Utilitarianism and theodicy

What do utilitarianism and theodicy have in common? If you are a Year 12 or 13 student who has already looked at both, what are your thoughts?

About the lecturer

Dr Brendan Larvor studied philosophy and mathematics at Balliol College in Oxford. He had a brief career as a systems analyst, before resuming his studies in philosophy. He gained an MA from Queen's University Ontario before returning to Balliol to write a doctoral thesis on the philosophy of mathematics of Imre Lakatos. He taught at the universities of Liverpool and Oxford before joining the University of Hertfordshire in 1997, where he specialises in the history and philosophy of mathematics and science. He has been head of philosophy at Herts since 2005, and currently teaches a first-year module on reasoning and a final-year module on Nietzsche.

About the lecture

Academic studies make more sense and are easier to remember, if you make connections between different topics. In this short video, Dr Brendan Larvor makes a connection between two apparently disparate topics, utilitarianism and theodicy.