The probability of r on en, plantinga plausibly maintains, is inscrutable by us. The first half of the book contains each philosophers explanation of his particular view. In the second case, however, the problem is to figure out whether evil and suffering is good reason to believe that the theistic god does not exist. I shall restrictthis paper to a consideration of plantingas explicit and developed epistemological views conccrning religious belief. Alvin plantinga and nicholas wolterstorff notre dame, in. Alvin plantinga hand, it is narrower than that of causal or natural necessity. Since en is relevant to the truth of r, the inscrutability of r on en gives the adherent of en a reason to withhold belief in r. In the first case, our relationship with god is strained. Reason and belief in god, in faith and rationality. Alvin plantinga on receiving the 2017 templeton prize the field museum, chicago, september 24, 2017. Dawkins and daniel dennett whose recent breaking the spell is his contribution to this genre are the touchdown twins of current academic atheism. God and other minds is a 1967 book by the american philosopher of religion alvin plantinga which rekindled philosophical debate on the existence of god in angloamerican philosophical circles by arguing that belief in god was like belief in other minds. Eighteenth century intellectuals as distinguished from dol phins simply lacked the physical equipment for this kind of feat. Themes from richard swinburne, bergmann and brower, eds.
I remember my unfruitful experience of trying to comprehend alvin plantingas god, freedom, and evil. This belief is thus irrational, since it is selfdefeating. On that account as it stands, a good argument could take as premises propositions that have some but less than maximal intuitive support, and take as. Alvin plantingas view of warrant may be seen as rejection of premise 1. An introduction to the thought of alvin plantinga crossway.
Plantinga argues that belief in god can, like perceptual or memory belief, be properly basic. Plantinga is widely known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics and christian apologetics. He is currently noah porter professor emeritus philosophical theology at yale university. This was, at least in large part, due to the influence of positivism on the philosophical terrain. Alvin plantinga s magisterial warranted christian belief is one of the most important works on the epistemology of religious belief within the last century. T his is a collection of philosophical papers by alvin plantinga. His externalist epistemology, called proper functionalism, is a form of epistemological reliabilism. Plantingas epistemology of religious belief springerlink. In this book plantinga presents the same ideas in a briefer, more accessible fashion. Can belief in god be justified in the absence of evidence. Description of the book knowledge and christian belief. In his widely praised warranted christian belief oxford, 2000 alvin plantinga discussed in great depth and at great length the question of the rationality, or sensibility, of christian belief. In the reformed objection to natural theology, plantinga explains the basics of reformed epistemology. As is typically done, we might think of a possible world as a complete way that things might have been.
Towards a reformed epistemology and its educational. Plantinga on god, freedom, and evil article pdf available in international journal for philosophy of religion 122. The naturalism that dawkins embraces, furthermore, in addition to its intrinsic unloveliness and its dispiriting conclusions about human beings and their place in the universe. In doing so, he considers the natural theologians arsenal, the atheologians response, and whether belief in god can be salvaged from the analogy of other minds. Atheism on this sort of basis would be justified only if the explanatory power of theism were the only reason for belief in god. Plantinga has argued at length that christian belief can have. In the actual world i am writing up this blog post, but i could have decid. This splendid shorter rendering of that books proposals makes them accessible to general readers and to students outside the field of philosophy. Evolutionary naturalism the belief in the combination of naturalism and evolution is. Visiting fellow at balliol college, university of oxford. The reason for god, timothy keller georgia state university. I plantingas presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. Alvin plantinga is regarded as one of the foremost religious philosophers of the contemporary era.
Blaise pascal, the wager pdf william james, the will to believe link w. Both have argued that there is a profound connection between what and how we know and what there is, such that one cannot do good epistemology without delving deeply into ontology. The first essay is plantinga s reason and belief in god. A study of theological responses to alvin plantingas aquinas. God and other theoretical entities stephen maitzen in his nowclassic god and other minds, alvin plantinga embarked on the project that we have since come to know as reformed epistemology. Reason and belief in god alvin plantinga belief in god is the heart and center of the christian religion as it is of judaism and islam. Reassessing plantingas ontological argument for god. Alvin plantinga, reason and belief in god, in faith and rationality, ed. Matthew flannagan, phd, university of otago, is a researcher and a teaching pastor at takanini community church in auckland, new zealand.
If knowledge then god james anderson 5 the belief that humans are the product of undirected naturalistic evolutionary processes. Plantinga reason and belief in god pdf reason and belief in god. Our annual christmas tradition is to read something from the philosophy of religion. The evidential argument from evil arguments for gods existence all essays in peterson unless otherwise noted st. In other words, say plantinga and friends, belief in god is more like believing other people have minds than it is like a proof in the natural sciences. Wolterstorff eerdmans, 1983 advice to christian philosophers, published by the university of notre dame and in faith and philosophy i, 3 july, 1984. En is evidence, for the naturalist, that calls into question his belief in r. Does the theist have an epistemic advantage over the. And even then, agnosticism would be the justified attitude, not atheism. Plantinga exploded onto the scene with what he called reformed epistemology, which holds that evidence is not necessary for warranted belief in god.
