Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on free will theodicy. Free will theodicy Free will theodicy is a philosophical attempt to reconcile to contradicting facts: the objective existence of

Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on free will theodicy. Free will theodicy Free will theodicy is a philosophical attempt to reconcile to contradicting facts: the objective existence of evil in the world and a belief in God Who is thought to be good and, therefore, could not have created universe that is full of evil. One of the key points that are stressed by the above mentioned approach is the role that free will plays in the actions of people. Thus, according to it, the existence of evil may be explained by the fact that people were allowed to perform any action without any limits, no matter if the action is good or evil. In other words, such ability contributes to formation of a better world that it would have been without it.

Speaking of the objections that might be made towards the above mentioned claim, one is able to name at least two. They are articulated in the book titled Dialogue on Good, Evil, and the Existence of God and are expressed by Gretchen Weirob. First of all, she points out that God could have created a world that, on the one hand, would be filled with creatures that will exercise free will and, on the other hand, that would be free of weaknesses. In spite of the fact that such thinking might seem logical, it fails to comply with some of the important ideas of free will theodicy which argues that an irreplaceable part of a free will is to be able to perform evil actions as well. Another objection that is made by Weirob puts emphasis on the fact that the very idea of free will is not logical at all. Thus, it is suggested that with the help of it a person is able to make actions independently, regardless of any other forces that influence one in this process. but God always knows what a person will do since He is thought to be omniscient. Another character, namely David, suggests that knowledge that God possesses should not be seen as an obstacle on the way of a person exercising free will. This means that even though other people might know and understand the motifs that will most certainly guide a person through decision making process, the action itself happens because a person wills it. In other words, the knowledge is not affecting the ability of an individual to choose in any way. While this may be true, the original characters suggest that this might work when other people are involved, but then God is involved, his knowledge is special. The primarily difference here lies in the fact that unlike other people God was directly involved in the creation of a person and had affected every aspect of one’s personality. In other words, other people can not simply know character of a person as good as God can. So, for ordinary people there is some unexpected element in free will, but not for God. As a result, the entire notion of free will is valid exclusively for human beings.