Objections to Free Will Defence + Counters Flashcards
Mackie objection to free will defence
1) omnipotence: being (god) can do everything that is logically possible
2) we have possible worlds in which free agents do only good things
3) Hence, if gods omnipotence means that god can bring up all that is not contradictory, could god not bring these things about?
Plantinga response to Mackie objection to free will defence
It is not contradictory that individuals happen to choose the right action freely, but it’s not guaranteed (TWD). If it were guaranteed, god would be making you ‘freely’ do something which is a contradiction
distinguish between (1) ‘it is possible that a free agent do only good things in world’ and (2) ‘it is possible that God makes a free agent do only good things in world’
2 is contradictory
Snyder Hawthorne objection to free will defence
1) God creates a world containing moral goodness
2) And, it is possible that some possible persons are blessed with trans world sanctity
3) hence it is consistent with Theism and gods attributes (goodness and power) to actualize a world in which there is no evil
1) is trans world sanctity not as equal as trans world depravity?
2) if it is equally possible that we are trans world sanctified, the FWD falls apart
the argument is not the TWS exists, the argument is that it can (equally) exist, and that it doesn’t. If that is the case, we are not living in the maximally good world, hence FWD falls apart
trans world sanctity definition
the property of always doing what is right in every world in which the carrier of the property exists
essence vs persons
essences exist in every world, even if the person doesn’t.
plantinga response to Snyder Hawthorne
1) what is most believable?
2) trans world sanctity is not equal in possibility to trans world depravity. It is much harder to live your life flawless than to live your life having made at least one mistake
what is most consistent with what we know?
Hume kraal argument
1) we don’t know the relative proportion of good to evil
2) more precisely, we don’t know how much evil comes at the price of this goodness
3) it is not obvious that ANY proportion of good and evil is consistent with the goodness of good
Plantinga response to Hume Kraal
Felix Culpa
It is possible that christianity is true, the actions by God and Jesus were so selfless, that they outweigh any of the bad qualities in the world
Hence there cannot be more evil than goodness due to the sheer goodness of this action
