Therefore, an omni-God does not exist.
My response to this argument is one that I find plausible, but which many, if not all Christians would not find plausible. In any case, I will give it. When I took evolution at the university, I remember asking my professor what would happen if our planet had unlimited resources. He said that evolution would never have gotten started, and definitely, never produced the diversity and complexity of life we see in the world. I always found such a thought experiment fascinating, and even then I realized that there was a necessity of social evil for evolution to produce the planet as we currently see it, and the for our planet to continue to flourish according to its current 'design' plan. So far, so good. Now the question arises: Why would God use evolution if He is all powerful? Well, I actually think that evolution was metaphysically necessary in order for God to create us. Before I get to that however, I think it is worth mentioning that I think Ted Poston is wrong to say that no theodicy relating to moral and natural evil can explain social evil. Indeed, the primary solution to the 'tragedy of the commons' is enlightened self-interest which means, " Enlightened self-interest is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest.[1][2][3] It has often been simply expressed by the belief that an individual, group, or even a commercial entity will "do well by doing good".[4][5][6] Enlightened self-interest might be considered to be unrealistically idealistic and altruistic by detractors and practically idealistic and utilitarian by proponents." Indeed, Poston seems to think this works for as a partial solution, but not in the case of the multi-players dilemma. His argument for this is to give a thought experiment that fails to win the day becaue it unecessarily forces us to accept that a lack of communication between saints is an irresolvable hurdle when in fact, given our current technology, I do not think this is the case.
Moreover, if evolution is metaphysically necessary, and limited resources is what fuels natural selection, then we would have a solution to problem of social evil. The short answer is that there aren't any laws of nature in biology and geology. This means that unlike objects governed by the laws of physics and chemistry, biological species and geological processes cannot created ex nihilo and have built-in dispositions, inclinations, and properties in an autonomous universe of cause and effect. It may be that such processes are determined by the laws of nature, but the process itself is not a law of nature.
1) If God is all-loving, then He would not create us with limited resources.
2) If God is all-powerful, then He could create a world with unlimited resources.
3) If God is all-good, then He would prefer a world with unlimited resources since this would eradicate social evil.
4) Social evil exists.
5) Therefore, an omni-God does not exist.
My response to this argument is one that I find plausible, but which many, if not all Christians would not find plausible. In any case, I will give it. When I took evolution at the university, I remember asking my professor what would happen if our planet had unlimited resources. He said that evolution would never have gotten started, and definitely, never produced the diversity and complexity of life we see in the world. I always found such a thought experiment fascinating, and even then I realized that there was a necessity of social evil for evolution to produce the planet as we currently see it, and the for our planet to continue to flourish according to its current 'design' plan. So far, so good. Now the question arises: Why would God use evolution if He is all powerful? Well, I actually think that evolution was metaphysically necessary in order for God to create us. Before I get to that however, I think it is worth mentioning that I think Ted Poston is wrong to say that no theodicy relating to moral and natural evil can explain social evil. Indeed, the primary solution to the 'tragedy of the commons' is enlightened self-interest which means, " Enlightened self-interest is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest.[1][2][3] It has often been simply expressed by the belief that an individual, group, or even a commercial entity will "do well by doing good".[4][5][6] Enlightened self-interest might be considered to be unrealistically idealistic and altruistic by detractors and practically idealistic and utilitarian by proponents." Indeed, Poston seems to think this works for as a partial solution, but not in the case of the multi-players dilemma. His argument for this is to give a thought experiment that fails to win the day becaue it unecessarily forces us to accept that a lack of communication between saints is an irresolvable hurdle when in fact, given our current technology, I do not think this is the case.
Moreover, if evolution is metaphysically necessary, and limited resources is what fuels natural selection, then we would have a solution to problem of social evil. The short answer is that there aren't any laws of nature in biology and geology. This means that unlike objects governed by the laws of physics and chemistry, biological species and geological processes cannot created ex nihilo and have built-in dispositions, inclinations, and properties in an autonomous universe of cause and effect. It may be that such processes are determined by the laws of nature, but the process itself is not a law of nature.
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