Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. The ontological disproof, in its original form, argues that god is impossible, because if god exists, he must exist necessarily, and necessary existence is impossible. Wesley morriston in an impressive series of books and articles, alvin plantinga has developed challenging new versions of two much discussed pieces of philosophical theology. Analytic approaches to the problem of evil offer reductive accountings.
Davis claremont mckenna college alvin plantinga is one of the top christian philosophers in the world today. Apr 25, 2019 it seems that, although plantingas free will defense may be able to explain why god allows moral evil to occur, it cannot explain why he allows natural evil. From 1963 to 1982, plantinga taught at calvin college before accepting an appointment as the john a. The simple and direct use of logical propositions on two specific questions, the problem of evil, and the ontological proof for the existence of god. The stand by stephen king, the gunslinger by stephen king, it by stephen king, the waste lands by stephen king, and wizard and gla. For a critical account of verificationism see plantinga, god and other minds, chap. There are many ways to understand the phrase the problem of evil. Naming evil, judging evil is a 234page collection of nine original essays examining the question of evil and written in the wake of the september 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the united states. Mackie stated that the following three propositions cannot all be true at the. Obrien professor of philosophy emeritus at the university of notre dame and has written groundbreaking books on the problem of evil, god and science, and philosophical. T his is a collection of philosophical papers by alvin plantinga. In some cases this has lead to widescale death and destruction and evil governmental regimes. Pdf one version of the freewill argument relies on the claim that, other things being.
Thats the kind of argument that an atheist would have to develop in order to get the problem of evil off the ground as an objection to theism. The modal logic version of these forms of defense of the ontological argument has been the most significant development. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with a priori theory about the organization of the universe. Ontological arguments are arguments, for the conclusion that god exists, from premises which are supposed to derive from some source other than observation of the worlde. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a pdf of a single chapter of.
The book draws upon the authors prior works, the nature of necessity and god and other minds. The free will defense fwd maintains that god has to allow the existence of some evil in order to preserve human free will e. Plantinga does well in explaining this isnt bedtime reading and pushing through pages of theorem after theorem is a lot different than reading cs lewis or one of the other great christian thinkers who rely on literate metaphor and a sort of common sense philosophy cushioned under beautiful prose on human nature, the world, etc. The problem of evil stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Especially interesting is plantingas exposure of the problem of evil. The possibility of more modest variants on defenses and theodicies, based on the. Alvin carl plantinga born 1932 is an american analytic philosopher who works primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion, epistemology particularly on issues involving epistemic justification, and logic. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga. 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. Analytic approaches to the problem of evil offer reductive accountings of evil that must be significantly enlarged if the problem of evil is to capture the worry to which it attempts to give codification. And if they are, should we conclude that such a god does not, in all likelihood, exist. Ontological arguments stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. 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. Mar 12, 2011 books are one of our greatest resources, but many times in history books have been written which are misleading or untrue.
The notion of necessary existence has been largely rehabilitated since this argument was first offered in 1948. God, freedom, and evil christian books, bibles, gifts. Articles 2016 law, cause, and occasionalism, in reason and faith. God freedom and evil alvin plantinga 1 book free book god freedom and evil alvin plantinga pdf file god freedom and evil alvin plantinga getting the books god freedom and evil alvin plantinga now is not type of inspiring means. Therefore, there is no allpowerful, allknowing, allgood being. In their book, teilhards seven stages of suffering. You could not deserted going with book gathering or library or borrowing from your friends to entry them. Is the modal ontological argument for god a sound proof. The ontological defense says that good could not exist.
A critique of the free will defense, a comprehensive look at alvin. Thus peter van inwagen, throughout his book the problem of evil. God, freedom, and evil kindle edition by plantinga, alvin. The existence of such evil gives us good grounds to doubt the existence of god or to deny gods existence, even though it doesnt count as a strict proof. Some see the free will defense as a hallmark of apologetic desperation. The free will defense, however, shows that the existence of god is compatible, both logically and probabilistically, with the existence of evil. In other words, ontological arguments are arguments from what are typically alleged to be none but analytic, a priori and necessary premises to the. Reassessing plantingas ontological argument for god. A spiritual path for transformation louis savery and patricia.
Supralapsarianism, or o felix culpa alvin plantinga plantinga on felix culpa. The ontological argument in the second main section, plantinga focuses on a very misunderstood argument for the existence of god the ontological argument, which was originally set out. Evil and a selection of its theological problems ix god. German josef piepers book titled in defense of philosophy is a book that readers should carefully consider. Plantinga is one of the most respected and influential philosophers today. In this article tristan stone, head of religious studies and theology at harris westminster academy, defends the ontological argument and assesses its strengths. The problem with this objection is that it assumes that good and evil are on a metaphysical par, and as i have had reason to note before, that is by no means an uncontroversial or in my view correct assumption. God, freedom and evil discusses and exemplifies philosophy of religion or philosophical reflection on central themes of religion. Naturalists claim that the physical world has ontological. The problem of evil perennially vexes theology, but many theologi. Stephen king goodreads author shelved 33 times as evil. Alvin plantinga quotes author of god, freedom, and evil. A study of the rational justification of belief in god.
