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The parent analogy: a reassessment

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Rutledge_2016_IJPR_Parent_CCBYFinalVersion.pdf (323.1Kb)
Date
08/2017
Author
Rutledge, Jonathan
Keywords
Skeptical theism
Parent analogy
Evil
Dougherty
Wykstra
BT Doctrinal Theology
T-NDAS
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Abstract
According to the parent analogy, as a caretaker’s goodness, ability and intelligence increase, the likelihood that the caretaker will make arrangements for the attainment of future goods that are unnoticed or underappreciated by their dependents also increases. Consequently, if this analogy accurately represents our relationship to God, then we should expect to find many instances of inscrutable evil in the world. This argument in support of skeptical theism has recently been criticized by Dougherty. I argue that Dougherty’s argument is incomplete, for there are two plausible ways of construing the parent analogy’s conclusion. I supplement Dougherty’s case by offering a new argument against the parent analogy based on failed expectations concerning the amount of inscrutable evils encountered in the world. Consequently, there remains a significant empirical hurdle for skeptical theism to overcome if it is to maintain its status as a defeater for our reliability when tracking gratuitous evils.
Citation
Rutledge , J 2017 , ' The parent analogy: a reassessment ' , International Journal for Philosophy of Religion , vol. 82 , no. 1 , pp. 5-14 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-016-9588-8
Publication
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-016-9588-8
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright The Author(s) 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9720

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