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. It states that god being allgood means that he only wants good to exist. Rent the problem of evil selected readings, second edition 1st edition 9780268038472 and save up to 80% on textbook rentals and 90% on used textbooks. Second, it is indeed true that suffering and evil can occasion spiritual perplexity and discouragement. Contrary to current mythology, however, its failure was not established by alvin plantingas free will defense. Mackies version of the logical problem of evil is a failure, as even he came to recognize. The problem of evil selected readings, second edition 1st. What is the biblical solution to the problem of evil. The existence of evil causes problems for this definition.
This is a watershed moment for the young augustine, who finds in neoplatonism a way of reconciling his long pursuit of philosophy with his new and serious faith in the catholic church. Plantingas answer to the logical problem of evil part 2. The logical problem of evil, plantingas free will defense. This assumes the existence of evil is an overall bad thing for the universe resulting in a universe that is worst than the best of all possible universes or bue, best universe ever. Full text views reflects the number of pdf downloads, pdfs sent. 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. If god is omnipotent, then god is able to eliminate evil.
To read more about this fascinating discussion check out god, freedom, and evil by alvin plantinga. A solution that was finally to count as the solution of the problem of evil would presumably need to be that particular one which required us to make only those conceptual and ethical readjustments which of all the readjustments that were open to us were on independent grounds the ones that it was the most reasonable to make. Alvin plantingas freewill defense plantinga proposed a freewill defense in a volume edited by max black in 1965, 37 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. If god is good, then he has the desire to eliminate evil. Introduction the problem of evil constituted a serious challenge to theism ever since the abrahamic prophets have introduced the notion of an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good god. 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.
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. Kants argument for radical evil fordham university. Mackies formulation of the logical problem of evil argued that three attributes of. It is widely recognized by professional philosophers that the free will defense has solved the logical problem. We would, again, have to lean on an obstinate faith to consider it a good supplement to any theodicy or to see it as a theodicy all its own. Evil, omniscience and omnipotence religious studies. 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.
The theistic concept of god as supremely powerful, intelligent, and good makes the problem very difficult because such a being, it would seem, would make a much better world than this one. Alvin plantingas version of the defense is a famous attempt on the problem of evil. 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 want to read that. The book ist worth buying for the other content as well. Plantingas argument from evil for theism this is also from the essay a christian life partly lived, from ivps philosophers who believe. Description this work was written by the author during his time as a student of theology, continuing until the year before his death in 2008 he was inspired to write this, through his studies in theology and. Given the very real possibility of worldmakers who are nondivine, the problem posed by natural evil is very much diminished. The case study which is criticized and analyzed is alvin plantingas free will defense. The problem of evil the philosophical problem of evil is the challenge of reconciling belief in god with evil in the world. Plantinga does god have a nature pdf plantingas conclusions are straightforward. If belief 1 and 3 are compatible and belief 3 entails necessarily belief 2 it follows that belief 1 and 2 are consistent. The problem of evil evil exists, a plain and simple fact. In his recent book god, freedom, and evil, alvin pdftex auto expansion is only possible with scalable fonts plantinga for mulates an.
This work is an attempt to solve incompatibility between horrendous evil and the god of love. He argues for the idea, that the proposition p1there is evil in the world and p2a omnipotent and infinitely good god exists yields no formal contradiction. Plantingas argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as formulated by the philosopher j. The theistic concept of god as supremely powerful, intelligent, and good makes the problem very difficult because such a being, it would seem, would make a. This applies to the problem of evil in the following way. Plantinga began to address the logical form of the problem in a unique way with his version of the free will defense. The challenge is to explain how an allpowerful, allgood god could allow such a vast amount of evils in the world. Plantinga on the free will defense 125 tological proof, the atheist can, as even plantinga admits, successfully revise 2 to say. Imagine an intelligent being max from a fardistant world in which all sentient beings live only in one very large edifice, outside of which there is nothing at all.
