Plantinga

Plantinga

• 1.
  Is  religious  belief  properly  basic?   Main  ques5on-­‐  Is  argument  irrelevant  to  belief?    
• 2.
  Plan5nga  and  Reformed  Epistemology     l  This  argument  involves  a  rejec1on  of  the  claims  of  classical   founda1onalism  -­‐  which  claims  that  founda5onal/basic  beliefs  must  be  self-­‐ evident  or  infallible.     l  Plan5nga  suggests  that  religious  belief  can  be  considered  a  basic  belief.   Belief  in  God  can  be  basic  for  a  person.   l  Said  simply-­‐  A  person  can  be  ra1onally  jus1fied  in  believing  in  God  even  if   he  has  no  good  arguments  (of  the  theological  kind)  for  the  existence  of   God.     l  Plan5nga  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  a  person  can  know  God.    
• 3.
  The  grounds  for  religious  belief     l  Plan5nga  says  that  belief  in  God  is  basic;  but  that  it  has  grounds  and  can  be   jus0fied.     l  He  argues  this  point  using  several  examples:     -­‐  A  sense  of  wonderment  about  the  universe  can  give  rise  to  the  belief  that  it  was   created  by  God     -­‐  -­‐  Reading  the  Bible  can  lead  some  to  believe  that  God  is  speaking  to  them   personally     -­‐  -­‐  A  feeling  of  guilt  (for  doing  the  wrong  thing)  can  give  rise  to  the  belief  that  God   disapproves  of  what  one  has  done.    
• 4.
  The  grounds  for  religious  belief     l  For  each  of  these  examples,  Plan5nga  argues  that  there  is  a  jus1fying  or   grounding  situa1on  which  gives  rise  to  belief.     l  In  each  case  the  jus1fied  belief  is  not  directly  that  God  exists.  The  belief   which  is  considered  basic  is  that  the  universe  was  created  by  God  and  so  on.     l  Plan5nga’s  sugges5on  is  that  religious  belief  is  more  to  do  with  beliefs  about   God,  rather  than  belief  in  God’s  objec5ve  existence.  However,  the  laRer,   entails  the  former  and  this  poses  a  philosophical  problem.    
• 5.
  Is  argument  irrelevant  to  religious  belief?     l  Simply  put-­‐  Plan5nga  says  no.  Someone  who  has  been  brought  up  to  believe   in  God  may  experience  pain  and  suffering  and  as  a  result  ques5on  their   basic  belief  in  God.  A  reflec5on  on  the  problem  of  evil  and  suffering  is   en5rely  relevant  to  whether  this  person  upholds  their  belief  or  rejects  it.     l  Similarly,  someone  who  does  not  believe  in  God  might,  through  ra5onal   argument,  come  to  accept  that  there  is  a  God.     l  Essen5ally,  Plan1nga  argues  that  one  does  not  have  to  have  arguments  in   order  to  believe  in  God.    
• 6.
  Main  strength  of  the  argument   l  Plan1nga  is  correct  in  saying  that  we  oAen  believe  in  things  which  cannot   be  easily  proven.  He  argues  that,  as  far  as  proof  goes,  religious  belief  is  no   beRer  nor  worse  off  than  other  forms  of  beliefs  that  we  accept  without   evidence.    
• 7.
  Main  cri5cism  of  the  argument     The  Great  Pumpkin  Objec5on     -­‐  However;  there  could  be  any  number  of  beliefs  that  someone  might  claim   as  basic-­‐  Santa,  voodoo,  supernatural  beings,  the  great  pumpkin  that   returns  every  Halloween.  Could  these  also  be  considered  basic?     -­‐  Plan5nga  says  that  religious  belief  is  different  because  it  has  grounds,  but   whilst  he  may  think  that  belief  in  something  like  the  ‘great  pumpkin’  is  not   properly  basic,  someone  else  might.     -­‐  Beliefs  in  witches  or  many  gods,  could  be  basic  for  a  whole  culture-­‐  surely  by   his  own  standards  such  beliefs  should  be  considered  ra5onal?    
• 8.
  Con5nued   l  It  is  hard  to  be  en5rely  convinced  by  Plan5nga’s  argument,  even  though  it  is   generally  right  to  say  that  one  can  know  something  even  if  one  cannot   prove  it  to  others.     l  The  argument  should  rather  emphasize  the  role  that  belief  plays  in   deepening  one’s  faith  and  that  it  is  when  it  does  that  we  might  be  able  to   say  that  someone  knows  God.