Loading...

A comparative study of cognitive science of religion and reformed epistemology

Aghajani, J. D ; Sharif University of Technology | 2022

2 Viewed
  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.22091/jptr.2021.7115.2569
  3. Publisher: University of Qom , 2022
  4. Abstract:
  5. Reformed epistemology, based on the reliability of the functions of cognitive faculties, holds that one can believe in God directly without argument or evidence. Alvin Plantinga, one of the proponents of this view, replaces justification with warrant in the classical definition of knowledge and considers true belief, which has a warrant as knowledge. On this basis, he considers it reasonable to believe in the existence of God because it has a warrant and arises from our healthy cognitive faculties without the need for an independent argument. Some defenders of the cognitive science of religion also seek to provide evidence from cognitive science to explain religious beliefs in such a way as to show that there is a natural mechanism in man to know God. They argue based on this mechanism in favor of the existence of God. Justin Barrett, one of the leading proponents of this view, uses a mental bias called the Hyperactive Agency Detection Device (HADD), which is evolutionarily developed in humans, to explain the process of generating belief in supernatural intentional beings, including God. In recent years, efforts have been made to integrate these two approaches and use the experimental results of cognitive science to validate reformed epistemology. The 2010 joint paper by Barrett and Clark, the former a cognitive scientist and the latter a reformed epistemologist, is a prime example of this effort. Although this paper lists some of the differences between the various perspectives in cognitive sciences of religion and reformed epistemology, its ultimate goal is to show the correlation and convergence of the two approaches. One of the similarities emphasized in this article is related to a particular type of cognitive faculty, called the sense of divinity or Sensues Divintatus, and in both approaches is mentioned by various terms. © the authors
  6. Keywords:
  8. Source: Journal of Philosophical Theological Research ; Volume 24, Issue 1 , 2022 , Pages 5-20 ; 17359791 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://pfk.qom.ac.ir/article_2000.html