This book develops a grammatical method for our underlying presuppositions which can help us unravel the problem of evil. The problem essentially rests on a dualism between fact and meaning. Evil and Intelligibility provides an examination of the grammar of being and of the intelligibility of the world, culminating in a philosophical grammar in which God, meaning, and evil can coexist.
Lauri Snellman is a Doctor of Theology (Helsinki, 2020). He is currently investigating the logic of worldviews in a research project at the Universities of Helsinki and Uppsala. He has written papers on Peirceâs pragmatism, Hamann, Wittgenstein, and the problem of evil.
List of Tables and Diagrams
1âIntroduction
2âThe Presuppositions of the Problem of Evil
â2.1âDefining the Problems of Evil and Theodicism
â2.2âEvil and Dualism in Modern Thought
â2.2.1âFootnotes to Plato: Dualism and the Background for the Problem of Evil
â2.2.2âThe Problem of Evil as a Central Problem of Modern Thought
â2.2.3âThe Presuppositions of Theodicy in the Modern Debate
â2.2.4âThe Dualisms behind the Problem of Evil
â2.2.4.1âThe Modern Concept of the Fact
â2.2.4.2âAppearances, Meanings, Real Facts and Values
â2.2.4.3âThe Principle of Sufficient Reason
â2.2.5âThe General Argument from Evil
â2.3âTheism, Atheism and the Presuppositions of Theodicy
â2.3.1âLeibnizian Theism as a Solution to the Problem of Intelligibility
â2.3.2âTheodicism in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion
â2.3.2.1âMackie and Atheistic Analytic Theodicism
â2.3.2.2âWilliam Rowe and Divine Goodness
â2.3.2.3âPlantinga on Omnipotence and Freedom
â2.3.3âThe Neo-Leibnizian Nature of the Current Debate
3âMetaphysics, Grammar and Evil: In Search of a Method
â3.1âThe Project of Antitheodicy
â3.1.1âAntitheodicies: Conceptual, Moral and Moralistic
â3.1.2âAntitheodicy and the Critique of Reason
â3.1.2.1âKantian Antitheodicism
â3.1.2.2âJamesian Antitheodicism
â3.1.2.3âHamannian Antitheodicism
â3.1.3âSome Preliminary Arguments for Hamannian Antitheodicism
â3.2âPhilosophical Grammar and Grammatical Metacritique
â3.2.1âInsights from Wittgenstein
â3.2.2âInsights from Hamann
â3.2.3âAn Overview of Philosophical Grammar
â3.3âThe Metaphysical Modelling Debate in Analytic Philosophy
â3.3.1âMatter, Form and Metaphysics
â3.3.2âMetaphysics in the Good Company of Science?
â3.3.3âThe Antinomy of Metaphysical Realism
4âLanguage-Games, Categories and Practical Intelligibility
â4.1âLanguage-Games: A Definition and Examples
â4.2âThe Practical Objectivity of Concepts and Models
â4.2.1âLanguage-Games, Rules and the Possibility of Representation
â4.2.2âModelling, Morphisms and Hermeneutics
â4.2.3âRealism, Idealism and the âPractical Matter-of-Factnessâ of Language
â4.2.4âThe Genealogical Priority of Language-Games
â4.3âLanguage-Games and Categories for Being Qua Being
â4.3.1âLanguage-Games for the Concept of Being
â4.3.2âDiscourse Possibilities for Seeking and Finding
â4.3.2.1âLogical Forms and the Categories of Language Use
â4.3.2.2âCategories as Types of Encountering Objects
â4.3.2.3âCategories as Types of Concepts and Types of Objects in Encounters
â4.3.3âCategories, being and the Models of Metaphysics
â4.4âThe Objectivity of Metaphysical Concepts and Models
5âFacts, Meanings and the Logic of Systemic Identification
â5.1âIdentification and Grammar
â5.1.1âThe Logic of Identification and Categories
â5.1.2âFunctions, Systems, Elements and Institutions for Identification
â5.1.3âThe Location of Individuals in Relationships and Identification
â5.2âThe Intertwining of Facts and Meanings
â5.2.1âSeeing Facts as Meaningful in Language-Games
â5.2.2âFacts, Meanings and Objects in Their Systemic Context
â5.2.3âSome Examples and a Summary
6âThe Principle of Reason and the Question of Intelligibility
â6.1âThe Principle of Sufficient Reason and Reasons for It
â6.1.1âDefinitions and Consequences of the Principle of Reason
â6.1.2âReasons for and against the Principle of Reason
â6.1.3âThe Principle of the Ground of Metaphysics and the Problem of Evil
â6.2âPractical and Relational Intelligibility as a Critique of the psr
â6.2.1âThe Ambiguity of the Principle and the Plurality of Reasons
â6.2.2âThe Location of Reasons in Language-Games and Relationships
â6.2.2.1âThe Ground of âReasonsâ and âGroundsâ in Language-Games
â6.2.2.2âThe Grounds for Logical Spaces and Essences
â6.2.2.3âThe Contingency of Necessity
â6.2.3âThe Question of Reason and the Question of God
7âThe Grammar of Worldviews and the Fallacies of Theodicism
â7.1âNarratives, Virtues and Worldviews
â7.1.1âFacts, Virtues and Narrative Identification
â7.1.2âHumanistic Meaningfulness: Moral Responsibility, Virtue and Tragedy
â7.1.3âVirtues and the Religious Concept of Salvation
â7.2âTheological Grammar, Divine Goodness and Omnipotence
â7.2.1âTheological Grammar and the Logic of Scripture
â7.2.2âTheological Grammar, Goodness and Omnipotence
â7.3âBiblical Grammar and the Fallacies of Theodicism
â7.3.1âThe Gospels and the Redemptive Sovereignty of God
â7.3.2âMetaphors in the Book of Job and the Fallacies of Theodicism
â7.3.2.1âMetaphors for God and Man in the Book of Job
â7.3.2.2âThe Speeches of Job and Atheistic Theodicism
â7.3.2.3âThe Speeches of Jobâs âFriendsâ and Theistic Theodicism
â6.3.2.4âThe Speech of God and a New Grammar for âGodâ
8âWhy the Argument from Evil Is Fallacious
9âConclusion: The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Intelligibility
Bibliography
Index
The book is of interest to researchers studying the problem of evil and the philosophy of world-views, to philosophers of language, to philosophical logicians and to metaphysicians. Parts can also be used as course material.