Plantingas defence of the free will defence in chapter nine. Alvin plantinga hand, it is narrower than that of causal or natural necessity. Finally, i shall set out a criticism of plantingas. Alvin plantinga, the nature of necessity philpapers. Philosophical foundations for a christian worldview james porter moreland. Plantinga apparently articulated his arguments for the truth of counterfactuals without any knowledge of molinism. In the nature of necessity 1974a and god, freedom and evil 1974b plantinga argues, also famously, that mackies argument isnt sound. Under the heading of natural theology, plantinga briefly rehashes the treatment of. He also applies his logical theories to the elucidation. Plantinga develops his argument by means of the notion of possible worlds and ranges over such key problems as the nature of essence, transworld identity, negative existential propositions, and the existence of unactual objects in other possible worlds. Eighteenth century intellectuals as distinguished from dol phins simply lacked the physical equipment for this kind of feat.
In this, the aquinas lecture for 1980, alvin plantinga proposes p. A property e is an essence of object x if and only if e is essential to x and in every possible world everything distinct from x has the complement of e essentially. Articles 2016 law, cause, and occasionalism, in reason and faith. A humean objection to plantingas quantitative free will. Following alvin plantinga, i take a state of affairs s to be maximal just in case for any state of affairs s, s either includes s or precludes s 6. In each of these books, he analyzes the classical ontological argument and ev entually formulates his own contemporary modal version. He is the author of numerous books including god and other minds, the nature of necessity, and a trilogy of books on epistemology, culminating in warranted christian belief.
As the son of a philosophy and psychology professor, plantinga evidenced a knack for and interest in philosophy early on. Oct 12, 2009 the nature of necessity by alvin plantinga is quite the philosophy book. Necessity circumscribed as the distinction between necessary and contingent truth is easy to recognize as it is difficult to explain to the sceptics satisfaction. I happen to think that it is literally a spectre, a trick of the vision, an appearance with an internal cause only, and that it is no more than the ghost of our own conceptual determinations projected. The work is organized around the problem of providing. Modal logic is a course about the logic of necessity and possibility. In particular i will use the lecture given by plantinga on this topic plantinga 1980. Chapter 9 is the first of two chapters that apply the findings of the previous eight chapters of the nature of necessity to some traditional problems in natural theology. I shall, then, set out a number of minor criticisms of the ninth chapter. A philosophical masterpiece that excels in modal logic.
Nature has two interrelated meanings in philosophy. Alvin plantinga, born in 1932, is a philosopher and has been a professor at both calvin university and the university of notre dame. The nature of necessity clarendon library of logic and philosophy alvin plantinga. Voltaire once swam the atlantic for example is surely implausible indeed, there is a. This is still alvin plantingas most impressive book to date. The nature of necessity, together with a series of subsequent articles, constitutes what is perhaps the most sophisticated theory of possible worlds yet to be. The nature of necessity and god, f reedom, and evil.
A humean objection to plantingas quantitative free will defense. Alvin plantinga 1 preliminary distinctions and remarks a. The nature of necessity alvin plantinga download bok. Here, plantinga attempted to use the philosophical concept of possible worlds to show the necessary nature of gods existence. T his is a collection of philosophical papers by alvin plantinga. The nature of necessity alvin plantinga oxford university press. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The argument is developed by means of the notion of possible. Jul 06, 2019 alvin plantinga the nature of necessity pdf posted on july 6, 2019 by admin this book, one of the first fulllength studies of the modalities to emerge from the debate to which saul kripke, david lewis, ruth marcus, and. Nature and necessity guy robinson determinism is a spectre that has haunted our scientificallyoriented culture from the beginning. Maslow iiiiuin compass penguin 800ks published by the penguin group penguin group usa inc. The nature of necessity clarendon library of logic.
See three dialogues between hylas and philonous, edited by robert m. An individual user may print out a pdf of a single chapter of a monograph in oso for personal use. In the first three chapters, i clarify and defend the distinction between. In perfect being theology, god is defined as a maximally great being which means that god possesses all greatmaking, properties such as love, knowledge, and power, and possesses each in a maximal way. An introduction to the thought of alvin plantinga crossway. For much of the book i felt like i was up against a level 97 boss, and im only at level 70. I argue that each object has many essences sometimes referred to as hacceities or natures. In the nature of necessity, the argument is presented in a technical. The nature of necessity 9780198244141 by alvin plantinga. A longawaited major statement by preeminent analytic philosopher alvin plantinga, where the conflict really lies illuminates one of our societys biggest debates the conflict between science and religion. Alvin plantinga is regarded as one of the foremost religious philosophers of the contemporary era.
