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Papers by Patrick J. Flynn

The Palgrave Handbook on the Problem of Animal Suffering in the Philosophy of Religion (forthcoming)

In this paper, we present an anti-atheological argument from suffering, challenging the contentio... more In this paper, we present an anti-atheological argument from suffering, challenging the contention that suffering weighs evidentially against the existence of God. We begin by examining Paul Draper's comparative analysis of theism and atheism as explanations for suffering. Draper contends that atheism, with its hypothesis of indifference (HI), provides a better account of suffering than theism. We initially counter that atheism and theism are (at worst) on par in this regard. For while theism apparently struggles to explain the distribution of suffering, atheism apparently fails to explain the existence of suffering at all. However, we then go further, arguing that, once one considers recent discussions of psycho-physical harmony, suffering aligns with evolutionarily adaptive behaviors in ways that atheism cannot adequately explain. Such harmony, in other words, is expected under theism, but not at all under Draper’s atheism. If that’s right, then it turns out theism provides a better explanation for the occurrence and distribution of suffering, if only because theism has some story it can tell, whereas atheism has none. Thus, we conclude that the problem of suffering does not decisively favor atheism over theism and may, in fact, weigh significantly in favor of God’s existence once all relevant facts are brought into account.

The Palgrave Handbook on the Problem of Animal Suffering in the Philosophy of Religion (forthcoming)

In this paper, we present an anti-atheological argument from suffering, challenging the contentio... more In this paper, we present an anti-atheological argument from suffering, challenging the contention that suffering weighs evidentially against the existence of God. We begin by examining Paul Draper's comparative analysis of theism and atheism as explanations for suffering. Draper contends that atheism, with its hypothesis of indifference (HI), provides a better account of suffering than theism. We initially counter that atheism and theism are (at worst) on par in this regard. For while theism apparently struggles to explain the distribution of suffering, atheism apparently fails to explain the existence of suffering at all. However, we then go further, arguing that, once one considers recent discussions of psycho-physical harmony, suffering aligns with evolutionarily adaptive behaviors in ways that atheism cannot adequately explain. Such harmony, in other words, is expected under theism, but not at all under Draper’s atheism. If that’s right, then it turns out theism provides a better explanation for the occurrence and distribution of suffering, if only because theism has some story it can tell, whereas atheism has none. Thus, we conclude that the problem of suffering does not decisively favor atheism over theism and may, in fact, weigh significantly in favor of God’s existence once all relevant facts are brought into account.