Theodicy
An argument vindicating God despite the existence of evil.
A theodicy is an argument within the philosophy of religion that seeks to resolve the problem of evil. This problem arises when God is thought to be both all-powerful (omnipotent) and all-good (omnibenevolent). The term itself means “vindication of God,” coming from the Greek words *theos* (“god”) and *dikē* (“justice” or “trial”). The German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Leibniz first used the word in his 1710 book *Théodicée*, though responses to the problem of evil existed long before.
A theodicy differs from a defense. A defense only tries to show that God and evil can logically coexist without contradiction. A theodicy goes further, offering a plausible framework that explains why God allows evil to exist. According to philosopher Alvin Plantinga, a theodicy answers the question of why God permits evil. Philosopher Nick Trakakis adds that a theodicy should align with common sense, widely accepted historical and scientific views, and plausible moral principles.
Evil is often divided into two broad categories. Natural evil includes bad states of affairs not caused by human intention or negligence, such as hurricanes or toothaches. Moral evil results from the actions or negligence of moral agents, like murder or lying. Some thinkers define evil by its effects—actual harm that interferes with a person’s ability to function as a full agent. Others, like Immanuel Kant, define evil by its cause: a will that is not fully good. Hannah Arendt used the term “radical evil” for a new kind of wrongdoing that ordinary moral concepts cannot capture.
Another tradition, going back to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and St. Augustine, defines evil as an absence of good. In this view, evil is a failure to reflect the proper form or virtue that should be present. Thomas Aquinas similarly said a person is called bad insofar as they lack virtue, and an eye is called bad if it lacks sight. This idea appears later in the work of philosophers like Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Martin Heidegger, and theologian Karl Barth, as well as Neoplatonists like Plotinus.
Related concepts include a cosmodicy, which tries to justify the fundamental goodness of the universe, and an anthropodicy, which does the same for human nature.
- field
- Philosophy of religion
- known_for
- Attempting to vindicate God in response to the problem of evil
- coined_by
- Gottfried Leibniz
- etymology
- From Greek θεός (theos, 'god') and δίκη (dikē, 'justice')
Lore & Background
As defined by philosopher Alvin Plantinga, a theodicy is 'an answer to the question of why God permits evil'. The word derives from the Greek words Θεός (Theos, 'God') and δίκη (dikē, 'trial' or 'judgement'), literally meaning 'justifying God'. Philosopher Nick Trakakis proposes three additional requirements for a theodicy: common sense views of the world, widely-held historical and scientific opinion, and plausible moral principles.
Reader's Guide
Theodicy is distinct from a defense: a defense attempts to demonstrate that evil does not contradict God's existence without explaining why God permits evil, while a theodicy shows that it is reasonable to believe in God despite evil and offers a framework accounting for evil's existence. Theodicy is often based on prior natural theology and seeks to demonstrate that God's existence remains probable after the problem of evil is posed. The article notes that there are at least two concepts of evil—broad (including natural and moral evil) and narrow (morally despicable acts)—and that definitions of evil vary across traditions, including privation theories (Augustine, Aquinas), effect-based definitions (Marxism, Hinduism), and secular theories (Kant). Theodicy remains a central topic in philosophy of religion, with ongoing disputes about the nature of evil and the plausibility of divine justification.
Did You Know?
- Unlike a defense, a theodicy provides a framework in which God and evil's existence are considered plausible.
- Philosopher Nick Trakakis proposes three additional requirements for a theodicy: common sense views, historical and scientific opinion, and plausible moral principles.
- The word theodicy literally means 'justifying God', from Greek Theos ('God') and dikē ('trial' or 'judgement').
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