I already started an outline and stated the main points that need discussed. -Some criticism I got back that need to be added to the paper are :
1. Where is your thesis statement? Thesis statements are an important component to any good argumentative paper. A thesis statement is like a road map for your reader: it tells your reader where you plan on going and how you plan on getting there. In your thesis statement, you will state the goal of your paper (To show that the problem of evil can be solved), and how you will prove it (list the *specific* problems you discuss in your criticism of the problem of evil). Thesis statements should be (roughly) of the following form: In this paper, I shall argue that the Problem of Evil doesn’t prove the non-existence of God because of [put your reasons you give in your criticism here].
2. Your reconstruction is incomplete, I think. Whenever you criticize a view, you want to go into as much detail and present your opponents argument as strongly as you possibly can. This is known as the principle of charity. In philosophy, whenever you criticize someone’s view, you have to make their view look as good as possible. That way, if your criticism succeeds, nobody can say you didn’t give their view a chance.
First, why wouldn’t God allow evil and suffering? Recall the example of Jeff and the idea that a perfectly good being would eliminate evil wherever it can. Explain this idea in the final paper.
Second, why are these inconsistent? I’d look at the argument from Epicurus that we discussed in class and paraphrase it. It puts it really well why they don’t seem to mesh.
3. This criticism is too short, which is problematic because it is the most important part of the assignment. For the final version, paper 1, use Swinburne as a resource for your criticism. Start by answering the following questions, using Swinburne as a guide: what is free choice? What is responsible choice? Why do these together explain the existence of evil? It’s not enough to say that we have free choice, because God could give us a variety of options that were all good.
Next you need to explain why free and responsible choice is worth it. That is, the atheist can always say, sure, if you’re right that free will is worth all the evil in the world, then the problem of evil fails; but you’ve given me no reason to think that free and responsible choice is so great. Reread Swinburne carefully, looking for the places where he gives reasons why free and responsible choice is so great. One place in particular to look is his older brother example.