Plantingas version of the defense is a famous attempt on the problem of evil. Despite plantingas success and acceptance, his free will defense still presents a conflict between reasoning and the characteristics of god. On van inwagens view, however, there are very few, if any, arguments for significant philosophical theses which evade a diagnosis of failure, and so, his conclusion is somewhat unsurprising cf. According to plantingas version of the freewill 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. Pdf the failure of plantingas solution to the logical problem of. He has been, until his recent retirement, the john a. In theologys epistemological dilemma, kevin diller addresses this problem by drawing on two of the most significant responses in recent christian thought. Plantingas treatment of the problem of evil centers around the atheistic claim that an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good god could create a world which contains moral good but no moral evil. Plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary.
In god, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga ap attempts to rebut the logical problem of evil i, which posits that the following two propositions i are inconsistent. Alvin plantinga, born in 1932, is a philosopher and has been a professor at both calvin university and the university of notre dame. Furthermore, plantingas response to the problem is not just a contribution that provides justification for. Lets see how a contradiction among a given set of fact can be intended to see if such contradictions really apply to the set of facts that both a theistic god exists and evil exists. Plantingas argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as. Abstract alvin plantingas restatement of augustines freewill. The presence of evil, pain and suffering in our world is the most persistent argument raised against theism. 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. Alvin plantinga is perhaps the foremost christian philosopher of our generation. Alvin plantingas version of the defense is a famous attempt on the problem of evil. Classical theists have held that god is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. Plantinga on the free will defense 125 tological proof, the atheist can, as even plantinga admits, successfully revise 2 to say.
The logical problem of evil, plantingas free will defense. Most of the discussion of plantingas argument revolves around 1. Lewiss classic is still the most wideranging, accessible, and cogent response to the problem of evil. The logical problem of evil implies that there is an inherent contradiction in postulating both the existence of a theistic god and the existence of evil. According to plantingas free will defense, there is evil and suffering in this. Daniel howardsnyder and john hawthorne, transworld sanctity and plantingas free will defense, intl.
Alvin plantingas response, known as the free will defense, became classic. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Plantingas free will defense project gutenberg self. Recognized worldwide as a leading christian philosopher, plantinga probes what exactly is. 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. A classic work in the philosophy of religion, plantingas god, freedom, and evil is the single most influential text on the problem of evil in the past fifty years. Review of christian faith and the problem of evil story he has told does not absolve god from moral criticism to explain why this is so, and anticipates that someone will object to his argument, that there will be a response to this objection, and so on, for so philosophy goes. This is a dumbeddown and shortened version of plantingas brilliant warranted christian belief. The explanation of this may lie in the fact that plantinga seems to have. The concept of evil at face value, the word evil though seems easy to explain, is a. Noonehas contributed more than alvin plantinga to the development of an analytical tradition. Perhaps the most challenging formulation of the argument is presented today by alvin plantinga. There is no cogent theodicy or defense against it, plantinga notwithstanding. The heart of the book consists in van inwagens response to the global argument from evil, which occupies the fourth and.
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. Oxford university press, 1974 contains chapters on the problem of evil and his recent defence of the ontological argument. Ive lost my grip on why plantingas free will defense fwd is supposed to be a successful reply to the logical problem of evil. You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer british library cataloguing in publication data data available library of congress cataloging in publication data van inwagen, peter. Unlike plantingas response to the logical problem of evil, which is merely a defense that is, a negative attempt to undermine a certain atheological argument without offering a positive account of why god allows evil and suffering, hicks response is a theodicy that is, a more comprehensive attempt to account for why god is. Ap spends the first section of the book attempting to demonstrate an inconsistency between the two premises. I shall comment on a provocative critique of plantingas position presented by robert merrihew adams in an article entitled middle knowledge and the problem of evil. Davis claremont mckenna college alvin plantinga is one of the top christian philosophers in the world today. In his widely praised warranted christian belief oxford, 2000 alvin plantinga discussed in great depth and at great length the question of the rationality, or sensibility, of christian belief. Plantingas argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as formulated by the philosopher j. Dont let its analytical tone make you forget, as many do, that its author lost his mother. William lane craig presents plantingas argument as 2. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it. Plantingas response to the logical problem of natural evil is considered by.