Plantingas version of the defense is a famous attempt on the problem of evil. Beyond good and evil 5 of 301 germans invented gunpowderall credit to them. Plantingas treatment of the problem of evil centers around the atheistic claim that. 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. Buy a cheap copy of god, freedom, and evil book by alvin plantinga. Two kinds of evil 82 denial of evil 83 the least of the evils 84 the aesthetic totality solution 85 the freewill solution 85 justice in the afterlife 86 gods mysterious ways 86 working out an answer 87 faith and reason. The free will defense shows that the existence of god is compatible, both logically and probabilistically, with the existence of evil.
Obrien professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame. An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of god that uses ontology. Finally, in the appendix, i address quinean objections to quantified modal logic. Mar 08, 2018 the second half is dedicated to defending an argument for the existence of god that relies on reason alone, called the ontological argument. Beyond good and evil planet publish free pdf ebooks.
The argument from evil focuses upon the fact that the world appears to contain states of affairs that are bad, or undesirable, or that should have been prevented by any being that could have done so, and it asks how the existence of such states of affairs is to be squared with the existence of god. Plantingas free will defense project gutenberg self. Oct 05, 2019 god, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga free download as pdf file. Recent work on the problem of evil trent dougherty. Alvin carl plantinga born 1932 is an american analytic philosopher who works primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion, epistemology particularly on issues involving epistemic justification, and logic from 1963 to 1982, plantinga taught at calvin university before accepting an appointment as the john a. There is a long list of books i could refer you to that will show you how this gap is bridged. 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. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with an a priori theory about the organization of the universe. Metaphysics the problem of evil problem of evil evil. Themes from richard swinburne, bergmann and brower, eds. The second half is dedicated to defending an argument for the existence of god that relies on reason alone, called the ontological argument. But we, who are neither jesuits, nor democrats, nor even sufficiently germans, we good europeans, and free, very free spiritswe have it still, all the distress of spirit and all the tension of its bow. As a result, the reader can generally follow the arguments, with some pause from time to time to do a.
Dec 19, 2014 the ontological argument has been attacked through history most recently by richard dawkins in the god delusion. But for this to be so, there must not be even a possible morally justifying reason for god to permit evil this post. This dissertation is a revival of the ontological disproof, an ontological argument against the existence of god. Ways of believing 87 the cosmological argument 89 the argument from design 90 the ontological argument 91. Many atheists believe that the correct answer to both of these questions is. Pdf one version of the freewill argument relies on the claim that, other. Popular evil books showing 150 of 2,674 the stand hardcover by. This book discusses and exemplifies the philosophy of religion, or philosophical reflection on central. God, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga free download as pdf file. For it is not at all clear, mackie says, that a rational person can treat the question of whether to accept either plantingas argument or its nomaximality rival as a tossup, as if we would be within our epistemic rights to choose whichever. His treatment of both subjects has provoked a tremendous amount of critical comment. Plantingas free will defense argues that it is possible that god, though omnipotent, could not have. Today, well begin with alvin plantingas modal ontological argument for god.
Finally, the soulmaking theodicy smt contends that god allows some evil because it builds positive character in the victims or in others which outweighs the negative value of the. Mackie argued that the existence of evil and the existence of an allgood, allpowerful god are logically incompatible. Faith efc, fall07 14 defensive apologetics natural theology. Different versions of the ontological argument, the socalled modal versions of the argument, which arguably avoid the part of anselms argument that treats existence as a predicate, began to emerge.
Aug 23, 2019 god, freedom, and evil alvin plantinga free download as pdf file. Fulfilled prophecy, radical claims of christ, historical reliability of the gospels. As plantinga expounds it,8 the free will defense rests on these two philosophical claims, which it adds to the theological assumptions l 3. If there were an allpowerful, allknowing, allgood being, there would be no unnecessary evil in the world. Are the evils in the world strong evidence against the existence of an allpowerful and allgood god. Ontological, cosmological, teleological, and moral arguments. Ontological argument project gutenberg selfpublishing.
Plantingas presentation of the free will defense against the problem of evil takes up the first part of the book. God, freedom and evil is a short work, originally published in the mid1970s, wherein plantinga addresses issues pertaining to the existence of god. But defending the idea that evil is a privation would require a defense of the more general, classical metaphysics on which it rests. Transworld depravity and unobtainable worlds richard otte the logical problem of evil. The best books on the existence of god ed feser on five books. Plantingas argument is a defense against the logical problem of evil as. 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. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, but they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. This is a list of ten of the worst books of this type books that have done more harm than good.
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