Abstract
In his recently published Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, & Naturalism 2011 Alvin Plantinga criticises Paul Draper’s evolutionary argument against theism as part of a larger project to show that evolution poses no threat to Christian belief. Plantinga focuses upon Draper’s probabilistic claim that the facts of evolution are much more probable on naturalism than on theism, and with regard to that claim makes two specific points. First, Draper’s probabilistic claim contradicts theism’s necessary falsehood; unless Draper wishes to acknowledge that theism is necessarily true, his claim commits him to theism’s contingency and so sets him at odds with a mainstream that sees God’s existence as decidedly noncontingent. Second, Plantinga argues that Draper’s probabilistic claim is, even if true, overwhelmed by counterclaims about facts that are more likely on theism than naturalism. I argue this critique of Draper depends upon a serious error, and that Plantinga overlooks the full implications of his own presuppositions. Correcting these shortcomings shows that Plantinga’s own probabilistic-apologetics (e.g., the ‘Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism’) requires theism’s contingency no less than does Draper’s atheology.
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Abbreviations
- E:
-
Evolution
- N:
-
Naturalism
- T:
-
Theism
- L:
-
There is life on earth
- I:
-
There are intelligent beings
- M:
-
There are creatures with a moral sense
- W:
-
There are creatures who worship God
- EAAN:
-
The evolutionary argument against naturalism
- R:
-
Our cognitive faculties are reliable
References
Beilby, J. (ed.). (2002) Naturalism defeated? Essays on Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism. Cornell University Press, Ithaca
Dennett D. C., Plantinga A. (2011) Science and religion: Are they compatible?. Oxford University Press, New York
Draper P. (2008) Evolution and the problem of evil. In: Pojman L. P., Rea M. (Eds.), Philosophy of religion: An anthology. Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont(5th ed.,), pp 207–219
Plantinga A. (1993) Warrant and proper function. Oxford University Press, New York
Plantinga A. (2000) Warranted Christian belief. Oxford University Press, New York
Plantinga A. (2011) Where the conflict really lies: Science, religion, naturalism. Oxford University Press, New York
Plantinga A., Tooley M. (2008) Knowledge of God. Blackwell Publishing, Malden
Skyrms B. (2000) Choice chance: An introduction to inductive logic (4th ed.). Thomson Wadsworth, Belmont
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Wunder, T.A. Alvin Plantinga on Paul Draper’s evolutionary atheology: implications of theism’s noncontingency. Int J Philos Relig 74, 67–75 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-012-9361-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-012-9361-6