In his bestselling book when bad things happen to good people, rabbi. Pdf although the problem of evil receives a large amount of attention in the literature. 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. 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. In this book plantinga presents the same ideas in a briefer, more accessible fashion. Evil is a problem, not because there is evil in the world or that there is so much of it in the world. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga. Plantingas reshaping of augustines free will theodicy 12. Kevin timpe university of san diegoa classic work in the philosophy of religion, plantingas god, freedom, and evil is the single most influential text on the problem of evil in the past fifty years. Plantingas answer to the logical problem of evil part 1. Brian huffling introduction perhaps the strongest argument against theism is the problem of evil. It stands as a wellreasoned and apt response to various relevant questions surrounding the existence of god and the problem of suffering and pain, and hence is a mustread for every defender of the faith. The problem of evil stated traditional statementatheists and others usually state the problem of evil in the form of a. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at alvin.
How can an all powerful and all loving god exist along with evil in the world. The problem of evil cannot be solved philosophy essay. Plantingas evolutionary argument against naturalism the. Your objection, joe, is unusual, challenging instead 3. The logical problem of evil, plantingas 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 plantingas response to it because i did not think most readers would. Plantingas contribution stated that when the issue of a comprehensive doctrine of freedom is added to the discussion of the goodness of god and the omnipotence of god. If youd like to purchase the book and support apologetics315 at. Critics claim that the existence of evil is proof that the omnipotent, omnibenevolent god of the bible cannot exist. In his discussion of natural theology arguments to prove the existence of god and natural atheology arguments for the falsehood of theistic belief plantinga focuses on two of the traditional arguments. Karl barths theology of revelation and alvin plantingas epistemology of christian belief. Alvin plantingas free will defense why i deconverted. Plantinga introduces a definition of freedom by responding to mackie. What is the biblical solution to the problem of evil. Plantingas latest book, the nature of necessity new york.
Plantingas freewill defense is the best known of these responses at least in. My top 5 books on the problem of evil christianity today. I plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary. Broadly stated, the problem of evil is the seeming contradiction between an allpowerful, allloving god and the human experience of suffering and evil in the world. Van inwagens version of the freewill defence, unlike plantingas, makes no use of. The core of plantingas fwd is the claim that there is a metaphysically possible world at which every possible free creature god couldve created would freely do wrong at least. He is credited with formulating the most robust and wellrespected response to the logical problem of evil. The existence of evil seems to indicate that god is not preventing this evil. By looking at some of these views it is possible to form our own response to this problem of the existence of suffering and evil. But this isnt the only kind of evil the problem of evil is talking about. If it is possible that a maximally great being exists, then a maximally great being exists in some possible world.
You say that just as one cant be deceived into thinking one is deceived by an evil demon, so one cant be deceived into thinking that evolutionary naturalism is true. The following are several of the main responses to the presence of evil in the world and its impact on the existence of the god of the bible. The problem of evil arises because the concept of god seems to entail that there should be no evil in the world. Hitler was evil in trying to eradicate the jews or that ethnic cleansing is an evil policy. Logical problem of evil internet encyclopedia of philosophy. See below for plantingas answer to the problem of evil. Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette. This will strike many as unlikely, given the common stereotypes of both thinkers. Thus, the problem this work grapples with, however, is to critically expose plantigas solution to the logical problem of evil and questioning also the tenability of his response. Responding to the problem of evil part 1 the problem of evil is an ancient difficulty that arises from the. Gods divine attributes in the face of the challenge of evil.
Is plantingas free will defense a successful reply to the. Plantingas answer to the logical problem of evil part 1 posted by confident faith on january 27, 2018 september 11, 2018 in this article, we will start seeing how plantinga in his book god, freedom and evil tackles the logical problem of evil. Plantingas wellreceived book god, freedom and evil, written in 1974, gave his response to what he saw as the incomplete and uncritical view of theisms criticism of theodicy. There is also natural evil, which refers to suffering caused by natural events and processes, e. The problem of evil, especially when adding the element of gratuitous evil, remains an outstanding problem for theism. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it address the problem of evil. Plantinga points out that mackies definitions particularly of omnipotenceneed not be accepted by theists. The chapter on plantinga on the logical problem of evil in james f. An instance of the logical problem of evil is an argument from evil against the exist ence of god that has a.
The free will and ignorance defenses fail for a number reasonmost prominent of which being the groundless presuppositions underlying the arguments. In his 2003 gifford lectures, peter van inwagen argues that the problem of evili. His response was to write god, freedom, and evil,1 a book that many believe. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look. Plantinga and the problem of evil iowa state university. The problem, in short, is that any axiological formulation of the argument from evil, as it stands, is incomplete in a crucial respect, since it fails to make explicit how a failure to bring about good states of affairs, or a failure to prevent bad states of affairs, entails that one is acting in a morally wrong way. It is possible that a maximally great being exists.
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