Plantinga s formal presentation of his free will defense 3. The question is how does plantinga resolve the conflict between foreknowledge and free will with his free will defense. According to plantinga s description of morally significant free will, it does not seem that god would be significantly free. Plantinga s argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as formulated by the philosopher j. If you could please reiterate what the problem is with plantinga s defense or if there is a problem with me saying that plantinga s defense is unfalsifiable, itd really be helpful. By doing this, we will see what impact the above analysis has on the veracity of plantinga s free will defense. Articles 2016 law, cause, and occasionalism, in reason and faith. Alvin plantingas freewill defense is a logical argument developed by the american analytic philosopher alvin plantinga and published in its final version in his. I argue that the denial of otu is also epistemically possible and, therefore, that the improved fwd fares no better than the original at establishing the compatibility of god and evil. So if god were to strongly actualize that human beings choose to do something, then god would be causing them to do it, and.
It would make no sense to say of a proposition having this form that it might be true or it might be falsenot if this latter means that the matter is a contingent one depending on something other. A world containing creatures who are significantly free and freely perform more good than evil actions is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all. Reply from rowe, ijpr 1998, and plantinga, ppr, 2009. Jul 01, 2019 a defense of religious exclusivism alvin plantinga pdf alvin plantinga. The down under logical disproof of the theists god 1. The logical problem of evil is nothing new it dates back to epicurus and probably beyond. Plantinga s preliminary statement of the free will defense is. What is plantinga s free will defense, and how does it address the problem of evil.
Request pdf god, evil, and alvin plantinga on the free will defense in this paper we will give a critical account of plantinga s wellknown argument to the effect that the existence of an. Im not entirely sure what the overall problem is that you are getting at here. If the behavior of free creatures is in the control of those creatures, it may be impossible even for an omnipotent god to create a world where all those. Alvin plantinga s free will defense is a logical argument developed by the american analytic philosopher alvin plantinga and published in its final version in his 1977 book god, freedom, and evil. The op accepts that omnipotence means being able to do anything that can be done. Scientists tackle theology and philosophy leesomniac. Alvin plantinga, born in 1932, is a philosopher and has been a professor at both calvin university and the university of notre dame. One version of this strategy is suggested by the contemporary philosopher alvin plantinga. Aug 04, 2017 the previous post consisted of a brief outline on alvin plantinga and theistic personalism. Alvin plantingas free will defense why i deconverted from.
In his celebrated free will defense fwd, alvin plantinga. Pdf god, evil, and alvin plantinga on freewill defense. If god is good, then he has the desire to eliminate evil. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it. Plantinga doesnt claim to know that this is the correct explanation for the evil not caused by human free actions. Dec 12, 2011 20d does evil imply atheism john hicks soulmaking theodicy, evidential arguments from evil duration. Unsubscribe from center for philosophy of religion. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look.
But none of this is problematic insofar as i can yet tell and plantinga s defense may only be seen as one out of many possibilities. The free will defense refuted and gods existence disproved 2007 by raymond d. The free will defense shows that the existence of god is compatible, both logically and probabilistically, with the existence of evil. Since the world contains evil in fact, it follows so it is claimed that the world was not created by an omnipotent, omniscient and perfectly good being. Below are short, animated videos on philosopher alvin plantingas most important contributions to the philosophy of religion. Plantinga starts at the very foundations of theological thinking. The logical problem of evil, plantinga s free will defense, and how it relates to the debate on free will posted on january 29, 20 by leesomniac my recent posts have spoken a bit on the problem of evil, but i havent really fleshed out the logical problem of evil and plantinga s response to it because i did not think most readers would. Mar 22, 2018 the free will defense center for philosophy of religion. Wierenga argues that plantinga s free will defense is compatible with the truth of metaphysical. The free will defense because free will is a good, a wholly good being might wish for others to have free will. Aug 23, 2019 god, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga free download as pdf file.
Plantingas free will defense project gutenberg self. Plantinga s free will defense plantinga starts his defense by addressing concerns from j. God, evil, and alvin plantinga on free will defense. For more on information and video interviews with alvin plantinga.
God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga. Taichi said ive lost my grip on why plantinga s free will defense fwd is supposed to be a successful reply to the logical problem of evil now it seems to me that a minimal requirement for the success of plantinga s fwd is for putwd to be a live epistemic possibility. Plantinga on the free will defense 125 tological proof, the atheist can, as even plantinga admits, successfully revise 2 to say. It is worth noting, though, that the success of plantinga s free will defense depends on the success of the first project.
While some philosophers have raised issues with the particular model of free will advocated by plantinga an incompatibilist model, over against the compatibilism of thinkers like mackie and antony flew, most have accepted that plantinga s free will defense does provide a logically satisfactory response to the problem of evil. Ive seen people bring up plantinga s free will defense in a few threads as a widely accepted defense to the problem of evil see link for explanations. Alvin plantinga s version of the free will defense is an attempt to refute the logical problem of evil. The wikipedia article itself posits that this is widely accepted by contemporary philosophers as a valid defense for. Plantinga is instead saying, if someones will is free then their will is truly free, no strings attached. Mackie argued that the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, and wholly good god is logically incompatible with the existence of evil, as god could have created persons who always freely choose the good. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. God can create free creatures, but he cant cause or determine them to do only what is right.
