I heard William Lane Craig (quoting somebody else) re the problem of good but that was somewhat different problem from the one in the original post, namely that if you don't believe in the existence of God, then the atheist has a problem in claiming that any action is 'good' objectively. Not to derail the thread into a moral philosophy tangent, just thought I'd mention it
While the so-called "problem of evil" is often claimed to be the Achilles' heel of all religions in general but especially of those which centre around the worship of an Almighty and Merciful God - I recently came to know that science too, or at-least the "theory of evolution" as it currently stands, suffers a mirror problem - which I like to call "the problem of good". Tl;dr: Among a host of other things, evolution struggles to explain altruistic behaviour that's detrimental to the survival/reproduction of individual organisms. I am late to the party though - the pot has been boiling for more than a decade now. Read the following for details: In the News No Greater Insult: E.O. Wilson Dismisses Richard Dawkins As 'A Journalist' Biological warfare flares up again between EO Wilson and Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins in furious row with EO Wilson over theory of evolution Getting Technical Richard Dawkins, Edward O. Wilson, and the Consensus of the Many Beyond Richard Dawkins’ “Selfish” Genes and E.O. Wilson’s Groups (this is an interesting theory) Dawkins Scathing Review of Wilson's book: The Descent of Edward Wilson: Edward Wilson has made important discoveries of his own. His place in history is assured, and so is Hamilton’s. Please do read Wilson’s earlier books, including the monumental The Ants, written jointly with Bert Hölldobler (yet another world expert who will have no truck with group selection). As for the book under review, the theoretical errors I have explained are important, pervasive, and integral to its thesis in a way that renders it impossible to recommend. To borrow from Dorothy Parker, this is not a book to be tossed lightly aside. It should be thrown with great force. And sincere regret.
