ARGUMENTS AGAINST MONOTHEISM 137Concerning premise 2** of the “unimaginably pointful” argument: evils
that are unimaginably pointful are actually pointless
Consider this argument:
2** If there are unimaginably pointful evils then there are actually
pointless evils.
What this premise tells us is that if we cannot even imagine what point an
evil of a certain kind might have, then it has no point. Competitive to 2**
2a** If there are unimaginably pointful evils then there are evils regarding
which we should suspend judgment as to whether or not they actually
have a point.
Whereas 2 counsels a specific conclusion (there are pointless evils), its
competitor 2a commends suspense of judgment regarding that conclusion.
An essential element in one influential attempt to move from (E) There
is evil to not-(G) God does not exist is premise 2 (as against 2a), premise
2 (as against 2a), or some closely analogous claim. Is it 2 or 2,
rather than 2a* or 2a*, that are true? Perhaps the best way to decide is to
consider the sort of case that makes premises like 2 and 2** plausible if
anything does.
Animal suffering
Consider premises 2* If there are imaginably but not contextually
pointful evils then there are actually pointless evils ( = Evils that are
not contextually pointful are actually pointless) and 2** If there are
unimaginably pointful evils then there are actually pointless evils ( =
Evils that are unimaginably pointful are actually pointless) as applied
to an example made famous by William Rowe.^21 Imagine a doe trapped
in a forest fire and burned to death. On traditional views, the doe has no
after-life in which her suffering can somehow serve her. She has no
capacity for moral character in which she could gain even momentary
fortitude. Imagine also that no one knows or ever learns of her fate, so
that no good comes to others from reflecting on her suffering. The point
is that even if afterlife, moral character, or the sober reflections of
others would obviously render her suffering less problematic, they do
not apply here. In the case of non-human animals, exercise of
responsible free will, the development of virtues, and future