Skip to main content
Log in

Divine Freedom

  • Published:
Topoi Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In “Divine Freedom,” I argue that morally significant incompatibilist freedom is a great good. So God possesses morally incompatibilist freedom. So, God can do wrong or at least can do worse than the best action He can do. So, God is not essentially morally perfect. After careful consideration of numerous objections, I conclude that this argument is undefeated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The connection between OIC and the principle of alternate possibilities has been arrived at independently by a number of philosophers, including Copp and Widerker. See Widerker (1991) and Copp (2008).

References

  • Copp D (2008) ‘Ought’ implies ‘Can’ and the derivation of the principle of alternate possibilities. Analysis 68(1):67–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankfurt H (1969) Alternate possibilities and moral responsibility. J Philos 66:829–839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginet C (1983) A defense of incompatibilism. Philos Stud 44:391–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard-Snyder D (2009) The puzzle of prayers of thanksgiving and praise. In: Nagasawa Y, Wielenberg E (eds) New waves in philosophy of religion. Palgrave MacMillan, New York, pp 125–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Howard-Snyder D, Howard-Snyder F (1993) The christian theodicist’s appeal to love. Relig Stud 29(2):185–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard-Snyder D, Howard-Snyder F (1996) The real problem of no best world. Faith Philos 13:422–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leftow B (1989) Necessary moral perfection. Pac Philos Q 70:240–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morriston W (2000) What’s so good about moral freedom? Philos Q 50(200):344–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pruss A (2008) The essential divine-perfection objection to the free-will defense. Relig Stud 44(4):433–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sennett J (1994) Is god essentially god? Relig Stud 30(3):295–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith Q (1997) Ethical and religious thought in analytic philosophy of language. Yale University Press, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Speak D (2013) Free Will and Soul-Making Theodicies. In: McBrayer J, Howard-Snyder D (eds) The blackwell companion to the problem of evil. Wiley, Malden, pp 205–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Swinburne R (1993) The coherence of theism. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Timpe K (2014) Free will in philosophical theology. Bloomsbury studies in philosophy of religion. Bloomsbury Academic, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Inwagen P (1983) An essay on free will. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Warfield TA (2000) Causal determinism and human freedom are incompatible: A new argument for incompatibilism. Nous 34(Supplement 14):167–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widerker D (1991) Frankfurt on ‘Ought Implies Can’ and alternative possibilities. Analysis 51(4):222–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zangwill N (2003) Externalist moral motivation. Am Philos Q 40(2):143–154

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frances Howard-Snyder.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Howard-Snyder, F. Divine Freedom. Topoi 36, 651–656 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-016-9406-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-016-9406-z

Keywords

Navigation