Abstract
The free will defense is a theistic strategy for rejecting a certain argument for the non-existence of God. The argument, sometimes called the “logical problem of evil,” insists that it is logically impossible for an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly benevolent God to co-exist with evil. Since evil clearly exists, the argument goes, God does not. The free will defense responds by claiming that, since free will is very good indeed, a God with all the characteristics in question might co-exist with evil—provided that the evil was brought about by (other) free creatures and God could not have prevented the evil without making his creatures unfree. It is commonly believed (although, perhaps, seldom argued) that the free will defense only works if the creatures in question have a sort of freedom incompatible with determinism. I used to believe this. I now think it is wrong. There are at least some versions of compatibilism which can, with the help of certain plausible theses about what God can do, respond to the atheist’s argument with a version of the free will defense.
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