Skeptical Theism, Free Will Skepticism and Atheism: Pondering the Scope of Moral Paralysis

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6603-070X

Abstract

In this paper, I aim to show that Skeptical Theism (ST) implies the rejection of Free Will Skepticism (FWS). This is so because ST holds the so-called evidential argument from evil against theism. This argument presupposes free will (as a hidden premise), conducting this way to a skeptical conclusion without questioning the plausibility of FWS in the first place. I argue that this kind of conflict between two skeptical scenarios removes the validity of ST and FWS: It is ad hoc to assume a skeptical scenario S1 (ST) that supports thesis T1, and implicitly rejects the consequences of another skeptical scenario S2 (FWS) that discards T1. This implies the rejection of the so-called Moral Paralysis (MP) and shows a tension between Moral Skepticism (MS), ST and FWS. Moreover, the links between skepticism, dogmatism and atheism, as a case of epistemic defeasibility, are discussed.

Keywords:
Skeptical Theism Free Will Skepticism Evidential argument Evil Moral Paralysis

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Article Details

Author Biography

, Universidad Católica del Maule

Doctor en Filosofía por la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile. Profesor de la Facultad de Ciencias Religiosas y Filosóficas, Universidad Católica del Maule (Chile).