God is love incarnate 1, and despite the high amount of choice that he allows, he also is bursting to lavish his love not merely on the perfect, which existed solely in christ, but on the imperfect who could never deserve it by virtue of their imperfection 2. Indeed, as he recalls in his confessiones, it was the dualist explanation of the presence of evil that led. Essays in metaphysics 2001, and metaphysics 1993, second edition 2002. Mackies version of the logical problem of evil is a failure, as even he came to recognize. Alvin plantingas 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. Problem of evil 1 problem of evil in the philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with that of a deity who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent see theism. The free will defense to the problem of evil just the.
Free will is incompatible with gods omniscience 10. The problem of evil disproved by the free will defense essay. Alvin plantingas version of the defense is a famous attempt on the problem of evil. Does the free will defence successfully solve the problem of. Beyond good and evil 11 of 301 they make mistakes and lose their way, in short, how childish and childlike they are,but that there is not enough honest dealing with them, whereas they all raise a loud and virtuous outcry when the problem of truthfulness is. Stump, dantes hell, aquinass moral theory, and link. The logical form of the argument tries to show a logical impossibility in the coexistence of god and evil, 1 4 while the evidential form tries to show that given the evil in the world, it is improbable that there is an.
This volume fills that need, offering the most uptodate collection of recent scholarship on the problem of evil. Note that the point of this defense or any defense against the problem of evil is not to argue for the truth or plausibility of god or free will or any other as pect of theism but to show that the attack on theism fails. Alvin plantingas freewill 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. A new study john hick, lecturer in the philosophy of religion at cambridge university, has written one of the most serious and important studies of the problem of evil to appear in english for a lon1 itg i time. Evil as a philosophical problem emerges out of two conflicting propositions. The fourth part in a series on the problem of evil designed for people studying philosophy of religion at asa2 level. The free will defense and the problem of evil, philosophy. Why is there evil if god is all powerful omnipotent, allknowing omniscient, and completely justbenevolent omnibenevolent.
Thus peter van inwagen, throughout his book the problem of evil, frequently claims that various propositions are true for all we know, and in the detailed contents section at the beginning of his book, he offers the following characterization of the idea of a defense. The problem of evil the philosophy of religion wiley. This account, he con tends, shows that it is not within gods power as. Plantinga on the free will defense 125 tological proof, the atheist can, as even plantinga admits, successfully revise 2 to say. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look. May 25, 2012 one of the most controversial topics in the philosophy of religion is certainly the problem of evil. In book viii, chapter vii, of the confessions, augustine describes. The free will defense, which only attempts to show the logical compatibility of god and evil, extracts ideas from the story in order to construct a defense. Looking at lex luthors comment, for example, there is no logical reasonno absolute, inherent definitionthat requires that god cannot allow evil. Perhaps the most famous theodicy is the free will defence. The hiddenness of god the problem of evil can sometimes seem to be a special case of a more general problem, the seeming absence of god fromthe world, the convictionthat some. Problem of evil spring 2015, 2014, and fall 2008 keith. This argument, if proved to be true, would refute the cosmological argument for gods existence. Atheist contends that the freewill defense cannot account for the amount and the kinds of evil we observe 11.
Fyodor pavlovitch karamazov alexey fyodorovitch karamazov was the third son of fyodor pavlovitch karamazov, a land owner well known in our district. Plantingas free will defense, then, cannot serve as a morally. Apr 16, 2014 the fourth part in a series on the problem of evil designed for people studying philosophy of religion at asa2 level. The problem simply stems from basic beliefs or assumptions pertaining to the attributes of god. Leighton flowers plays clips from calvinistic pastor, dr. The german philosopher max weber interpreted theodicy as a social problem and viewed theodicy as a problem of meaning. This volume fills that need, offering the most up to date collection of recent scholarship on the problem of evil. An international journal for the philosophy of religion 2004. Contrary to current mythology, however, its failure was not established by alvin plantingas free will defense. Does the free will defence successfully solve the problem. In particular, some responses may solve the problem of moral evil, but dont answer the problem of natural evil. A nd it is a logical problem, th e problem of clarifying an d reconciling a num ber of beliefs. The concept of god is, in the strictest sense, the concept formed by conjoining the attributes i have listed.
Daniel howardsnyder and john hawthorne, transworld sanctity and plantingas free will defense, intl. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it. Plantingas version of the defense is a famous attempt on the problem of evil. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Alvin plantinga, born in 1932, is a philosopher and has been a professor at both calvin university and the university of notre dame. The problem of evil is often formulated in two forms.
