Nick Trakakis is an Australian philosopher who is Assistant Director of the Centre for Philosophy and Phenomenology of Religion of the
Australian Catholic University. He has previously taught at Monash University and Deakin University, and during 2006–2007 he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Philosophy of Religion at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
. He works mainly at the intersections of philosophy (in both the
analytic and
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
traditions), religion, and theology.
Education
Nick Trakakis completed a Bachelor of Theology degree at St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (Sydney, Australia) and a Bachelor of Arts degree at the
University of New England, Australia
The University of New England (UNE) is a public university in Australia with approximately 22,500 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern central New South Wales. UNE was the firs ...
, before going on to receive a
First Class Honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
in Philosophy from the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
. His doctoral research, undertaken at Monash University, concentrated on the so-called 'evidential problem of evil', that is, the problem of determining whether the existence of human and animal
suffering provides good evidence against the
existence of God
The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorize ...
. A revised version of his thesis was published by
Springer
Springer or springers may refer to:
Publishers
* Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag.
** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...
under the title of ''The God Beyond Belief''.
Work
In a number of journal articles and in his recent monograph, ''The God Beyond Belief'', Trakakis considers various aspects of the evidential problem of evil, particularly as this has been formulated and developed by William Rowe. Trakakis has also written about such topics in the philosophy of religion as the
omnipotence
Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one ...
of God,
determinist
Determinism is a philosophical view, where all events are determined completely by previously existing causes. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes overlapping motives and consi ...
models of
divine providence
In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which ...
,
Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrians, Austrian-British people, British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy o ...
ian non-realism, and the doctrine of
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...
. In theology and church history, he has published his views on the
ordination of women
The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...
, the
infallibility of the church
The infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit preserves the Christian Church from errors that would contradict its essential doctrines. It is related to, but not the same as, indefectibility, that is, "she remains and will rem ...
, the
iconoclast
Iconoclasm (from Greek: grc, εἰκών, lit=figure, icon, translit=eikṓn, label=none + grc, κλάω, lit=to break, translit=kláō, label=none)From grc, εἰκών + κλάω, lit=image-breaking. ''Iconoclasm'' may also be conside ...
controversy, and the work of
Gregory Palamas
Gregory Palamas ( el, Γρηγόριος Παλαμᾶς; c. 1296 – 1359) was a Byzantine Greek theologian and Eastern Orthodox cleric of the late Byzantine period. A monk of Mount Athos (modern Greece) and later archbishop of Thessaloniki, he ...
.
The evidential argument from evil
The main conclusion reached by Trakakis is that Rowe's evidential argument from evil, or a version thereof, succeeds in showing that the existence of certain kinds of evil provides strong evidence against the existence of God. The possibility, however, is always left open that there may well be other evidence in support of the existence of God which outweighs or defeats the evidence of evil.
This conclusion is based on, first, the rejection the sceptical theist's appeal to mystery, and second, the inadequacy of standard
theodicies to explain the existence of
natural evil
Natural evil is evil for which "no non-divine agent can be held morally responsible for its occurrence" and is chiefly derived from the operation of the laws of nature. Others such as Christian theologians reject this definition and argue that na ...
.
Trakakis argues that there is no good reason to accept the currently popular 'sceptical theist' response to the evidential problem of evil – that is, the response that we do not know, and we cannot be expected to know, what God's reasons are for permitting evil. Trakakis has, for example, argued that the sceptical theist position of Kirk Durston – a position which maintains that the complexity of history is such that we cannot pass judgement on the overall moral value of any particular historical event – leads to an implausible form of moral scepticism.
Trakakis also maintains that some of the major theodicies that have been offered by theists (e.g., the
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
theodicy, the soul-making theodicy) fail to explain why God would permit various types of evil, particularly 'natural evil' or suffering brought about by natural processes (e.g., natural disasters). However, he does believe that the free-will theodicy may succeed in explaining at least some kinds of moral evil. On this issue, Joel Thomas Tierno has argued against Trakakis that human freedom alone can not account for all instances of moral evil, given the scale on which we find it distributed in the world.
Publications
In his current research, Trakakis is exploring various approaches to the philosophy of religion, focusing in particular on analytic and Continental approaches. He has also published two volumes of poetry and philosophical reflections, ''Tears'' (2005) and ''Silent Transfigurations'' (2006), with a third volume (''Via Dolorosa'') forthcoming.
''Autumn Manuscripts'' was joint winner of the Translation Prize at the 2021
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...
.
Selected papers
* "An Epistemically Distant God? A Critique of John Hick's Response to the Problem of Divine Hiddenness", ''The Heythrop Journal'' 48 (2007): 214–26.
* "Rowe's New Evidential Argument from Evil: Problems and Prospects", Sophia: International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysical Theology and Ethics, vol. 45, no. 1, May 2006, pp. 57–77.
* "An Interview with the Very Rev. Dr. Themistocles Adamopoulo, Apostle to the Poor and Oppressed", Theandros: An Online Journal of Orthodox Christian Theology and Philosophy, vol. 3, no. 2, Winter 2005/2006.
Available online
Books
* ''Autumn Manuscripts'' , Tasos Leivaditis, translated by N N Trakakis, Smokestack Books, 2020.
*''William Rowe on Philosophy of Religion: Selected Works'' (Editor), Ashgate Publishing, 2007. .
* ''The God Beyond Belief: In Defence of William Rowe’s Evidential Argument from Evil''. Springer, 2006. .
* ''Silent Transfigurations''. Southwood Press, 2006. .
* ''Tears: 1993–2005''. .
Notes and references
External links
Web page at Monash Includes a more complete list of publication.
His article at the
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''IEP'') is a scholarly online encyclopedia, dealing with philosophy, philosophical topics, and philosophers. The IEP combines open access publication with peer reviewed publication of original pape ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trakakis, Nick
Australian philosophers
Australian Christians
Living people
Christian philosophers
Monash University faculty
University of Notre Dame faculty
Australian Catholic University faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)