THEISM AND METHODOLOGICAL NATURALISM, Cover Image

THEISM AND METHODOLOGICAL NATURALISM,
THEISM AND METHODOLOGICAL NATURALISM,

Author(s): John R. Gilhooly
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Ideas Forum International Academic and Scientific Association
Keywords: Methodological Naturalism; Theism; Occasionalism; Induction;

Summary/Abstract: No theist should hold that scientific accounts of the world are (or could be) comprehensively true becauseof the nature of methodological naturalism and induction. First, periods of so-called normal science treatregnant theories as true, but induction about the history of science tells us that we have little reason to beconfident that these judgments are in fact true. Hence, induction about the history of science countsagainst our ability to claim that contemporary theories produced by induction are true. But, that is selfdefeating.Second, no theist can avoid the specter of occasionalism. Suppose an apple falls on your head.The naturalistic account of what happened is that certain constants and spatial relations made it the casethat the apple struck you in the head. The miraculous account might be that God himself was the agentthat struck you with the apple. To the observer, it might be the case that there is no empirical differencebetween the two circumstances. Methodological naturalism does not have the power to show that thesecond account is false even though it is forced to conclude that the first account is true. But, that isarbitrary. So, while methodological naturalism is problematic for the naturalist, it is even more so for thetheist.

  • Issue Year: 2/2018
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 72-76
  • Page Count: 5
  • Language: English