Free will is a great good, and it is impossible for god to give us free will without allowing evil. Review of the problem of evil that this would be the free response of his creatur es, the decision not to reveal himself is for god a form of riskmanagement. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it address the problem of evil. Inwagen suggests that only the freewill defense has any hope of succeeding p. He is credited with formulating the most robust and wellrespected response to the logical problem of evil. Responses to the problem of evil have occasionally been classified as defences or theodicies. Jan 02, 2020 plantingas free will defense argues that this attack is logically incomplete and therefore fails. Peter van inwagen is the ohara professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame. If the problem of evil is already successfully solved, i dont see the need for such a subject to c. Problem of evil responses introduction to philosophy. Mackie considers three main objections to this argument, all of which are best understood as objections to one of 3 or 6. Inwagens definition, does god not know what his free creatures will. It is full of opportunities to extend your learning, ideas for.
He has delivered the gifford lectures at the university of st andrews, the wilde lectures at oxford university. Problem of evil spring 2015, 2014, and fall 2008 keith derose. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga. The problem of evil is usually seen as the problem of how the existence of god can be reconciled with the existence of evil in the world.
John macarthur, answering the problem of evil theodicy and contrasts it with scholars who advocate for the free will defense, such. The problem of evil, in th e sense in w hich i shall be using th e phrase, is a problem only for someone w ho believes th at there is a g od w ho is both om nipotent an d w holly good. A world with humans and the evil that results from their free will is better than one without humans even if that world had no evil. In their book, teilhards seven stages of suffering. This paper considers briefly the approach to the problem of evil by alvin plantinga. However, authors disagree on the exact definitions. Metaphysics the problem of evil problem of evil evil. A student revision booklet is available to download from. His many publications include an essay on free will 1983, material beings 1990, ontology, identity, and modality. Generally, a defense against the problem of evil may refer to attempts to defuse the logical problem of evil by showing that there is no logical incompatibility between the existence of evil and the existence of god. In this witty, accessible study, the prominent marxist thinker terry eagleton launches a surprising defense of the pdf reality of evil, drawing on literary, theological, and psychoanalytic sources to suggest that evil, no mere medieval artifact, is a real phenomenon with. This says that there is some evil which is such that there is no greater good that god could. Logical problem of evil internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
Plantingas free will defense, then, cannot serve as a. The free will defence a theodicy is an argument which tries to make evil compatible with the existence of an omnipotent, good god. Plantingas free will defense project gutenberg self. Mind you this a philosophical argument for the socalled problem of evil, plantinga himself states that this book is not for a pastoral response. In part one i gave an introduction to the problem of evil. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga, alvin. An obvious outcome is that there still exists a subarea in theology known as theodicy that aims to solve the problem of evil. The problem of evil disproved by the free will defense the problem of evil states that because evil exists the existence of a triomni being, which we typically refer to as god, is impossible. A spiritual path for transformation louis savery and patricia. The hiddenness of god the problem of evil can sometimes seem to be a special case of a more general problem, the seeming absence of god fromthe world, the convictionthat some people sometimes feel that, if there is a god at all. The problem of evil a student revision booklet is available.
Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette. An instance of the logical problem of evil is an argument from evil against the exist ence of god that. View enhanced pdf access article on wiley online library html view download pdf for offline. 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.
Problem of evil theodicy and its relation to the problem of free will described. Plantingas free will defense 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. Rather he allows that god exists in some possible worlds and that evil exists in other possible worlds, but he holds that there is no world where both god and evil exist. Apr 24, 2018 the problem then with the skeptics argument regarding the problem of evil is twofold. Page 5 phil6305 the problem of evil defend the faith 2015 singlespaced pages and deal with the implications of the problem of evil for your life, christian ministry, and evangelism. I plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. Metaphysics the problem of evil free download as powerpoint presentation. Weber argued that, as human society became increasingly rational, the need to explain why good people suffered and evil people prospered became more important because religion casts the world as a meaningful cosmos. Responses to the problem of evil have sometimes been classified as defenses or theodicies. Issues addressed include the nature of evil, the cause of. The chapter on plantinga on the logical problem of evil in james f. The free will defense to explain the problem of evil. View enhanced pdf access article on wiley online library html view download pdf for. The key premise of mackies argument, as we presented it, was this one.
A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at. The basic idea here is that at least many kinds of evil are not the result of gods actions, but of the free actions of human beings. Criticisms of augustines free will theodicy philonew. Plantingas argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as formulated by the philosopher j. For some time, however, there has been a need for a collection of readings that adequately represents recent and ongoing writing on the topic. Pdf one version of the freewill argument relies on the claim that, other things being. The idea that evil results from free will evil results from free will. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at alvin. Human free willmoral evil is a consequence of human free will. Plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary. Moral evil is the pain and suffering that comes from acts of free will and the. The problem of evil is one of the most discussed topics in the philosophy of religion.
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