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Public lecture - The Problem of Suffering: A Thomistic Approach - FULLY BOOKED

Thursday 26 January 2017, 6.30PM to 8.00pm

Speaker(s): Professor Eleonore Stump

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

Only the most naïve or tendentious among us would deny the extent and intensity of suffering in the world. Can one hold, consistently with the common view, that there is an omniscient, omnipotent, perfectly good God? As it is generally understood by philosophers and theologians, the question posed to religious belief by the problem of suffering is whether there is a morally sufficient reason for God to allow evil. It is clear that there is a long tradition of philosophically sophisticated, biblically based theodicies in the West - and, of course, an equally long tradition of counter-arguments designed to rebut them. In particular, the medieval tradition from Augustine onwards certainly supposed itself to have a religiously deep and morally satisfying account of God's reasons for allowing suffering. In this lecture, Professor Stump will present and defend the theodicy of Thomas Aquinas as a representative medieval account of the world and God's reasons for allowing suffering in it. 

About Professor Eleonore Stump

Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, where she has taught since 1992. She has published extensively in philosophy of religion, contemporary metaphysics, and medieval philosophy. She is past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association, Central Division; and she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering incorporates her Gifford Lectures (Aberdeen, 2003), Wilde lectures (Oxford, 2006), and Stewart lectures (Princeton, 2009).

Location: Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, University of York

Admission: Free. All are welcome, but please RSVP to David Worsley, dw521@york.ac.uk.

Email: dw521@york.ac.uk