Daniel howardsnyder and john hawthorne, transworld sanctity and plantinga s free will defense, intl. It does not include doing absurd things that are impossible such as creating free people that are incapable of. We aim to defend mackies case and question plantingas free will defense. International journal for philosophy of religion, spring, 1980, 12332. If god is omnipotent, then god is able to eliminate evil. T his is a collection of philosophical papers by alvin plantinga. Plantinga s defense does give a possible reason for permitting evil because creating creatures with free wills requires it. God, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga free download as pdf file. According to plantinga, to strongly actualize some state of affairs is to be the cause of that state. Plantinga targets those who argue that god and evil are incompatible. This first project has received relatively little attention in the literature, which instead has been dominated by discussions of the free will defense. In his recent book god, freedom, and evil, alvin plantinga for mulates an updated version of the free will defense which, he argues, successfully counters all. Moral evil is the pain and suffering that comes from acts of free will. One response, known as the free will defense, comes from alvin plantinga.
The logical problem of evil, plantingas free will defense. We aim to defend mackies case and question plantinga s free will defense. Plantinga on the free will defense 97 specific propertiesis either logically true or logically false. Transworld sanctity and plantingas free will defense. But then it seems that gods actions could not carry any moral significance. Some see the free will defense as a hallmark of apologetic desperation. Mackie and plantinga, in eds mcbrayer and howardsnyder, the blackwell companion to the.
Transworld sanctity and plantingas free will defense 3 now, given our aim to assess plantinga s defense while granting his metaphysical and moral assumptions, we grant that his version of claim 1 meets the condition laid down by the epistemic mendment. The defense specifically states that creating creatures with free will is a greater good than restricting evil. Alvin plantinga s version of the free will defense 1 is an attempt to refute the logical problem of evil, the argument that to posit the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent god in an evil world constitutes a logical contradiction. The existence of evil causes problems for this definition. So if god were to strongly actualize that human beings choose to do something, then god. The free will defense center for philosophy of religion. Vi the free will defence alvin plantinga since the days of epicurus many philosophers have suggested that the existence of. In chapter 5, plantinga begins by presenting an argument that attempts to show that it is not within gods power to create any possible world involving free agents. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at. Free will 2 evaluation of free will defense in the perspective of philosophy of science chong ho yu since alvin plantinga introduced the free will defense in attempt to resolve the problem of evil 1974, there have been numerous counter arguments against plantingas approach. Those are some great examples and i think 3 sums them. Since alvin plantinga introduced the free will defense in attempt to resolve the problem of evil 1974, there have been numerous counter arguments against. Mackies formulation of the logical problem of evil argued that.
Supralapsarianism, or o felix culpa alvin plantinga. For a critical account of verificationism see plantinga, god and other minds, chap. Plantinga and the problem of evil iowa state university. Oct 04, 2010 according to plantingas description of morally significant free will, it does not seem that god would be significantly free. Free will defense could god have created a world full of people who never sin. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it address the problem of evil. Plantinga on free will and evil some philosophers have argued that a world created by an omnipotent, omniscient and perfectly good being would not contain evil. Plantinga wants to hold that god is a necessarily existent being, the atheist does not need 7. A world containing creatures who are significantly free and freely perform more good than evil actions is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures. Plantinga began to address the logical form of the problem in a unique way with his version of the free will defense. Alvin plantinga s free will defense has been listed as one of the philosophy and religion good articles under the good article criteria.
Plantinga argues that god, in spite of being omnipotent, has some limitations on his power. Plantinga on free will and evil volume 15 issue 4 nelson pike. Evaluation of free will defense in the perspective of philosophy of. Philosophy professor hugh lafollettes plantinga on the free will defense pdf. Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette. Alvin plantingas freewill defense wikipedia republished. If god knows everything we will do before we do it, can our actions be free. According to plantinga s version of the free will argument fwa, the existence of free beings in the world who, on the whole, do more good than evil is the greater moral good that cannot be secured by even an omnipotent god without allowing some evil and thereby shows the logical compatibility of god with evil. Evaluation of free will defense in the perspective of. Michael bergmanns mightcounterfactuals, transworld untrustworthiness, and plantinga s free will defense, faith and philosophy 16. It does not include doing absurd things that are impossible such as creating free people that are incapable of doing evil.
The previous post consisted of a brief outline on alvin plantinga and theistic personalism. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga, alvin. Plantingas free will defense plantinga starts his defense by addressing concerns from j. Pdf one version of the freewill argument relies on the claim that, other things being. Let us return to plantinga s possible worlds example. Plantinga on the free will defense 95 the general strategy of this argument seems to me to be sound. He is credited with formulating the most robust and wellrespected response to the logical problem of evil. To help us make this comparison, i will now bring in plantinga s assumption that human agents have free will in his contracausal sense. Plantinga says that a world containing creatures who are free is more valuable than a world. Vi the free will defence alvin plantinga since the days of epicurus many philosophers have suggested that the existence of evil constitutes a. A critique of plantingas free will defense the skeptical. The free will defense refuted and gods existence disproved 2007 raymond d.
A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at alvin. Moreover, we accept incompatibilism, counterfactuals of freedom. Plantinga suggests that morally significant freedom is necessary in order for ones actions to be assessed as being morally good or bad. Below are short, animated videos on philosopher alvin plantinga s most important contributions to the philosophy of religion. God, evil, and alvin plantinga on the freewill defense. Has plantinga buried mackies logical argument from evil. The problem of evil and the free will defence the argument god is traditionally understood to be perfectly good, omnipotent and omniscient. These are just ways to eliminate evil while keeping free will intact. The free will defense refuted and gods existence disproved. In this post, i will examine plantinga s use of a free will defense against an opponents presentation of the logical problem of evil.
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