Assuming one believes in god, the problem is how to reconcile the apparent contradiction between the fact that god is omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent on one hand, and the existence of evil in the world on the other hand. Richard dawkins begins the god delusion by making it clear that the god he talks about is. Reason and belief in god alvin plantinga belief in god is the heart and center of the christian religion as it is of judaism and islam. The ultimate boeing 747 gambit is an argument for the improbability of the existence of god. Themes from richard swinburne, bergmann and brower, eds. Without a doubt, this is the most wellreasoned response yetfar surpassing the apologetic counterattack of alister mcgrath, though not as purely enjoyable as the response by terry eagleton. Dawkins offers it as a counterargument to the modern form of the argument from design. 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. Alvin plantinga on the god delusion darryl burling. The god delusion, however, contains little science. This is the first in a series of interviews about religion that i will conduct for the stone. They are laymen in all areas involving questions of god and religion, and their works will go down in history as being, at the most, fun yet useless.
Adversarial proceedings about god, as if in a court of. Alvin plantinga is wellknown as one of the most important christian philosophers of our day. This book analysis the argument of evil, goes through the cosmological argument, teleological argument, and the ontological argument. Its a fun read, and plantinga does a good job of skewering dawkins woefully overrated who designed the designer. Obrien professor of philosophy emeritus at the university of notre dame and the inaugural holder of the jellema chair in philosophy at calvin college. Alvin carl plantinga born 1932 is an american analytic philosopher who works primarily in the. He is known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics and christian apologetics quotes. Alvin carl plantinga born november 15, 1932 is an american philosopher and holder of the jellema chair in philosophy at calvin college.
Alvin plantinga, gods philosopher 3 he resolved to become a philosopher. In the actual world i am writing up this blog post, but i could have decid. Richard dawkins book the god delusion is one of the major texts of the socalled new. Alvin carl plantinga born november 15, 1932 is an american analytic philosopher, the emeritus john a. Pdf on may 1, 2012, maarten boudry and others published alvin. The takehome lesson, plantinga concludes, is that dawkins gives us no reason whatever to think that current biological science is in conflict with christian belief. New atheists are not intellectually bright, philosophers agree. Possibly the most iconic among them is the god delusion. So dawkinss argument against the improbability of gods existence, and, a fortiori, the improbability of intelligent design, fails. Articles 2016 law, cause, and occasionalism, in reason and faith. Plantinga on god, freedom, and evil article pdf available in international journal for philosophy of religion 122. Plantinga is widely known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics and christian apologetics. After dealing with objections to the ac model in ch.
His modal ontological argument for foundational religious necessity is seen as an almost. Dawkins is perhaps the worlds most popular science writer. Alvin begins by assessing anthology mainly support by the evil natural and personal evil in the world and corresponding to this theodicy perhaps, god has a very. Alvin plantinga has pointed out to me that dawkins defines. Alvin plantinga provided a solution or what he called a defense to the problem of evil based on the value of freewill. T his is a collection of philosophical papers by alvin plantinga. Harris is a neuroscientist, dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, hitchens was a journalist, and krauss is a theoretical physicist. All of life has come to be by way of unguided darwinian processes. The dawkins confusion by alvin plantinga apologetics315.
Alvin plantinga is regarded as one of the foremost religious philosophers of the contemporary era. Comments on dawkins the god delusion southwestern baptist. Alvin plantinga my all time favorite philosopher, alvin plantinga, who ive mentioned. Alvin carl plantinga is an american analytic philosopher, the john a. Alvin plantinga, professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame, discusses the reasons for god with simon smart from the centre for public christian. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading where the conflict really. Pdf on jan 1, 2008, jerome gellman and others published critical study of. Now despite the fact that this book is mainly philosophy, dawkins is not a philosopher hes a biologist. This paper is a critique of richard dawkins argument from improbability against the existence of god. Alvin plantinga famously defends a version of the ontological argument that makes use of the notion of possible worlds.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. William lane craig considers alvin plantingas version of the ontological argument as having the best chance of being cogent wlc 2004, p. Reassessing plantingas ontological argument for god. Alvin plantingas warranted christian belief is the capstone to the latest stage in his views on the intellectual credibility of theism in general, and christian theism in particular. Giberson, the christian century recommended for readers seeking a rigorous philosophical survey of complex religious thought. While plantingas stature in the community of christian philosophers alone makes gaining familiarity with this text a good idea for contemporary analytic. Alvin plantinga on the god delusion worldview 3 minutes of reading. Obrien professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame.
As is typically done, we might think of a possible world as a complete way that things might have been. Science, religion, and naturalism kindle edition by plantinga, alvin. Even taking this into account, however, much of the philosophy he purveys is at best jejune. The god delusion is a 2006 book by english biologist richard dawkins, a professorial fellow at new college, oxford, and former holder of the charles simonyi chair for the public understanding of science at the university of oxford in the god delusion, dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which. Where the conflict really lies is an ambitious volume a careful reading repays the reader with insights developed by one of the sharpest minds in the conversation. The title of this book immediately betrays the bias of the authoreven for those unacquainted with the writings of this professor of the socalled. Atheist with a mission critique of dawkins god delusion. Only by disputations and debate may truths about god emerge. Contrary to stereotypes, this did not make young alvin a bookish nerd indeed, he was an enthusiastic participant in high school football, basketball and tennis. The most remarkable, in my opinion, is salvifici doloris the christian meaning of human suffering, published in 1984surely one of the finest documents outside the bible ever written on this topic, and surely required reading for anyone interested in the socalled problem of evil, or the. It was introduced by richard dawkins in chapter 4 why there almost certainly is no god of his 2006 book the god delusion. Now god can create free creatures, but he cant cause or determine them to do only what is right.
While plantingas arguments are elegant, ingenious, and convincing 1 alvin plantinga, the dawkins confusion, books and culture. If you dont know alvin plantinga, his considered by many to be one of the smartest philosophers alive today. Of course christians may disagree, at least in emphasis, as to how to think of god. Pdf critical study of richard dawkins, the god delusion. What makes this so interesting is that flew was arguably the flagship atheist for much of his life, especially in intellectual circles. Dawkins the god delusion in the past few years, there have been several extremely popular books criticizing religious faith and the possibility of the existence of god. The god delusion by richard dawkins, transworld publishers, london, 2006. The interviewee for this installment is alvin plantinga, an emeritus professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame, a former president of both the society of christian philosophers and the american philosophical association, and the author, most recently, of where the conflict really lies. The last years have seen a remarkable series of letters and encyclicals from pope john paul ii. His alignment with the views of atheist activists richard dawkins, christopher hitchens, and sam harris led hitchens to dub their cohort the four horsemen of the counterapocalypse.
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