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Achievements, Value, and God: an Essay on the Cognitive Success of Religious Knowledge

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Achievements, Value, and God: an Essay on the Cognitive Success of Religious Knowledge This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Achievements, Value, and God: An Essay on the Cognitive Success of Religious Knowledge Anthony David Bolos For Research Degree of Ph.D. in Philosophy University of Edinburgh 2013 For Julie, Sin Duda Table of Contents Declaration .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... 6 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 7 Foreword .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 1: Introduction: What Should One Expect from a Religious Epistemology? 14 Chapter 2: Reformed Epistemology: An Overview ................................................................20 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................20 2.2 Religious Skepticism De Jure .................................................................................................22 2.3 Classical Foundationalism .....................................................................................................26 3ODQWLQJD·V6ROXWLRQDQGWKH([WHUQDOLVW0RWLI ..................................................................29 2.5 Internalism and the Evidentialist Challenge .......................................................................31 2.6 Externalism and Warrant ......................................................................................................33 2.7 The Case for Parity ................................................................................................................37 2.8 Christian Doctrines and the Extended Aquinas/Calvin Model ......................................41 2.9 Summary and Conclusion .....................................................................................................42 Chapter 3: The Value of Knowledge ..........................................................................................44 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................44 3.2 The Value Problem ................................................................................................................45 3.3 Knowledge and Its Distinctive Value ..................................................................................51 3.4 The Swamping Problem: An Initial Assessment ...............................................................53 3.5 The Swamping Problem: Part II ..........................................................................................55 3.6 Summary and Conclusion .....................................................................................................62 Chapter 4: Knowledge as a Cognitive Achievement ..............................................................63 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................63 4.2 Achievements: An Initial Assessment .................................................................................65 4.3 Primary Credit vs. Partial Credit ..........................................................................................68 4.4 Knowledge-as-Achievement Thesis ....................................................................................74 4.5 Achievements without Knowledge ......................................................................................77 4.6 Rethinking the Notion of Primary Credit ...........................................................................80 4.7 Achievement(jc) and Testimonial Knowledge ...................................................................87 4.8 Luck, Achievements, and Knowledge .................................................................................90 4.9 Strong vs. Weak Achievements ............................................................................................94 Chapter 5: Is Knowledge of God a Cognitive Achievement? ..............................................98 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................98 5.2 The Problem Explained ........................................................................................................99 5.3 The Noetic Effects of Sin: A Malfunctioning Cognitive Faculty ................................. 102 5.4 From Malfunction to a Properly Functioning Cognitive Faculty ................................ 107 5.5 Joint or Primary Credit? ..................................................................................................... 112 5.6 Benefits of this Model ........................................................................................................ 115 5.7 Criticisms and Concerns Addressed .................................................................................. 117 5.8 Luck, Knowledge of God, and the Tertiary Value Problem .......................................... 122 Afterword .......................................................................................................................................... 125 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 129 5 Declaration I, Anthony David Bolos, hereby declare the following. The present thesis, submitted for examination in pursuit of a PhD by Research in Philosophy, has been entirely composed by me, and it has not been submitted in pursuit of any other academic degree, or professional qualification. Signature: Date: August 2, 2013 6 Acknowledgements There are of course many people to thank. First, though, I must thank my supervisors: Duncan Pritchard and Allan Hazlett. When I moved to Edinburgh in 2008, I arrived With an educational background that Was primarily focused in theology. Making the jump from theology to SKLORVRSK\ ZDVQ·W HDV\ ,W ZDV PDGH PXFK HDVLHU though, through the generosity of Duncan, Allan, and the faculty at Edinburgh. Duncan, Who supervised both my MSc and PhD projects, spent many hours meeting with me and reading my work. His kindness as a teacher and mentor is an example to all of us young academics. I also thank Allan, Who despite joining my project a bit later, spent many hours reading my Work and meeting With me. His comments on my Writing (often as long as the essay he had revieWed!) were alWays helpful in their detail and honesty. I Would also like to thank the graduate community at Edinburgh, especially Jamie Collin, Kyle Scott, and Shane Ryan. Shane and I have been Working on similar projects the past three years and I am thankful for the many conversations We had about What exactly it means for something WREH´SULPDULO\FUHGLWDEOHµDQG´RIFUHGLWµ And While We are only slightly closer to figuring this out than We Were 3 years ago, I am thankful for time We spent discussing these important matters! With Jaime and Kyle, I often discussed every philosophical and theological topic LPDJLQDEOH,DPJUDWHIXOWRWKHPIRUQRWRQO\´VHWWLQJPHVWUDLJKWµRQPDQ\RIWKRVHLVVXHVEXW also for their friendship. I Would also like to thank those Who attended two major philosophy conferences: The British Society for the Philosophy of Religion Conference at Oxford in 2011 and the Society of Christian Philosophers at CU Boulder in 2013. At both conferences, I presented different versions of the final two chapters of this thesis and received invaluable comments from the attendees Which helped shape and clarify some of the central arguments in the final two chapters. Last, and most importantly, there is my Wife Julie. When she married me she had no idea that I Would ask her to move With me to Peru, Scotland, and now Israel. In these past 7 years she has not only supported my every endeavor, but has, often times, led the Way. She has been my companion and friend through all of this. More than anyone I know, she has lived out these Words from St. Paul: ´And over all these virtues put on love, ZKLFKELQGVWKHPDOOWRJHWKHULQSHUIHFWXQLW\µ 7 Abstract Recent literature in religious epistemology has overlooked a significant debate in mainstream epistemology. In short, theories in religious epistemology have failed to consider the value problem. This essay, then, hopes to rectify this omission
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