Lecture 10.2 Religious Beliefs 2

Lecture Overview

  • Topic: Knowledge and Scepticism

  • Focus on: Religious Belief

Alvin Plantinga

  • Reference: Plantinga, A. (1981). ‘Is belief in God properly basic?’

  • Contribution: Theistic response to Theistic Evidentialism.

    • Theistic Evidentialism: Belief in God must be justified through inference and arguments.

  • Plantinga's Claim: Theistic beliefs can be justified without inference, making them foundational.

Plantinga's Thesis on Theistic Beliefs

  • Definition of Properly Basic Belief:

    • Not inferred from other beliefs (i.e., basic).

    • Justified (i.e., proper).

  • Examples of Theistic Beliefs:

    • "God is communicating with me."

    • "God created everything."

    • "God disapproves of my actions."

    • "God forgives me."

    • "God deserves my praise."

Conditions for a Non-Inferential Belief to be Proper

  1. Formed from the appropriate kind of experiences.

  2. The individual has no defeaters for the belief—no strong reasons to doubt the experience.

  • Example: Seeing a tree leads to the belief in its existence, justified if there's no reason to doubt the sighting.

Plantinga's Reliabilism

  • The term ‘right kind of experience’ refers to experiences that reliably lead to true beliefs.

  • Reliabilism, though not explicitly defended, is inferred as Plantinga's perspective.

  • Challenge: If reliabilism applies to non-theistic beliefs, why not to theistic ones?

Two Approaches to Justifying Theistic Beliefs

  1. Treat theistic beliefs as perceptual beliefs with inherent reliability.

    • Plantinga does not support this.

  2. Acknowledge a reliable process leads to theistic beliefs, suggesting a faculty producing more true than false beliefs.

    • This approach emphasizes a distinct faculty generating theistic beliefs.

Religious Belief according to Reformers

  • Reference to Reformers like John Calvin:

    • Belief in God is properly basic; justifying circumstances exist.

    • God reveals Himself through nature, creating in humans a propensity to recognize His existence.

Sensus Divinitatis

  • Idea that there is an innate sense of God (sensus divinitatis) in every human.

    • This is not a learned doctrine but an instinctive understanding.

  • Nature does not allow any individual to forget this inherent belief.

Conditions Influencing Belief in God

  • Various experiences prompt belief, including:

    • Guilt, gratitude, danger, perceived divine presence, and God's communication.

    • Contemplation of nature (e.g., flowers, stars) fosters belief in divine creation.

Distinction Between Theistic and Non-Theistic Beliefs

  • The distinction arises when comparing belief in God with beliefs like the Great Pumpkin:

    • Theistic beliefs (e.g., God exists) are firmly grounded while bizarre beliefs lack a foundation.

    • Theists may not find propositions about God (e.g., attributes) basic, but believe in them based on specific events.

Critiques of Plantinga’s Theories

  • Primary Objection: If belief in God is properly basic, why can't any belief be considered similarly basic?

  • Questions about the potential of irrational or superstitious beliefs being justified in the same way as belief in God.

Response to the Great Pumpkin Objection

  • Reformed epistemologists can argue the difference between belief in God and beliefs like that of the Great Pumpkin:

    • God exists; therefore, natural tendencies to grasp divinity exist, unlike the fictional Great Pumpkin.

  • Theistic beliefs differ because they are grounded in reality whereas non-theistic beliefs aren't.

Externalism and Theistic Belief Justification

  • On an externalist framework:

    • Justification of belief hinges on sensitivity to the environment, making the theistic belief rational based on sensitivity to God.

    • Reliabilism indicates that beliefs formed by reliable processes will produce more true beliefs.

Additional Objections

  • Goldberg (2014): Highlights that widespread religious disagreement might undermine reliability in understanding religious propositions.

  • Claim: If belief formation is widely inconsistent, it suggests the process of revelation lacks reliability.

Scholarly Critiques of Plantinga

  • Notable critiques include:

    • Stewart Goetz (1983): Argument against proper basic belief in God.

    • Michael Martin (1990): Critiques of religious epistemology.

    • Duncan Pritchard (2003): Reforming reformed epistemology approach.

    • Sandford Goldberg (2014): Questions on the rationality of religious commitment in externalist epistemology.