Zoom: https://umac.zoom.us/j/97086925839

Password: 322991

Abstract

The problem of evil is widely considered a problem only for traditional Western monotheists who believe that there is an omnipotent and morally perfect God. I argue, however, that the problem of evil, more specifically a variant of the problem of evil which I call the ‘problem of impermanence’, arises even for those adhering to the philosophical and religious traditions of the East. I analyse and assess various responses to the problem of impermanence found in medieval Japanese literature. I argue that the only response that is potentially satisfactory requires supernaturalism. I conclude, therefore, that the problem of impermanence is a unique problem posing a greater challenge to naturalists than to supernaturalists.

Bio

Yujin Nagasawa is H. G. Wood Professor of the Philosophy of Religion and Co-Director of the Birmingham Centre for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of Maximal God: A New Defence of Perfect Being Theism (OUP 2017), Miracles: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2017), The Existence of God: A Philosophical Introduction (Routledge 2011) and God and Phenomenal Consciousness (CUP 2008).