Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered
Evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) against religious beliefs move from the claim that religious beliefs are caused by off-track processes to the conclusion that said religious beliefs are unjustified and/or false. Prima facie, EDAs commit the genetic fallacy, unduly conflating the context of di...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Springer Netherlands
2014
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| _version_ | 1797061478267748352 |
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| author | Jong, J Visala, A |
| author_facet | Jong, J Visala, A |
| author_sort | Jong, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Evolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) against religious beliefs move from the claim that religious beliefs are caused by off-track processes to the conclusion that said religious beliefs are unjustified and/or false. Prima facie, EDAs commit the genetic fallacy, unduly conflating the context of discovery and the context of justification. In this paper, we first consider whether EDAs necessarily commit the genetic fallacy, and if not, whether modified EDAs (e.g., those that posit falsehood-tracking or perniciously deceptive belief-forming mechanisms) provide successful arguments against theism. Then, we critically evaluate more recent attempts to argue that a more promiscuous evolutionary scepticism renders religious belief unjustified because, unlike commonsense and scientific beliefs, religious beliefs have no way out of such scepticism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:31:44Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:3147e9ae-fcc3-4b71-ab65-1b9e19dd3923 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T20:31:44Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Springer Netherlands |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:3147e9ae-fcc3-4b71-ab65-1b9e19dd39232022-03-26T13:06:53ZEvolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsideredJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:3147e9ae-fcc3-4b71-ab65-1b9e19dd3923Symplectic Elements at OxfordSpringer Netherlands2014Jong, JVisala, AEvolutionary debunking arguments (EDAs) against religious beliefs move from the claim that religious beliefs are caused by off-track processes to the conclusion that said religious beliefs are unjustified and/or false. Prima facie, EDAs commit the genetic fallacy, unduly conflating the context of discovery and the context of justification. In this paper, we first consider whether EDAs necessarily commit the genetic fallacy, and if not, whether modified EDAs (e.g., those that posit falsehood-tracking or perniciously deceptive belief-forming mechanisms) provide successful arguments against theism. Then, we critically evaluate more recent attempts to argue that a more promiscuous evolutionary scepticism renders religious belief unjustified because, unlike commonsense and scientific beliefs, religious beliefs have no way out of such scepticism. |
| spellingShingle | Jong, J Visala, A Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered |
| title | Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered |
| title_full | Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered |
| title_fullStr | Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered |
| title_short | Evolutionary debunking arguments against theism, reconsidered |
| title_sort | evolutionary debunking arguments against theism reconsidered |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jongj evolutionarydebunkingargumentsagainsttheismreconsidered AT visalaa evolutionarydebunkingargumentsagainsttheismreconsidered |