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03/01/2020

What does Alvin Plantinga say about the evolutionary process?

What does Alvin Plantinga say about the evolutionary process?

Plantinga notes that if human beings are a result of the evolutionary process then one needs to maintain that the main purpose of our cognitive faculties are for survival and reproductive fitness. In other words, as a process, evolution doesn’t care about truth or true beliefs.

Why is Plantinga’s argument against naturalism so important?

Plantinga’s argument is intended to show that evolutionary naturalism cannot be rationally affirmed. It might be true, but it cannot be rational to affirm it as such. Here is how he formulates the argument in his recent Where the Conflict Really Lies (Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 344-5):

What does Plantinga say about cognitive faculties being unreliable?

It just states that if one thinks, for whatever reason, that one’s cognitive faculties are unreliable, then one can’t have confidence in anything he believes.

How are undercutting defeaters used in Plantinga’s argument?

There are rebutting defeaters and there are undercutting defeaters. A rebutting defeater shows the targeted statement to be false. An undercutting defeater merely removes any warrant for thinking the targeted statement to be true. In Plantinga’s argument it’s all about undercutting defeaters.

What was Alvin Plantinga’s argument against naturalism?

Alvin Plantinga is not only known in philosophical circles for his reformed epistemology but also for his evolutionary argument against naturalism. As such, evolutionary theory feeds into an argument that seeks to undermine philosophical naturalism, the philosophical worldview held by most atheists.

Who is the editor of EAAN by Plantinga?

The volume’s editor, James Beilby, does a nice job in his Preface of providing a brief overview of EAAN. To begin with, “Plantinga claims that the objective conditional probability that we have reliable cognitive faculties [R], given naturalism [N] and evolutionary theory [E], is either low … or inscrutable” (this volume, vii). That is,

What did William Ramsey say about Plantinga’s theory?

Thus William Ramsey argues that Plantinga “overlooks the most sensible way … to get clear on how truth can be a property of beliefs that bestows an advantage on cognitive systems” (16).