Critics claim that the existence of evil is proof that the omnipotent, omnibenevolent god of the bible cannot exist. Problem of evil is basically how can god omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent or ooo for short and evil both exist. View more articles from the american journal of theology. Although augustine has been using neoplatonic terms and ideas throughout the confessions thus far, it isnt until book vii that he reaches the point in his autobiography when he first reads neoplatonic philosophy. 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. Alvin plantinga is a philosopher at the university of notre dame. What is the free will defense to the problem of evil. Plantingas answer to the logical problem of evil part 1. A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look. The problem of natural evil and its solution by christianity is an article from the american journal of theology, volume. God is omnipotent, all knowing and perfectly good is consistent with the proposition. The final solution to the problem of evil 9781849915151. The argument for the problem of evil and suffering proves that fact. The argument for the problem of evil states that there is a allgood, allpowerful god.
Many people immediately respond to the problem of evil, as stated above, by saying that the problem with the argument is that it ignores free well. It is impossible to do them justice in short space, but here is my best shot at doing what i can. Grimm kants doctrine of radical evil which holds that human beings, as a species, possess an innate propensity to evil has long been viewed as a scandal to his admirers and a stumbling block to scholars trying to piece together his argument in favor of the claim. Given history and textual criticism, the book of job is mired with problems. Plantinga does god have a nature pdf plantinga does god have a nature pdf plantinga does god have a nature pdf download. Does god so to speak just find them constituted the way they are. He is credited with formulating the most robust and wellrespected response to the logical problem of evil. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it. 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. Plantinga and the problem of evil heimir geirsson, iowa state university michael losonsky, colorado state university the logical problem of evil centers on the apparent inconsistency of the following two propositions. Plantinga s free will defense plantinga starts his defense by addressing concerns from j.
If you found this post helpful, then you would enjoy this short video i shot discussing the problem of evil. To establish this, i will lay out plantingas solution, show how it misunderstands the logical problem of natural evil and in turn clearly articulate how the problem presents itself to the modern. Putting too much value on freedom, plantinga obviously did not recognize the importance of the extreme phenomenon of individual horrendous sufferings and possibility of gods love for this particular person. The logical problem of evil, as opposed to the evidential problem of evil, is the contention that to posit the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good god in an evil world constitutes a logical. The problem of evil and the free will defence the argument god is traditionally understood to be perfectly good, omnipotent and omniscient. However, recently, a discussion with a pastor friend of mine showed me that people can. The exam will test you on the following aspects of these problems. Download the final solution to the problem of evil. Alvin plantingas solution to the deductive problem of evil back in december i was talking to a friend of mine about alvin plantingas solution to the deductive problem of evil dpe in god, freedom, and evil. I plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. Pdf is afterward one of the windows to achieve and open the world.
Especially interesting is plantingas exposure of the problem of evil. This essay offers a brief history of process theology and a sense of its current concerns by discussing the varying responses to the problem of evil within that history. If youd like to purchase the book and support apologetics315 at the same time, click on this link. Plantinga and the problem of evil iowa state university.
I want to suggest that plantingas speculation about evil spirits causing natural disasters is deficient in the same way it is only if we can take the possible world seriously as one we might actually occupy that it will count as a solution to the the problem of natural evil. The problem of evil, especially when adding the element of gratuitous evil, remains an outstanding problem for theism. Lewis, god, freedom, and evil by alvin plantinga, a grief observed by c. In other words, an allpowerful god, allknowing god, and a perfectly good god could not permit evil.
From within the wellspring of process theism, it is possible to argue cogently. Plantinga starts at the very foundations of theological thinking. Plantinga on the free will defense hugh lafollette. The most recent of these books, from the spectrum multiview books series, seeks to address an ageold problem with a bit of modern flaregod and the problem of evil. Plantingas treatment of the problem of evil centers around the atheistic claim that. You can be hence relieved to entry it because it will. This is mostly because alvin plantingas response to the logical problem of natural evil is considered by most to be definitive. In this post, i would like to point out a few problems with his free will defense as a solution for the logical problem of evil. Alvin plantingas solution to the deductive problem of evil. The logical problem of evil, as opposed to the evidential problem of evil, is the contention that to posit the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good god in an evil world constitutes a logical contradiction. The failure of plantingas solution to the logical problem. Augustine sets forth a philosophical and theologioal solution for the problem of evil that properly merits the admiration of all men, even though they might not agree wi th it.
49 1201 599 1090 245 982 1107 1532 1103 1042 531 60 910 1022 650 287 396 1324 1484 629 758 1065 35 156 985 1451 1235 529 247 1045 1087 954