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On Alvin Plantinga’S Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism, Emmett Frank Mashburn
On Alvin Plantinga’S Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism, Emmett Frank Mashburn
Doctoral Dissertations
Alvin Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism (EAAN) begins with the following simple idea: the evolutionary process of natural selection selects organisms due to adaptive behaviors, but not necessarily due to true beliefs. If this notion is even possibly true, then it is also possible that some (or many) of our own beliefs are not veridical and that our reasoning processes may not successfully point to truths (but are merely evolutionarily advantageous).
Once the deliverances and processes of our cognitive faculties have been thus called into question, it seems improper to provide an argument that one can trust one’s cognitive faculties …