Faith and Philosophy

Volume 13, Issue 3, July 1996

The Real Problem of No Best World

Jove, an essentially omnipotent, essentially omniscient and morally good being, faced with a choice of which world to create (where for any he might create there is a better) randomly selects no. 777. Is he, therefore, morally surpassable? William Rowe says “yes”. For Thor, an essentially omnipotent and essentially omniscient being in Jove’s predicament who does not randomly create but selects no. 888 because he is prepared to select no world less than no. 888, has a degree of moral goodness that exceeds Jove’s. By exploring two options---either Thor has a reason for being so prepared or he doesn’t---we question the coherency of Rowe’s Thor.