Naturalism And Evolutionary Theory Is Self Undermining

Naturalism in Conjunction with Evolutionary Theory is Self Undermining Naturalism is self undermining because if naturalism and evolution is true, we have insufficient reason to believe our cognitive faculties are reliable, which means that any human construct (including naturalism and evolution) is unreliable. Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against naturalism (EAAN) argues the combination of evolutionary theory and naturalism is self-defeating on the basis that naturalism and evolution is true, the probability that humans have reliable cognitive faculties is inscrutable. If god creates us either directly, or indirectly through directed evolutionary means, we are guaranteed our cognitive faculties, when properly used and normal, are reliable. This hinges on three claims: naturalism is committed to a Darwinian theory of origin, darwinian evolutionary processes would not likely yield cognitive processes which are reliable in a relevant epistemic sense, and theistic creation w ould yield reliable cognitive mechanisms. In his EAAN, Plantinga (1994) discusses four ways in which evolution would produce creatures with belief generating mechanisms of which one would not want to bet on. These will be discussed in the following to prove that the confluence of evolutionary theory with naturalism is self defeating. Firstly, Plantinga (1994) discusses epiphenomenalism; that physical events are completely independent of mental processes. He discusses that there is no causalShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages. Organization Theory Challenges and Perspectives John McAuley, Joanne Duberley and Phil Johnson . This book is, to my knowledge, the most comprehensive and reliable guide to organisational theory currently available. What is needed is a text that will give a good idea of the breadth and complexity of this important subject, and this is precisely what McAuley, Duberley and Johnson have provided. They have done some sterling service in bringing together the very diverse strands of work