The problem of evil and Alvin Plantinga's defense of free will

The problem of evil is one of the most controversial issues in the history of philosophy. The basis of this problem is the question of whether the existence of an absolutely powerful and absolutely good God can be explained together with the evil in the world. According to atheists, there are many evils in the world and their existence contradicts the understanding of an all-powerful God. For this reason, they claim that the existence of God must be rejected in the last instance. Theists have developed many theodicies and defenses as a solution to this problem. The most popular solution proposal is the free will defense systematized by Alvin Plantinga. According to the free will defense, the evils in the world occur as a result of the actions that people carry out with their free will. Therefore, the existence of evil in the world does not require rejecting the existence of God. The aim of this thesis is to discuss and evaluate in detail the free will defense put forward by Alvin Plantinga. In the first part of our study, the concept of evil was emphasized and the types of evil were examined. In addition, it focused on what the problem of evil is and how it was understood by philosophers living in different periods. In the second part of our study, the concept of free will was discussed and, based on the concept of consciousness, the issue of whether we are agents with free will was opened to discussion. In the third and final part of our study, Alvin Plantinga's defense of free will is discussed in detail. This section also includes some criticisms directed at Plantinga. As a result, it was evaluated whether the free will defense is a reasonable solution to solve the problem of evil.