Why is it called the logical problem?

Because it claims a strict logical inconsistency among theistic beliefs, asserting that they cannot all be true together, rather than merely arguing that evil makes God's existence improbable.

Is the logical problem still considered live?

Most contemporary philosophers regard it as answered by the free will defense and have shifted attention to the evidential problem, though some continue to defend versions of the deductive argument.

The Logical Problem of Evil

The deductive argument that the existence of any evil is strictly inconsistent with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good God.

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Definition

The claim that the propositions 'God is omnipotent', 'God is wholly good', and 'evil exists' form a logically inconsistent set, so that no rational person can affirm all three.

Scope

This topic covers the logical or deductive formulation of the problem of evil, the implicit premises connecting omnipotence and perfect goodness to the elimination of evil, and the principal theistic replies, especially Plantinga's free will defense and its appeal to possibly true propositions. It does not cover the evidential problem, which concedes consistency but argues from the amount of evil to improbability.

Core questions

Are the standard theistic attributes and the existence of evil genuinely contradictory?
What additional premises are needed to derive a contradiction, and are they necessarily true?
Does the bare logical possibility of a morally sufficient reason for evil dissolve the argument?
Can a wholly good, omnipotent being have a reason to permit any evil at all?

Key theories

Mackie's inconsistency thesis: Mackie argues that a good being eliminates evil as far as it can and an omnipotent being can do anything logically possible, so the coexistence of God and evil yields a contradiction unless one of the divine attributes is qualified.
Free will defense: Plantinga replies that it is possibly true that God could not actualize a world of free creatures who never do wrong; since this possibility is all that is needed, the alleged contradiction between God and evil is removed.

History

The deductive form descends from the dilemma attributed to Epicurus and was sharpened by Hume in the Dialogues. Its definitive modern statement is Mackie's 1955 paper in Mind, which provoked an extended response culminating in Plantinga's free will defense of the early 1970s; the consensus that the logical problem fails dates from this exchange.

Debates

Whether the free will defense succeeds: Most philosophers, including Mackie in later work, concede that Plantinga's defense shows God and evil are logically compatible; some maintain that the defense's reliance on libertarian freedom and transworld depravity is contestable.

Key figures

Epicurus
David Hume
J. L. Mackie
Alvin Plantinga
H. J. McCloskey

Seminal works

mackie1955
plantinga1974gfe

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called the logical problem?: Because it claims a strict logical inconsistency among theistic beliefs, asserting that they cannot all be true together, rather than merely arguing that evil makes God's existence improbable.
Is the logical problem still considered live?: Most contemporary philosophers regard it as answered by the free will defense and have shifted attention to the evidential problem, though some continue to defend versions of the deductive argument.