And the Hi, I'm Peter Adamson and you're listening to the History of Philosophy podcast,

brought to you with the support of King's College London and the LMU in Munich,

online at www. History of Philosophy. net.

Today's episode, when bad things happen to good people, suffering in Jewish philosophy.

As universes go, this one does have its good points. There is the occasional promotion at work,

the odd open-air screening of Buster Keaton's The General, the opportunity to enjoy friends, family, and podcasts.

But on the other side of the balance is the enormous amount of suffering endured by humans.

Poverty, war, sickness, pain, these things have always been prevalent in human life and show no sign of being

banished anytime soon. It's a matter of dispute, whether the good outweighs the bad, but there's

no disputing the reality and extent of suffering.

So theologians and philosophers of all religious persuasions have always felt the need to offer

what is called a Theodasy, from the Greek words Theos, or God, and Dike or justice.

To offer a Theodicy is to justify God, that is to explain how it can be that the world does contain evil and suffering, even

though it was fashioned by a wise, good, and powerful divinity.

Obviously, this issue is nothing new in our history of philosophy.

Plato's appeal to the principle of necessity in his timias,

Platinous's idea that evil is a kind of privation or non-being,

the Greek Church Father Origins Evil is a kind of privation or non-being.

The Greek Church Father Origins idea of fallen souls.

These are only a few of the prominent theodices we've already discussed.

But the problem of suffering might nonetheless be said to occupy an especially

central place in the Jewish philosophical tradition.

...