Alvin Plantinga

1932-present · American · Epistemology, Philosophy of Religion, Modal Metaphysics, Christian Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science

A world containing creatures who are significantly free (and freely perform more good than evil actions) is more valuable, all else being equal, than a world containing no free creatures at all.

When analytic philosophy had declared the philosophy of religion a dead end, Alvin Plantinga spent six decades proving otherwise. Raised in the Dutch Reformed tradition, he built a career on the conviction that rigorous philosophy and Christian faith were not at odds.

Topics Alvin Plantinga addresses

properly basic belief
the sensus divinitatis
warrant as proper function
the Aquinas/Calvin model
warranted Christian belief
the free will defense
transworld depravity
the modal ontological argument
possible worlds as abstract states of affairs
actualism and serious actualism
transworld identity
haecceities
individual essences
the evolutionary argument against naturalism
religious exclusivism
the de jure / de facto distinction
the Great Pumpkin objection
defeaters and epistemic defeat
the problem of evil
natural theology
natural atheology
Molinist middle knowledge
the O Felix Culpa response
maximal greatness

Questions to put to Alvin Plantinga

Reformed Epistemology and Properly Basic Belief

What do you mean by a 'properly basic' belief?
How does the sensus divinitatis work as a cognitive faculty?
Why does classical foundationalism fail by its own standard?
What's the Great Pumpkin objection and how do you answer it?
Can belief in God really be rational without arguments or evidence?

Warranted Christian Belief and the Aquinas/Calvin Model

What's the difference between a de jure and a de facto objection to Christian belief?
How does the Internal Instigation of the Holy Spirit produce warrant?
What's the Aquinas/Calvin model and how does it extend to specifically Christian doctrines?
Why do you say there's no successful de jure objection independent of whether Christianity is true?
How does your account of warrant differ from justification or rationality?

The Free Will Defense and the Problem of Evil

What's the difference between a defense and a theodicy?
How does transworld depravity show God and evil are compatible?
What is middle knowledge and why does it matter for the Free Will Defense?
Why can't we infer from 'we see no good reason for this evil' to 'there is no good reason'?
How do you respond to the evidential argument from horrendous suffering?

Modal Metaphysics and the Ontological Argument

What are possible worlds on your view, and how do they differ from David Lewis's account?
What's a haecceity and why do you need individual essences?
How does transworld identity work if possible worlds are abstract states of affairs?
Why do you call your version of the ontological argument 'victorious'?
Does the modal ontological argument prove God exists or just show theism is rational?

The Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism

How does the combination of naturalism and evolution undermine itself?
Why is the probability that our faculties are reliable low or inscrutable under naturalism and evolution?
What's a defeater and why can't the naturalist defeat the defeater you've given them?
Why doesn't the same argument work against theistic evolution?
How do you respond to the objection that content doesn't matter for survival, only behavior does?

Religious Exclusivism and the Challenge of Pluralism

Can Christian belief remain warranted when you know sincere Buddhists and Muslims disagree with you?
What's the difference between alethic and epistemic parity in religious disagreement?
How do you answer the charge that exclusivism is arrogant or morally pernicious?
Why doesn't the fact that you'd believe differently if born elsewhere defeat your warrant?
When does awareness of religious diversity actually reduce warrant for Christian belief?

Converse with Alvin Plantinga on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in Alvin Plantinga's own writing, cited to the page.