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The defeat of heartbreak: problems and solutions for Stump's view of the problem of evil concerning desires of the heart

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2014

LINDSAY K. CLEVELAND  and
W. SCOTT CLEVELAND
LINDSAY K. CLEVELAND
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76710, USA e-mail: lindsay_cleveland@baylor.edu
W. SCOTT CLEVELAND
Affiliation:
The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility Project, Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, 63108, USA e-mail: wclevela@slu.edu
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Abstract

Eleonore Stump insightfully develops Aquinas's theodicy to account for a significant source of human suffering, namely the undermining of desires of the heart. Stump argues that what justifies God in allowing such suffering is benefits made available to the sufferer through her suffering that can defeat the suffering by contributing to the fulfilment of her heart's desires. We summarize Stump's arguments for why such suffering requires defeat and how it is defeated. We identify three problems with Stump's account of how such suffering is defeated and offer solutions to each. We defend and strengthen Stump's response to the hardest cases for her view, and explain what her view demands of God.

Type
Articles
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 1 - 23
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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References

Feingold, Lawrence (2010) The Natural Desire to See God According to St. Thomas and His Interpreters, 2nd edn (Naples FL: Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University).Google Scholar
Pruss, Alexander (2013) One Body: An Essay in Christian Sexual Ethics (South Bend IN: Notre Dame University Press).Google Scholar
Stump, Eleonore (2010) Wandering in Darkness (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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