Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

uu.sePublications from Uppsala University
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Theodicy, Anti-Theodicy, and Oppression: A Non-Ideal Approach
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Department of Theology, Ethics and Philosophy of Religion.ORCID iD: 0009-0005-0070-9946
2026 (English)Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This study investigates the plausibility of the claim that theodicies have harmful socio-political effects. Traditionally, scholars working on the problem of evil have constructed theodicies in order to answer the question of why God might allow evil and suffering to exist. As increasing numbers of scholars have expressed concern with theodicies, and protested their construction, some of these critics have argued that such justifications of God have harmful socio-political consequences. These socio-political anti-theodicists have argued that theodicies ignore so-called structural evils; that theodicies paint distorted pictures of reality; that theodicies are dishonest; that theodicies produce epistemic harm; that theodicies encourage an abusive outlook; that theodicies uphold unjust social structures; that theodicies lead to apathy and political inaction in the face of injustice; that theodicies distract attention away from the causes of social suffering. This study investigates the plausibility of these claims by considering them, and the theodical enterprise as a whole, against a case of structural racism. The investigation is conducted through a non-ideal theory and with a structural analysis. It is argued that most of these socio-political anti-theodical claims are either plausible to different degrees or sound, with some caveats. It is also argued that traditional theodical approaches to the problem of evil have relied on methodological commitments that are highly problematic when theorising structural forms of suffering. It is recommended that scholars abandon these methodological commitments in their future work on the problem of evil. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2026. , p. 302
Series
Uppsala Studies in Philosophy of Religion ; 10
Keywords [en]
theodicy; anti-theodicy; problem of evil; oppression; non-ideal theory; philosophy of religion;
National Category
Philosophy
Research subject
Philosophy of Religion
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-578120ISBN: 978-91-513-2745-7 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-578120DiVA, id: diva2:2037202
Public defence
2026-04-10, Universitetshuset, Hall IV, Biskopsgatan 3, Uppsala, 13:15 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2026-03-17 Created: 2026-02-10 Last updated: 2026-04-09

Open Access in DiVA

UUThesis_Echazu,G-2026(1883 kB)365 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 1883 kBChecksum SHA-512
fb716060af71a6cb5d2d0cd2f014c9c5439a4aa4c64a558b17ede8b87bfc95aa4c764fe047dc36449ea0fc943a1745c8148d6d87ba0f2e89de884962bb63747a
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf
Buy this publication >>

Authority records

Echazú, Gabriel

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Echazú, Gabriel
By organisation
Ethics and Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

isbn
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

isbn
urn-nbn
Total: 4590 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf