Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:56:05.842Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is motivated submaximization good enough for God?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2019

KLAAS J. KRAAY
KLAAS J. KRAAY*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada
*
e-mail: kraay@ryerson.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In a recent article (Kraay 2013), I argued that some prominent responses to two important arguments for atheism invoke divine satisficing – and that the coherence and propriety of this notion have not been established. Chris Tucker (2016) agrees with my evaluation of divine satisficing, but disagrees with my exegesis of these responses. He argues that they should be understood as invoking motivated submaximization instead. After reviewing the dialectical situation to date, I assess whether motivated submaximization can be deployed in such a way as to defeat these arguments for atheism. I argue that it's far from clear that it can.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 403 - 417
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, R. (1972) ‘Must God create the best?’, The Philosophical Review, 81, 317–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basinger, D. (1983) ‘In what sense must God be omnibenevolent?’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 14, 3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basinger, D. (1985) ‘In what sense must God do his best: a response to Hasker’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 18, 161–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forrest, P. (1981) ‘The problem of evil: two neglected defences’, Sophia, 20, 49–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flint, T. (1983) ‘The problem of divine freedom’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 20, 255–264.Google Scholar
Gale, R. (1998) ‘R. M. Adams's theodicy of grace’, Philo, 1, 36–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grover, S. (1988) ‘Why only the best is good enough’, Analysis, 48, 224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grover, S. (2003) ‘This world, “Adams worlds”, and the best of all possible worlds’, Religious Studies, 39, 145–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grover, S. (2004) ‘Rival creator arguments and the best of all possible worlds’, Sophia, 43, 101–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hájek, A. (2017) ‘Philosophy tool kit’, Aeon Magazine, <https://aeon.co/essays/with-the-use-of-heuristics-anybody-can-think-like-a-philosopher>..>Google Scholar
Hasker, W. (1984) ‘Must God do his best?’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 16, 213–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard-Snyder, D. & Howard-Snyder, F. (1994) ‘How an unsurpassable being can create a surpassable world’, Faith and Philosophy, 11, 260–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordan, J. (2012) ‘The topography of divine love’, Faith and Philosophy, 29, 53–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraal, A. (2013) ‘Is the existence of the best possible world logically impossible?’, International Philosophical Quarterly, 53, 37–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraay, K. (2013) ‘Can God satisfice?’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 50, 399–410.Google Scholar
Leftow, B. (2017) ‘Two pictures of divine choice’, in McCann, H. (ed.) Free Will and Classical Theism: The Significance of Freedom in Perfect Being Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 152–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langtry, B. (2008) God, the Best, and Evil (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levine, M. (1996) ‘Must God create the best?’ Sophia, 35, 28–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, D. (1993) ‘Evil for freedom's sake?’, Philosophical Papers, 22, 149–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, T. (2008) Theism and Ultimate Explanation: The Necessary Shape of Contingency (Oxford: Blackwell).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, R. (2013) ‘Deep and wide: a response to Jeff Jordan on divine love’, Faith and Philosophy, 30, 444–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plantinga, A. (1974) The Nature of Necessity (Oxford: Clarendon Press).Google Scholar
Pollock, J. (1983) ‘How do you maximize expectation value?’, Noûs, 17, 409–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, P. (1982) ‘God, moral perfection, and possible worlds’, in Sontag, F. & Bryant, M. D. (eds) God: The Contemporary Discussion (New York: The Rose of Sharon Press), 197–213.Google Scholar
Reichenbach, B. (1982) Evil and a Good God (New York: Fordham University Press).Google Scholar
Rowe, W. (1993) ‘The problem of divine perfection and freedom’, in Stump, E. (ed.) Reasoned Faith (Ithaca: Cornell University Press), 223–233.Google Scholar
Rowe, W. (2004) Can God Be Free? (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Rubio, D. (2018) ‘God meets Satan's apple: the paradox of creation’, Philosophical Studies, 175, 2987–3004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlesinger, G. (1977) Religion and Scientific Method (Dordrecht: Reidel).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slote, M. (1989) Beyond Optimizing: A Study of Rational Choice (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sobel, J. H. (2004) Logic and Theism: Arguments for and against Beliefs in God (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
Sorensen, R. (1994) ‘Infinite decision theory’, in Jordan, J. (ed.) Gambling with God: Essays on Pascal's Wager (Totowa: Rowman & Littlefield), 139–159.Google Scholar
Sorensen, R. (2006) ‘Originless sin: a rational dilemma for satisficers’, Philosophical Quarterly, 56, 213–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinburne, R. (1979) The Existence of God (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Talbott, T. (2013) ‘The topography of divine love: a response to Jeff Jordan’, Faith and Philosophy, 30, 302–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, M. L. (1996) ‘Robert Adams and the best possible world’, Faith and Philosophy, 13, 252–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, C. (2016) ‘Satisficing and motivated submaximization (in the philosophy of religion)’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 93, 127–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, C. (2017) ‘How to think about satisficing’, Philosophical Studies, 174, 1365–1384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wessling, J. (2012) ‘The scope of God's supreme love’, Philosophia Christi, 14, 347–351.Google Scholar
Wielenberg, E. (2004) ‘A morally unsurpassable God must create the best’, Religious Studies, 40, 43–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wierenga, E. (2002) ‘The freedom of God’, Faith and Philosophy, 19, 425–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar