Naturalism And Evolution - 1098 Words

Popularizing the claim that naturalism and evolution are mutual self-defeaters, Alvin Plantinga argues, in Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (1993), that given unguided evolution, our beliefs have no intrinsic relation to the truth. Drawing on previous arguments made by C.C Lewis and Arthur Balfour, Plantinga claims that if humans are the product of undirected processes, then we cannot reasonably rely on our cognitive faculties. In fact, it’s just â€Å"as likely, †¦ that we live in a sort of dream world as that we actually know something about ourselves and our world.† Thus, if we cannot rely on our beliefs, then we cannot rely on our belief in naturalism and, ahem, evolution. And therefore naturalism is defeated. Well, if true, this†¦show more content†¦But, inserting a supernatural element (God) as a key fact is a circular argument. Viz. if God exists, naturalism is not true, so there’s no use invoking God as evidence that naturalism is untrue. (Prove God exists first!). Further, the Philosopher William Ramsay has observed how human faculties are, in fact, slightly unreliable – look at our impressive array of cognitive biases - and further posits that evolution and naturalism explain this better than theism. In fact, the well-established foibles in our thinking pose a considerable challenge to Plantinga’s suggestion that we are the perfect perceivers of truth one would expect as the product of an omnipotent Creator. Plantinga’s argument trades upon the philosophical knowledge-problem: the difficulty in providing a neat solution to the foundation of knowledge: how do we know we can rely on our beliefs? But this philosophical problem is not specific to either evolution of naturalism: the challenge pertains to all of our beliefs. In fact, our evolution by natural selection justifies a moderate level of trust in our cognitive faculties. The brain size of human species has increased from 400cc to 1350cc over several millions of years. In this time archaic humans developed more sophisticated stone tools, harnessed fire, developed language, and began to use symbolic thought. Natural selection seems to have been effective in providingShow MoreRelatedNaturalism And Evolutionary Theory Is Self Undermining1295 Words   |  6 PagesNaturalism in Conjunction with Evolutionary Theory is Self Undermining Naturalism is self undermining because if naturalism and evolution is true, we have insufficient reason to believe our cognitive faculties are reliable, which means that any human construct (including naturalism and evolution) is unreliable. Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN) argues the combination of evolutionary theory and naturalism is self-defeating on the basis that naturalism and evolution is trueRead MoreThe Theories Of Scientific Naturalism1516 Words   |  7 Pagesscientific naturalism against Christianity. These worldviews are incredibly opposite, but there may be areas that the two opposing sides could meet on. Both views have valid ideas to contribute to the argument. We strengthen our beliefs through ideological conflict with others. Both view-points are strengthened when compared to each other rather than presented separately with no alternative view to oppose it. Before we start one question needs to be answered, what is scientific naturalism and whatRead MoreApologetics Application Paper Part 2 Submission Form Jeremy Story861 Words   |  4 PagesModule/Week 4. Add as much space as necessary to each section below. 1. Introduction Paragraph for Final Paper: Atheistic Naturalism an ever growing trend in the United States, and although it is not at a level to be concerned with at this point; it is an ever growing problem that needs to be addressed. 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Merriam Webster’s definition of Naturalism is as follows: A theory that art or literature should conform exactly to nature or depict every appearance of the subject that comes to the artist’s attention, specifically a theory in literature emphasizing the role of heredity and environment upon human life and character development. Naturalism went fromRead MoreSummary And Critique Of Bush s Arguments1437 Words   |  6 Pagesconsequences of naturalistic philosophy over a theistic worldview and challenges Christians to defend and protect their religious rights (4). Bush presents how advancement has been detrimental to religion throughout history and points out the flaws of naturalism, classifying it as â€Å"internally inconsistent, empirically inadequate, and lacking in satisfactory explanatory power† (94). He presents Christianity as the true worldview, which â€Å"has passion and experience, but it also has superior intellectual†.Read MoreWhat Was The Day I Was Born?1229 Words   |  5 Pagesfascination with the past. Every day I analyze the founding documentations of our previous societal states. Through my research I have developed a deeper understanding of the previous items in our nation. These beginning organisms are referred to as the Naturalisms in the Pure State. When gathering information on our elders I began to realize the gradual creation of a cohesive society. Prior to their discovery of item interaction and the connection of beings to each other, the Naturalism’s lived in an existence