Evidential Problem of Evil Challenges a Maximally Great Being

1. 01Define the thesis precisely

   completed

   Define the thesis precisely as an evidential claim about gratuitous evil.

2. 02Identify assumptions and key terms

   completed

   Identify key terms (gratuitous evil, maximally great being) and assumptions (reliability of observations, Bayesian reasoning).

3. 03Specify supporting and opposing evidence

   completed

   Specify that supporting evidence should show evil lowers probability of God, opposing evidence should offer alternative explanations.

4. 04Gather primary and secondary sources

   completed

   Gather sources from SEP-evil and Wikipedia entries on the problem of evil.

5. 05Extract claims and relevant evidence

   completed

   Extract relevant claims: epistemic question, probabilistic formulation, greater‑good response.

6. 06Evaluate source reliability and verify claims

   inconclusive

   Verify source reliability (academic encyclopedia, peer‑reviewed entries) and confirm excerpts match claims.

7. 07Construct the strongest supporting argument

   completed

   Construct supporting argument using probabilistic inference from observed gratuitous evils.

8. 08Construct the strongest opposing argument

   completed

   Construct opposing argument invoking greater‑good theodicy and skeptical theism.

9. 09Test logical structure and assumptions

   completed

   Test logical structure: assess validity of premises and inference types.

10. 10Compare competing explanations

    completed

    Compare alternatives: logical problem, skeptical theism, free‑will defense, noting discriminators.

11. 11Record unresolved issues

    completed

    Record unresolved issues: classification of evils, choice of priors, adequacy of theodicies.

12. 12Produce the current assessment

    completed

    Produce current assessment that the thesis remains underdetermined due to competing explanations.

Research runs

These are stored worker runs. A failed evidence gate is shown rather than hidden.