The necessity of natures the necessity of natures chapter. Has plantinga buried mackies logical argument from evil. The nature of necessity alvin plantinga oxford university. Jan 01, 1974 in nature of necessity, plantinga explains the use of possible worlds philosophy. You can publish your own pdf file online for free in a few minutes. The problem of evil is the objection to theism that holds that the conjunction of the propositions, god is omnipotent. In what follows, i shall set out, to begin with, a statement of the main line of his argument 3. On the one hand, it means the set of all things which are natural, or subject to the normal working of the laws of nature. I will summarize what plantinga has to say, examine his answer to this question and provide one of my own based on the themes of this thesis. The distinction between necessary and contingent truth is as easy to. The nature of necessity by alvin plantinga is quite the philosophy book. Plantinga developed his modal version of the ontological argument for the existence of god in his two controversial books, the nature of necessity 1974.
Plantinga examines where this conflict is said to existlooking at areas such as evolution, divine action in the world, and the scientific study of religionand he considers claims by. His modal ontological argument for foundational religious necessity is seen as an almost. On the other hand, it means the essential properties and causes of individual things. This book, one of the first fulllength studies of the modalities to emerge from the debate to which saul kripke, david lewis, ruth marcus and others have. Oct 18, 2012 plantingas the nature of necessity 1974 contains a largely neglected argument for the claim that the proposition god is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good is logically consistent with the vast amount and variety of evil the universe actually contains not to be confused with plantingas famous free will defense, which seeks to show that this same proposition is. Alvin plantinga, in the ninth chapter ofthe nature of necessity, sets out a defence of the free will defence fwd 2.
It is one of the first fulllength studies of the modalities to emerge from the debate to which saul kripke, david lewis, ruth marcus and others have contributed. Plantinga does a great job with his version of the ontological argument. He is credited with formulating the most robust and wellrespected response to the logical problem of evil. Among recent contributions to the problem of interpreting modality is the nature of necessity, which presents alvin plantingas most comprehensive attempt to develop a unified treatment of necessity. In the first chapter i try to locate and fix the idea in questionthe idea of broadly logical necessityand to distinguish it from. 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. The author develops the notion of possible worlds, discusses the question of transwrold identity and the.
Plantinga is widely known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics and christian apologetics. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it address the problem of evil. Ix god, evil, and the metaphysics of freedom abstract. Since alvin plantingas god and other minds 1967, the nature of necessity and god, freedom, and. What is plantingas free will defense, and how does it. V, 12, the necessity of natures 22 actualist realism ii plantinga 1974, from the nature of necessity ch.
During this period plantingas work centers on a defense of the rationality of religious belief in the book god and other minds, general metaphysics and philosophy of religion in the nature of necessity, and the longstanding conundrum of the existence of evil in a world where god is omnipotent in the nature of. The metaphysics of modality university of kentucky. Themes from richard swinburne, bergmann and brower, eds. Berkeley himself frowns upon at least certain uses of the term occasion because they presuppose a belief in matter. Plantingas the nature of necessity 1974 contains a largely neglected argument for the claim that the proposition god is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good is logically consistent with the vast amount and variety of evil the universe actually contains not to be confused with plantingas famous free will defense, which seeks to show that this same proposition is. In nature of necessity, plantinga explains the use of possible worlds philosophy. I then elaborate on the nature of essences and examine the relationship between essences and proper names. Necessity and possibility are central notion in most branches of philosophy metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of logic, philosophy of mathematics, and ethics as well as in computer science, linguistics, and cognitive science. Some of plantinga s most influential works include god and other minds 1967, the nature of necessity 1974, and a trilogy of books on epistemology, culminating in warranted christian belief 2000 that was simplified in knowledge and christian belief 2016.
How to understand the meaning and significance of nature has been a consistent theme. Gods presence within henrys phenomenology of life mdpi. Plantinga and the problem of evil iowa state university. Among recent contributions to the problem of interpreting modality is the nature of necessity, which presents alvin plantinga s most comprehensive attempt to develop a unified treatment of necessity. Plantinga, alvin professor of philosophy, university of notre dame. Apr 25, 2017 alvin plantinga was born in ann arbor, michigan.
Here, plantinga attempted to use the philosophical concept of possible worlds. Print isbn, doi alvin plantingas recent book 1 might better be titled the. Phil6312 introduction to modal logic new orleans baptist. Voltaire once swam the atlantic for example is surely implausible indeed, there is a clear sense in which it is impossible. Plantingas theory is his scheme for the reduction of. Raised in the christian reformed church, he has theological roots in the dutch reformed tradition. The author develops the notion of possible worlds, discusses the question of transwrold identity and the nature of individuals, and considers the problem of. Plantingas treatments of the problem of evil and the ontological argument, his examination. Obrien professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame. For example, one maximal world segment of the actual world includes everything up to george w. The nature of necessity by alvin plantinga, 1974 online. Alvin plantinga addresses the classic ontological argument in two books published in 1 974. Plantinga is concerned about the relation of abstract objects and necessary features of.
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