I don't believe evil must exist for good to exist. Let us imagine that there is a possible world in which the only existent is God. God (according to the Judeo-Christian tradition) is wholly good: evil is
neither coextensive nor coterminous with God (please overlook the issue of temporality or atemporality vis-a-vis God for now). In this possible world, it seems that one could say that good exists. But would evil obtain in a possible world wherein (a holy) God is the only (possible) existent? In what way could evil obtain in such a possible world, granting the premises? If only good obtained in this world and evil did not obtain, would it not be true to say that good could exist without the concomitant existence of evil (in this case)? If what I am proposing is logically possible, then it is not necessarily true (maybe it is even untrue) that one needs evil in order for good to exist.
2006-09-07
08:22:40
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17 answers
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asked by
sokrates
4