An empirical challenge to dissatisfaction theodicy

Some philosophers of religion claim that one reason God permits suffering is to make people dissatisfied with their lives so they will turn to him. That theodicy is inadequate because 1) that strategy of behavior modification constitutes punishment (in the psychologists’ sense), and 2) punishment is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sophia
Main Author: Webb, Mark Owen (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Netherlands 2005
In: Sophia
Year: 2005, Volume: 44, Issue: 2, Pages: 23-29
Further subjects:B Unpleasant Stimulus
B Great Good
B Positive Reinforcement
B Behavior Modification
B Psychological Sense
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Some philosophers of religion claim that one reason God permits suffering is to make people dissatisfied with their lives so they will turn to him. That theodicy is inadequate because 1) that strategy of behavior modification constitutes punishment (in the psychologists’ sense), and 2) punishment is not the most effective strategy of behavior modification. Since God can be expected to use the most effective strategy available to him, such a theodicy is inadequate.
ISSN:1873-930X
Contains:Enthalten in: Sophia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/BF02912428