Rebuilding of the Argument from Religious Experience from Plantinga's Point of View

Editorial

Author
Ali Shirvani
Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Kalam, Research Institute of Hawzah and University, Qom, Iran
10.30497/prr.2012.1055
Abstract
According to his epistemological view called reformed epistemology, Alvin Plantinga counts belief in God as a properly basic belief which is based on no evidence for its justification and being warranted. Caroline Davis believes that though Plantinga's view on the justification warrant of belief in God is not generally considered an argument from religious experience, it actually is one.
Examining various aspects of Plantinga's view, this paper tries to suggest a formulation of an argument from religious experience according to his view, and to indicate the difficulties of the Davis' claim, though what Plantinga says about sensus divinitatis (sense of divinity) can be used in religious experience debates and for explaining a group of these experiences. In Plantinga's view, proper conditions activate the sense of divinity which, in turn, brings about doxastic experience, and this yields a proposition pertaining to God.
Keywords
argument from religious experience
basic beliefs
sensus divinitatis (sense of divinity)
doxastic experience
Alvin Plantinga
Caroline Davis
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