Reforming reformed epistemology: a new take on thesensus divinitatis

Abstract

Alvin Plantinga theorizes the existence of a sensus divinitatis – a special cognitive faulty or mechanism dedicated to the production and non-inferential justification of theistic belief. Following Chris Tucker, we offer an evidentialist-friendly model of the sensus divinitatis whereon it produces theistic seemings that non-inferentially justify theistic belief. We suggest that the sensus divinitatis produces these seemings by tacitly grasping support relations between the content of ordinary experiences (in conjunction with our background evidence) and propositions about God. Our model offers advantages such as eliminating the need for a sui generis religious faculty, harmonizing the sensus divinitatis with prominent theories in the cognitive science of religion, and providing a superior account of natural revelation.

Analytic Catholic Epistemologies of Faith: A Survey of Developments

“…Stacey has a unique take on St. Thomas, though it is a take that would sit well with Blake McAllister and Trent Dougherty and their internalist approach to Reformed epistemology (McAllister & Dougherty, 2019). Stacey argues that there may be room to reasonably interpret St. Thomas as endorsing the thesis of phenomenal conservatism (PC), specifically with St. Thomas' reference to the instinct of faith Stacey, 2021.…”

The proper basicality of belief in God and the evil-god challenge

“…10.It's worth noting that while Plantinga couches his argument in terms of proper functionalism, others have developed alternative internalist-friendly models (e.g. Tucker (2011) and McAllister and Dougherty (2019)). While Plantinga's argument seems to have been widely accepted, see Fales (2003) for criticism of it, and Moon (2017) for an argument that sceptical theists must reject it.…”

Epistemic phariseeism

“…But it says that God divinely repairs the cognitive ability of certain people so that they can do so. This approach, which I call divine-help epistemology , can be found in the work of Plantinga (1983 and 2000); Wainwright (1995); Moroney (1999); Moser (2008 and 2010); and McAllister and Dougherty (2019).…”