PHI2010 JOURNAL 4 DISCUSSION

Answer the following questions in a minimum of 1-2 paragraphs each. Be sure to explain your answers and give reasons for your views.

1. Do you agree with Rowe that it seems unlikely that all instances of intense human and animal suffering lead to greater goods? And do you think that if all that suffering does lead to greater goods, that "an omnipotent, omniscient being could not have achieved at least some of those goods without permitting the instances of suffering that lead to them"?
2. According to Hick, what is the "soul-making process"? Is it, as he says, of such great value that it justifies all the human and animal suffering involved in it? 
3. Do you think Rowe's criticism of the soul-making theodicy is cogent? Can you conceive of a world that has slightly less suffering than our world has, yet in which plenty of soul-making takes place? Explain.