Alvin Plantinga explains "The Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism"


In the short video (13:45), philosopher Alvin Plantinga explains his famous "Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism."  

James Beilby, in the Dictionary of Christianity and Science, summarizes the argument well:

"...Plantinga argues that the probability that humans would have developed truth-aimed, reliable belief-producing mechanisms, given naturalism and contemporary evolutionary theory, is low.  This is because, given naturalism, it is difficult to see how the content of a belief (or the proposition associated with the belief) enters the causal chain leading to adaptive behavior.  The naturalist who comes to accept this implication of naturalism and evolution acquires a defeater for her or his belief that unguided evolution has produced truth-aimed, reliable cognitive faculties.  This defeater, then, gives the naturalist a defeater for all other beliefs she or he has, including naturalism itself.  Hence naturalism is self-defeating."1

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

1. James Beilby, Alvin Plantinga, Dictionary of Christianity and Science, p. 517.

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