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A Primal Perspective on the Philosophy of ReligionEvidentialism, Foundationalism and Rational Belief

A Primal Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion: Evidentialism, Foundationalism and Rational... CHAPTER VIII EVIDENTIALISM, FOUNDATIONALISM AND RATIONAL BELIEF The Limits of Proof The discussion of evidence, proof and rationality in the philosophy of religion is strongly coloured, for obvious reasons, by the history of Western thought. That is to say, the controlling assumptions of Western philosophy have naturally provided the paradigms for the philosophy of religion in this respect. From this point of view three facts stand out for special attention. The first of these has to do with the epistemological bases of philosophy, as it has been practised in the West. From this point of view, Western philosophy recognizes two ways in which human beings may come to know whatever there is to be known. One way (stressed by empiricism) is through experience, and the other (stressed by rationalism) is through reasoning. The limitation of the rationalist way is that the only truths capable of being strictly proved are analytic and ultimately tautological. We cannot by logic alone demonstrate any matters of fact and existence; these must be known through experience. That two and two equal four can be certified by strict proof; but that we live in a world of objects in space, and that there is this http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Primal Perspective on the Philosophy of ReligionEvidentialism, Foundationalism and Rational Belief

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Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Copyright
© Springer 2006
ISBN
978-1-4020-5013-8
Pages
121 –129
DOI
10.1007/1-4020-5014-3_8
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

CHAPTER VIII EVIDENTIALISM, FOUNDATIONALISM AND RATIONAL BELIEF The Limits of Proof The discussion of evidence, proof and rationality in the philosophy of religion is strongly coloured, for obvious reasons, by the history of Western thought. That is to say, the controlling assumptions of Western philosophy have naturally provided the paradigms for the philosophy of religion in this respect. From this point of view three facts stand out for special attention. The first of these has to do with the epistemological bases of philosophy, as it has been practised in the West. From this point of view, Western philosophy recognizes two ways in which human beings may come to know whatever there is to be known. One way (stressed by empiricism) is through experience, and the other (stressed by rationalism) is through reasoning. The limitation of the rationalist way is that the only truths capable of being strictly proved are analytic and ultimately tautological. We cannot by logic alone demonstrate any matters of fact and existence; these must be known through experience. That two and two equal four can be certified by strict proof; but that we live in a world of objects in space, and that there is this

Published: Jan 1, 2006

Keywords: Religious Belief; Religious Experience; Basic Belief; Rational Belief; Sense Experience

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