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7 - God-Justifying Beauty

Aesthetic Theodicy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2020

John R. Schneider
Affiliation:
Calvin College, Michigan
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Summary

In this chapter the author considers Aesthetic Theodicy, according to which selectedforms of cosmic beauty are valuable enough to justify natural evils suffered by animals. He begins by defending the use of aesthetic values in theodicy on the ground that aesthetic goods often have moral value. He then examines the classical versions of Aesthetic Theodicy, in which one appeals to cosmic harmony, balance, and overall fittingness of all parts into a beautiful and morally valuable whole. This approach fails to account well enough for the extreme disharmony, imbalance, and dysteleology in the Darwinian World, as unveiled by science. Next, he examines post-classical versions, in which one appeals to “major beauty” (so Whitehead) created by cosmic conflict and disintegrative elements of nature. He examines the specific appeal to the tragic moral beauty of evolution, particularly in predation. He argues that these approaches identify morally valuable forms of beauty, but they do not contain scenarios in which God defeats tragic evils for the victims. Nor can the appeal to tragedy account for the existence of Darwinian horrors. He concludes that perhaps sacred canonical sources can help.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • God-Justifying Beauty
  • John R. Schneider, Calvin College, Michigan
  • Book: Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil
  • Online publication: 17 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767439.009
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  • God-Justifying Beauty
  • John R. Schneider, Calvin College, Michigan
  • Book: Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil
  • Online publication: 17 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767439.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • God-Justifying Beauty
  • John R. Schneider, Calvin College, Michigan
  • Book: Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil
  • Online publication: 17 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108767439.009
Available formats
×