The Deceptive God Hypothesis: Arguments Against and For
Argument A
1. God is an infinitely powerful and benevolent (i.e. perfect) being.
2. Deception is an imperfection (an evil).
3. Therefore, God could not conceivably deceive me about any matter, let alone about whether 2
+ 3 = 5.
Argument B
1. God is an infinitely powerful and benevolent (i.e. perfect) being.
2. God sometimes allows mistakes. [experience suggests this]
3. God could easily prevent my mistakes. [follows from (1)]
4. If it is wrong to deceive someone, then it is wrong to allow mistakes when these are easily
prevented. [a moral principle]
5. God cannot act wrongly. [follows from (1)]
6. Therefore, when God allows me to make mistakes he does no wrong.
7. Therefore, it would not be wrong for God to deceive me. [follows from (4) and (6)]
8. Therefore, Ait was [not] repugnant to his goodness to have created me such that I would be
deceived all the time...@ [text p. 461 even about such matters as whether there are objects with
shape, or whether 2 + 3 = 5.
In Short: Deception does not seem to be inconsistent with God’s perfect nature.
The Deceptive God Hypothesis stands, despite Argument A