The ‘Diderot Objection’ to Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology

Bibliographic Data

ID20311012
AuthorsImran Aijaz (0000-0001-9300-8164, University of Michigan–Dearborn, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume60
Issue1
Pages123-146
Publication date2024-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligious Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-4125 • E-ISSN: 1469-901X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034412523000045
OpenAlexW4321252640
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited23

In response to Pascal's famous wager argument for adopting Christian belief, Denis Diderot noted that ‘An Imam could just as well reason this way’. In this article, I will show how Diderot's observation about Pascal's argument can legitimately be made about Alvin Plantinga's Reformed Epistemology (RE) and its use in defending the rationality of Christian belief. Plantinga's RE can, with some minor adjustments, easily be adopted by Muslims. I shall argue that an Islamic analogue of Plantinga's Christian RE presents an undercutting rationality defeater for Christian belief for those reflective Christians who adopt Plantinga-style religious epistemology. I call this defeater the ‘Diderot Objection’ to Plantinga's RE. As part of my discussion, I will consider how Plantinga attempts to respond to this sort of objection and will show why his response runs into difficulties

Argument (complex analysis) · Epistemology · Pascal (unit) · Philosophy of religion · Rationality · Theology · Computer Science · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Medieval Philosophy and Theology · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought

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