Evil and the Retributive Hypothesis

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The theistic belief in God as an omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent creator of this universe has been an age-old belief of mankind which has had its staunch supporters as well as formidable opponents. The problem of evil has been a major obstacle on the way of theistic belief. Retributive hypothesis is put forward in this book as the most satisfactory, or rather the least unsatisfactory, of all explanations offered to solve the problem of evil in the theistic context. A point which needs to be mentioned in this connection is that belief in God as an omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent creator of this universe has been propounded here not as a creed or an article of faith but as a thesis for examination from an enquirer's point of view. The book thus devotes itself mainly to critical examination of a system of belief, viz., the theistic belief. The problems of retributive justice, survival, personal identity, meaning of religious language etc., come under the purview of discussion in course of this critical examination. The book, with its characteristically analytic and critical approach, raises certain interesting issues and tackles them with a freshness of insight, thus making significant contribution to the world of philosophy in general and to the area of Philosophy of Religion in particular.

G.C. Nayak, born in 1935, studied at the universities of Utkal, Allahabad and Bristol (U.K.). He got his Ph.D. from Bristol University as a Commonwealth Scholar in 1965. Starting from the year 1956, he has been Lecturer, Reader and Professor of Philosophy in different universities. He was Vice-Chancellor of Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Viswavidyalaya, Puri, from 1989-1992. At present he is Visiting Professor in the Department of Buddhist Studies and Philosophy of Nagarjuna University.

Professor Nayak was the General President of the 66th Session of Indian Philosophical Congress held at Trichy in January, 1992. He has more than 200 research papers to his credit. Some of his important book sin English are: Evil, Karma and Reincarnation (1973), Essays in Analytical Philosophy (1978) and Philosophical Reflections (1987). He has also edited: Analytical studies in Buddhist Philosophy (1984), and Nehru and Indian Culture (1990).

Evil and the Retributive Hypothesis is a revised edition of my earlier book Evil, Karma and Reincarnation published in 1973. An Appendix has been added for exploring the logical possibility of survival thesis in terms of a subtle body or suksma sarira, as it is well-known in the context of Indian thought.

My philosophical position has undergone drastic changes throughout these years, but my approach to the problem of evil within the theistic context has not undergone any major change. Since retributive hypothesis has been put forward in this book as the most satisfactory, or rather the least unsatisfactory, of all explanations offered to solve the problem of evil in the theistic context, I have preferred to get the book published under the title Evil and the Retributive Hypothesis.

A point here by way of clarification. Belief in God as an omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent creator of the Universe is not an invincible creed with me; I have taken up this thesis for critical examination from an enquirer's point of view.

Here I must acknowledge with deepest gratitude my indebtedness to Professor S. Korner of the University of Bristol, U. K., who had initiated me to philosophical research. My heartfelt thanks are due to Motilal Banarsidass Publishers particularly their Director, Mr. N. P. Jain, for taking interest in the publication of this book.