Philosophy Problem Of Evil Questions
The free will defense is a common response to the Problem of Evil in philosophy. It argues that the existence of evil in the world is not incompatible with the existence of an all-powerful and all-good God because God has given humans free will. According to this defense, God created humans with the ability to make choices and act freely, including the choice to do evil. Therefore, the presence of evil is a result of human misuse of their free will rather than a direct action of God. This defense suggests that God allows evil to exist in order to preserve human freedom and the possibility of moral growth and development. Critics of the free will defense argue that it does not fully explain natural evils, such as diseases or natural disasters, which do not seem to be a result of human free will.