The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics
The multiverse theodicy proposes to reconcile the existence of God and evil by supposing that God created all and only the creation-worthy universes and that some universes like ours are, despite their evils, creation-worthy. Drawing on work in population ethics, this paper develops a novel challeng...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Michigan Publishing
2024-02-01
|
| Series: | Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/5193/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850196600792547328 |
|---|---|
| author | Han Li |
| author_facet | Han Li |
| author_sort | Han Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The multiverse theodicy proposes to reconcile the existence of God and evil by supposing that God created all and only the creation-worthy universes and that some universes like ours are, despite their evils, creation-worthy. Drawing on work in population ethics, this paper develops a novel challenge to the multiverse theodicy. Roughly, the challenge contends that the axiological underpinnings of the multiverse theodicy harbor a ‘mere addition paradox’: the assumption that creating creation-worthy universes would always make the world better turns out to have morally repugnant consequences akin to those of the assumption that adding worthwhile lives to a population would always make the overall welfare of the population better. Further, the challenge leverages this difficulty into an argument against God’s having created all and only the creation-worthy universes, and hence against the multiverse theodicy. Responses to this challenge are considered but found wanting, largely because of commitments of the multiverse theodicy that have no analogs in population ethics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6aebc45ad1d74bd5a4cca86e6d6bb26a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2330-4014 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Michigan Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-6aebc45ad1d74bd5a4cca86e6d6bb26a2025-08-20T02:13:24ZengMichigan PublishingErgo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy2330-40142024-02-0110010.3998/ergo.5193The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population EthicsHan Li0Law School Admissions CouncilThe multiverse theodicy proposes to reconcile the existence of God and evil by supposing that God created all and only the creation-worthy universes and that some universes like ours are, despite their evils, creation-worthy. Drawing on work in population ethics, this paper develops a novel challenge to the multiverse theodicy. Roughly, the challenge contends that the axiological underpinnings of the multiverse theodicy harbor a ‘mere addition paradox’: the assumption that creating creation-worthy universes would always make the world better turns out to have morally repugnant consequences akin to those of the assumption that adding worthwhile lives to a population would always make the overall welfare of the population better. Further, the challenge leverages this difficulty into an argument against God’s having created all and only the creation-worthy universes, and hence against the multiverse theodicy. Responses to this challenge are considered but found wanting, largely because of commitments of the multiverse theodicy that have no analogs in population ethics.https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/5193/problem of evilrepugnant conclusionmere addition paradoxmultiversestheodiciesmultiverse theodicy |
| spellingShingle | Han Li The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy problem of evil repugnant conclusion mere addition paradox multiverses theodicies multiverse theodicy |
| title | The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics |
| title_full | The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics |
| title_fullStr | The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics |
| title_short | The Multiverse Theodicy Meets Population Ethics |
| title_sort | multiverse theodicy meets population ethics |
| topic | problem of evil repugnant conclusion mere addition paradox multiverses theodicies multiverse theodicy |
| url | https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article/id/5193/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hanli themultiversetheodicymeetspopulationethics AT hanli multiversetheodicymeetspopulationethics |