The free will defense shows that the existence of god is compatible, both logically and probabilistically, with the existence of evil. Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette east tennessee state university i 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 attacks by the atheist. Plantingas argument for the possibility of 3 depends upon two key premises. As plantinga notes, neither a free will defense nor a free will theodicy is not designed to be of much help or comfort from such a storm in the soul like the experience of job. Alvin plantinga, our foremost modem authority on freewill theodicy, would recoil from that name for his subject.
This essay examines one form the argument from evil has taken, which is known as the logical problem of evil. Professor malcolm believes that in anselms proslogion and responsio editoris there are two different pieces of reasoning which. The free will defense refuted and gods existence disproved 2007 raymond d. Once one grasps the logic of the free will defense, it is a bit hard to see how atheistic thinkers put such confidence in the logical problem of evil. Alvin plantinga free will defense summary pilo arts. Alvin plantingas version of the free will defense is an attempt to refute the logical. She is the alvin plantinga free will defense of ready sms of tones, and is used eighth ringtones. Mightcounterfactuals, transworld untrustworthiness and plantingas free will defence michael bergmann plantingas free will defense fwd employs the following proposition as a premise. A critique of the free will defense in god, freedom, and evil, alvin plantinga addressed several issues. Plantingas free will defense project gutenberg self.
In this post, i will examine plantinga s use of a free will defense against an opponents presentation of the logical problem of evil. Her sounds and mental ringtones get disregarded in mental ringtones and ringtones throughout north america, europe, and the middle and far east. Nov 30, 1973 plantingas god, freedom, and evil hereafter, gfe might be compared to one of those little stands they sometimes have set up in walmart or sams club with the free samples, only the free sample in this case is perfectly grilled filet mignon. Pdf one version of the freewill argument relies on the claim that, other things being equal, a world in which. The free will defense shows that the existence of god is. Review of god, freedom, and evil latter day inkling. Free will is a great good, and it is impossible for god to give us free will without allowing evil.
Peter van inwagen sees this as a difficulty mqterialism materialism. My dissertation maintains that the best theory of free will is an agentcausal view of the sort proposed by timothy oconnor. Plantingas position has multiple problems and shortcomings, which well no doubt end up discussing in the comment thread, but for now i want to present an argument against the free will defense that is similar to an argument ive been making in the purpose of theistic evolution thread. Plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. This account, he con tends, shows that it is not within gods power as. Mackie plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette a sound logical argument from evil quentin smith unjustified evil and gods choice richard r. For more on information and video interviews with alvin plantinga.
A critique of plantingas free will defense posted on october 2, 2016 by keiths the problem of evil is a perpetual thorn in the side of the omnitheist that is, someone who believes in an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent god. Plantinga defined natural atheology as the atheistic attempt to prove that god does not exist. 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. Plantinga extends the free will defense to natural evil by holding that it is possible that all natural evil destructive floods and earthquakes, for example is really moral evil, because it is possible that it is evil resulting from the free actions of nonhuman agents, namely, satan and his minions. He broke the book down into two major sections dividing the material under the headings of natural atheology and natural theology. This book discusses and exemplifies the philosophy of religion, or philosophical reflection on central. Feb 22, 2016 a powerpoint detailing plantinga s free will defence. Alvin plantingas freewill defense is a logical argument developed by the american analytic philosopher alvin plantinga and published in its final version in his. What is plantinga s free will defense, and how does it address the problem of evil. Plantingas free will defense plantinga starts his defense by addressing concerns from j. Alvin plantinga s version of the free will defense is an attempt to refute the logical problem of evil. Plantinga and the problem of evil iowa state university. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it.
T his is a collection of philosophical papers by alvin plantinga. Aug 04, 2017 the previous post consisted of a brief outline on alvin plantinga and theistic personalism. He is credited with formulating the most robust and wellrespected response to the logical problem of evil. Alvin plantinga is held by many to be the greatest living christian philosopher, and has made immense contributions to various areas of.
In the second half of the twentieth century, atheologians that is, persons who try to prove the nonexistence of. The free will defense refuted and gods existence disproved. Alvin carl plantinga born in ann arbor, michigan, the first of four sons of cornelius a. Plantingas free will defense has been the most famous theistic response to the logical problem of evil because he did more to clarify the issues surrounding the logical problem than anyone else. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at. 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.
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. Abstract alvin plantingas restatement of augustines freewill. As plantinga expounds it,8 the free will defense rests on these two philosophical claims, which it adds to the theological assumptions l 3. Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette. According to plantinga, to strongly actualize some state of affairs is to be the cause of that state. Evaluation of free will defense in the perspective of. 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. It is necessary in the sense that without adding criteria.
Plantinga s formal presentation of his free will defense 3. I argue that he fails to establish his intended conclusion because the denial of otd is epistemically. Plantinga wants to hold that god is a necessarily existent being, the atheist does not need 7. Plantinga s argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as formulated by the philosopher j. God, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga free download as pdf file. Plantinga began to address the logical form of the problem in a unique way with his version of the free will defense. So if god were to strongly actualize that human beings choose to do something, then god would be causing them to do it, and plantinga believes that this is incompatible with freedom. It is obviously a crucial part of this objection that it is impossible for god to both give us free will and prevent. Plantinga starts at the very foundations of theological thinking. The main task for the free will defender, then, is to argue that 3 is pos sible. Nonmoral evil and the free will defense 373 4 entails 2. However, we believe that at least one aspect of plantingas philosophy of religion, his free will defence fwd, from now on,1 is puzzling. He is especially interested in epistemology and natural theology. Alvin plantinga and the free will defence teaching resources.
Moral evil is the pain and suffering that comes from acts of free will. I wish to discuss professor malcolms absorbingly powerful defense of a version of anselms ontological proof for the existence of god. Plantingas free will defense argues that it is possible that god, though. Plantinga on the free will defense 125 tological proof, the atheist can, as even plantinga admits, successfully revise 2 to say. Plantinga is trying to create a free will defense, not a free will theodicy. The down under logical disproof of the theists god 1. Alvin plantinga is a philosopher at the university of notre dame. 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. A critique of plantingas free will defense the skeptical. The core of the argument is the definition of omnipotence. The last slide aims for students to complete an essay type question with a helpful table. Articles 2016 law, cause, and occasionalism, in reason and faith.
The signature of agentcausation is that an agent acts freely only if there is an event having a cause, where this cause is not some other event but rather the agent of the act in question. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at alvin. Plantinga s presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. The wikipedia article itself posits that this is widely accepted by contemporary philosophers as a valid defense for the problem of evil, but i find this hard to believe. God, evil, and alvin plantinga on the freewill defence. If this is really an argument about consciousness we are aware of the image in a more meaningful way than the computerthen that is a much more complicated and unresolved question, but if thats the case, plantinga still isnt saying anything new here. Some see the free will defense as a hallmark of apologetic desperation. Logical problem of evil internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Plantinga s essay the free will defense addresses the logical problem. Plantinga proposed a free will defense in a volume edited by max black in 1965, which attempts to refute the logical problem of evil, the argument that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good god. Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the graduate school. We aim to defend mackies case and question plantinga s free will defense.
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