Alvin plantinga, gods philosopher 3 he resolved to become a philosopher. Reformed epistemology is the title given to a broad body of epistemological viewpoints relating to god s existence that have been offered by a group of protestant christian philosophers that includes alvin plantinga, william alston, and nicholas wolterstorff among others. In this paper, i seek to elaborate and critically examine alvin plantingas narrative on the basicality of religious beliefs. Plantinga alvin pdf plantinga alvin pdf plantinga alvin pdf download. Alvin plantinga, god, freedom and evil excerpts pdf c. The god delusion is an extended diatribe against religion in general and belief in god in particular. Obrien professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame.
As plantinga expounds it,8 the free will defense rests on these two philosophical claims, which it adds to the theological assumptions l 3. Obrien professor of philosophy emeritus at the university of notre dame and the inaugural holder of the jellema chair in philosophy at calvin college. Thats the question at the heart of this volume in the great debates in philosophy series, with alvin plantinga and michael tooley each addressing this fundamental question with distinctive arguments from opposing perspectives. Gods existence insures the reliability of human cognitive faculties, argues descartes, so knowledge of gods existence blocks doubts raised by the possibility that one is being deceived by an evil demon.
Alvin plantingas properly basic belief religion refuted. While it is only 126 pages not including index, plantinga wrote about subjects that should cause the reader to slow down in order to think through much of what has been written. A prolific writer with wideranging philosophical and theological interests, he has written books on aesthetics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and. Epistemology and christian belief the puritan board. Charting a middle way between the extremes represented by alvin plantinga and richard swinburne, garth hallett explores the thesis that if belief in other minds is rational and true as it surely is, so too is belief in god. A study on the rational justification of belief in god, cornell university press, ithaca 1967. From a oneness pentecostal perspective the book has shortcomings. Belief in god is the heart of the christian religion as it is of judaism and islam. Read download god and other minds pdf pdf download. Nov 25, 20 alvin plantinga is one of the worlds top christian philosophers. Rbg plantingas essay with the title reason and belief in god. In this paper i shall try to develop and defend this position. Catherines college, oxford, one of the questions that preoccupied me was this. Evil makes a strong case against gods existence mackie, j.
He argues that a belief in god can be rational without proofs of gods existence. Belief in god is the heart and center of the christian religionas it is of judaism and islam. The interviewee for this installment is alvin plantinga, an emeritus professor of philosophy at the university of notre dame, a former president of both the society of christian philosophers and the american philosophical association, and the author, most recently, of where the conflict really lies. Philosopher alvin plantinga believes there are two to three dozen very good arguments. Abraham perkins school of theology alvin plantingas warranted christian belief is a landmark book on the rationality of christian belief.
An evaluation of alvin plantingas religious epistemology. Plantinga thinks it likely that if there is a god, he wants us to know him, and has given us a way of knowing him. Alvin carl plantinga is an american analytic philosopher, the john a. Feb 09, 2014 this is the first in a series of interviews about religion that i will conduct for the stone. The belief in the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent. If knowledge then god james anderson 2 necessity and historical success of natural theology. His modal ontological argument for foundational religious necessity is seen as an almost. Back in the 1950s, when the philosopher alvin plantinga was getting his start, there were scarcely more religious believers in academic philosophy departments. Although plantinga cannot remember ever not having been convinced. This leads to trouble with the previous explanation of goodness for an argument. The ethics of belief and two conceptions of christian faith. Reason and belief in god, faith and rationality, ed. Belief in god is the heart and center of the christian religion as it is of judaism and islam.
Two dozen or so theistic arguments 205 exist have some but much less than maximal intuitive support. Alvin plantinga distinguishes between a free will theodicy which states that free will is the reason that god does not prevent suffering and a free will defence which suggests that free will might be gods reason for failing to prevent suffering. God has in fact revealed himself, but merely claims that there is no reason to think that beliefs about god arent properly basic and that, if god exists, belief that god exists probably has sufficient warrant to count as knowledge. We lack any reason to think it is immoral to believe in god or that belief in god is less defensible morally or rationally than any other controversial position in the philosophical literature. Nicholas paul wolterstorff born 1932 is an american philosopher and a liturgical theologian.
