Sunday, November 25, 2007

Epicurus



"For Epicurus, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by the absence of pain and fear, and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that pleasure and pain are the measures of what is good and bad, that death is the end of the body and the soul and should therefore not be feared, that the gods do not reward or punish humans, that the universe is infinite and eternal, and that events in the world are ultimately based on the motions and interactions of atoms moving in empty space."


Tip of the laurel wreath to Fiery, the Athiest Homeschooler for reminding me of this long forgotten thought experiment from Epicurus that pretty much trumps every other argument I have ever heard.

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent."

"Is he able to prevent evil, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent."

"Is he both able and willing to prevent evil?
Then whence cometh evil?"

Is he neither able nor willing to prevent evil?
Then why call him God
?"


Not to be confused with Epicurious where I get a lot of really cool recipes.

3 comments:

SmedRock said...

Awesome post. I have used those lines in one form or another for quite a while. Nice to see, that SOMEONE in the past was not totally blinded.

Xavier Onassis said...

Smed - nice to see that SOMEONE isn't afraid to give me a high five on the blasphemy! LOL!

Everyone else is eerily silent!

Spooky!

SmedRock said...

Must be the season. :)

Once again good post. I can personally attest to some of the terrible things that people will do or are capable of doing to each other (former correctional officer). And I have run through that logic on many occasion, with not just myself, but others who cannot because of fear, or just superstitions, wake up and think for themselves.

Got your back baby, at least we can enjoy the slide to Hell together...