It is generally supposed that the fact that the world contains a vast amount of suffering, much of it truly horrible suffering, confronts those who believe in an all-powerful and benevolent Creator with a serious problem, the problem of explaining why such a Creator would permit the existence of vast amounts of truly horrible suffering. This problem is called the problem of evil. Many are convinced that the problem is insoluble. The reasons that underlie this conviction can be formulated as an argument for the nonexistence of God: If there were a God, he would not permit the existence of vast amounts of truly horrible suffering. There is, therefore, no God. This is the argument from evil. In these eight lectures, Professor van Inwagen examines the problem of evil. The examination of the problem of evil is largely an examination of the argument from evil, which he regards as a paradigmatically philosophical argument. In the lecturer’s judgment, the argument is, like most philosophical arguments, a failure. The central argument of the lectures is a defence of this judgment.