Two dozen or so theistic arguments lecture notes by alvin plantinga ive been arguing that theistic belief does not in general need argument either for deontological justification, or for positive epistemic status, or for foley rationality or alstonian justification. Of course christians may disagree, at least in emphasis, as to how to think of god. Part one intro to philosophy weeks one and two summer 2017 created date. God, 2 divine attributes, 3 arguments for the existence of god, together with small sections on 4 god and morality and 5 religious belief, and 6 aspects of the problem of evil. Even so, keller is always aware of his audience and does not get bogged down in academic jargon. Faith and reason paper 15% due jan 16 for this assignment you will read. Alvin plantingas the reformed objection to natural theology. It is exciting to see the core ideas of that great work presented here in a more succinct and accessible format. Writing in 1974, alvin plantinga reported that a multitude of philosophers have held that the existence of evil is at least an embarrassment for those who accept belief in god, and, getting a bit more specific about the. Apr 25, 2017 in 1980, time magazine called alvin plantinga the leading protestant philosopher of god. He spent nineteen years as a professor at calvin college, then eighteen years at the university of notre dame, and returned to calvin college in 2010. Yet one is warranted to believe in god, he says, unless compelling evidence against belief is presented. A typical case of ambivalence between fideism and evidentialism dr.
Warranted christian belief but is by no means a quick and easy read. More specifically, plantinga argues that belief in god is properly basic, and due to a religious externalist epistemology, he claims belief in god could be justified independently of evidence. Clifford, the ethics of belief pdf the first writing exercise, the creditno credit paper, will be handed out. Plantingas work turns more strongly to philosophical theology, philosophical articulation of the nature of god, and what comes to be known as reformed epistemology, the notion that religious belief can be rational without appeal to evidence or argument. The god delusion is full of bluster and bombast, but it really doesnt give even the slightest reason for thinking belief in god mistaken, let alone a delusion. Articles 2016 law, cause, and occasionalism, in reason and faith. Philosopher sticks up for god by jennifer schuessler there are no atheists in foxholes, the old saying goes. Christian church as repressing and inhibiting the growth. Alvin plantinga on the god delusion darryl burling. And even so, the justified attitude would be agnosticism with respect to the moon, not amoonism. The scientific community is united as united as it gets in the belief that the universe is contingent that it had a cause outside itself. Alvin plantinga famously defends a version of the ontological argument that makes use of the notion of possible worlds.
Jeremy randel koons 2011 philosophical quarterly 61 245. Mar 15, 2015 alvin plantingas knowledge and christian belief was written as a synopsis of his much larger work. Jan 08, 20 when searching for god, majority opinion counts for little. Over 10 million scientific documents at your fingertips. Evil and omnipotence plantinga, alvin the free will defense hick, john. Philosophy of religion comprehensive exam reading list.
Alvin plantinga and nicholas wolterstorff notre dame. I plantinga s presentation of the free will defense is a landmark in contemporary discussions of the problem of evil. Its a great introduction to the thought he more fully develops later on primarily in the warrant series. Withholding belief in r clearly would have disastrous. Reason and belief in god alvin plantinga and nicholas wolterstorff, editors university of notre. This is to suggest that belief in god is a direct or immediate belief, not a belief that is formed on the basis of rational inference or evidence. This is one of plantinga s earlier essays on reformed epistemology and is highly recommended. Growing up among dutch calvinist immigrants in the midwest, mr. Plantinga, alvin 1983, reason and belief in god in plantinga and. That is, the belief in god could, in principle, be revised or discarded in the face of contrary evidence. University of notre dame press 1983, 1693, and in warranted christian belief new york. May 15, 2017 plantinga notes, however, that a basic belief in god is potentially defeasible.
The philosophical quarterly 61 georgetown university. It does not make god the conclusion of a syllogism, leaving it to us whether we think the. Knowledge of god great debates in philosophy alvin. Believing against the evidence bertrand russell, why i am not a christian pdf. Plantinga then goes on to ask if theistic belief is warrantbasic, i. Here we addressed considerations from contemporary science, in particular finetuning. Alvin plantinga proof and belief in god the reformed. This week we are finishing plantingas reason and belief in god, which we started two weeks ago. Students will gain an understanding of the relevant science including evolutionary biology and psychology and the relationship of these with issues in theology and religious belief including the doctrine of creation, the existence of the soul, and lifeafter dead.
But good arguments, on each side, enriche appreciation of issues and understanding of alternatives. Contrary to stereotypes, this did not make young alvin a bookish nerd indeed, he was an enthusiastic participant in high school football, basketball and tennis. In a word, they hold that belief in god is properly basic. Plantinga evaluates the issue of whether we are rationally justified in believing in god. Plantinga defends the argument against a formidable array of criticisms. Plantinga alvin pdf belief pdftk builder portable chip in god is the heart and center of the christian religionas it is of judaism and islam.