FRIENDSHIP93FREE WILL DEFENSE. A term popular-
ized by Alvin Plantinga for arguing that
atheism is not entailed by the existence
of a good, omnipotent God and the exis-
tence of evil. Plantinga argued that it is
possible that an all-good, all-powerful
God may allow evil due to the free action
of creatures. He presented this argument
as a defense, rather than a theodicy. The
latter involves arguing that it is reason-
able to believe theism is true notwith-
standing world evil, whereas a defense
argues that it is not unreasonable to
accept theism and world evil. The Free
Will Defense has an important role in the
logical form of the problem of evil.
FREEDOM, POSITIVE / NEGATIVE.
Freedom to versus freedom from acting
upon a predicate. One has positive free-
dom when one has the ability and oppor-
tunity to speak. One has negative freedom
when one is not restrained by, for exam-
ple, chains or prison. Negative freedom
can occur without positive freedom,
but positive freedom requires at least
some minimal negative freedom. See also
ISAIAH BERLIN.
FREGE, GOTTLOB (1848–1925). He
held that propositions exist necessarily,
e.g., 7+5 = 12. Some proponents of the
ontological argument appeal to Frege’s
Platonism to offset claims by Humeans
that all of reality is contingent. His works
include Conceptual Notation (1879),
Foundations of Arithmetic (1884), and
Basic Laws of Arithmetic (1893, 1903).FREUD, SIGMUND (1856–1939).
Austrian neurologist, psychologist, and
the founder of psychoanalysis. In philos-
ophy of religion, Freud’s work constitutes
an important naturalistic account of the
emergence and power of religion in terms
of guilt, the placation of a father figure,
and wish-fulfillment. An atheist and
materialist, Freud’s work paradoxically
supported a nonreductive account of
human persons, preserving the idea that
human beings are purposive animals.
Freud’s concept of the unconscious has
also served as a model for some accounts
of religious experience in which persons
consciously may be said to be influenced
by deeper layers of experience. His works
include Studies in Hysteria (1895), The
Interpretation of Dreams (1899), The Psy-
chopathology of Everyday Life (1904),
Humor and its Relation to the unconscious
(1905), Totem and Taboo (1913), Intro-
ductory Lectures in Psychoanalysis (1916–
1918), The Ego and Psychoanalysis (1916–
1918), The Ego and the Id (1923), The
Future of an Illusion (1927), Civilization
and its Discontents (1930), The Problem of
Anxiety (1936), and Moses and Monothe-
ism (1939).FRIENDSHIP. An important concept
going back to Plato and Aristotle. Friend-
ship has been largely conceived of as