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#Post#: 95--------------------------------------------------
Is there an argument for theism from intuitions and knowledge?
By: Atno Date: February 20, 2020, 6:34 pm
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There are many arguments to the effect that if human beings and
the world hadn't been designed by an intelligent God, it would
be improbable for us to have gotten reliable cognitive powers
beyond those necessary for survival. The most famous such
argument is Plantinga's EAAN. Rob Koons defends an argument from
intuition against naturalism, which is pretty much the same but
involves intuition rather than knowledge in general.
Basically, we have reliable intuitions (about metaphysics,
number theory, ethics, etc), and this would be surprising under
naturalism, but not under theism.
Could an Aristotelian dualist avoid such an argument? Of course,
it's possible to make an argument for God as the best
explanation of dualism and souls etc., but I am bracketing this
here. Would there still be a theistic argument from the
reliability of our intuitions and cognitive functions?
For the Aristotelian, the intellect grasps things themselves,
including their modal properties. Would this mean that any
intellect, by virtue of being an intellect, would have
intuitions about metaphysics, ethics, mathematics, etc?
It seems to me possible that there is a possible world with
beings like us, but with a different form which gave them
rationality and the power to grasp universals and all the rest,
except that they do not have the intuitions we normally have
about ethics, metaphysics, and so on. Their intellects are
capable of reasoning and grasping ideas, but are not naturally
gifted at discovering intuitive truths such as we are. It seems,
after all, there is something surprising about how our minds are
able to know so much.
If this goes through, then the fact we have generally reliable
intuitive knowledge of so many areas would support theism.
#Post#: 149--------------------------------------------------
Re: Is there an argument for theism from intuitions and knowledg
e?
By: Dominik Date: May 19, 2020, 5:39 am
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Are you looking for something like that?
HTML http://www.robkoons.net/media/92f8093d1a9864c0ffff80ebffaf2815.pdf
#Post#: 154--------------------------------------------------
Re: Is there an argument for theism from intuitions and knowledg
e?
By: Atno Date: May 22, 2020, 11:36 pm
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I mention Koons's argument, I have read it. My question is
whether an Aristotelian atheist dualist could avoid it. Which is
a curious question (at least prima facie, I think we could have
"stupid" intellects under atheism)
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