Evidence · Case 08 · Science

The main objection, and Plantinga’s reply

One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.

The strongest objection, pressed by philosophers such as Jerry Fodor and Branden Fitelson and Elliott Sober, is that true beliefs are generally adaptive, since a creature that reads the world correctly tends to survive better than one that does not, so evolution would favor reliable minds after all. Stated fairly, this is a strong reply, and it is where most of the debate lives. Plantinga’s answer is that selection acts on behavior, not on the content of belief, and the same helpful behavior could ride on top of many false beliefs, so being adaptive does not guarantee being true.

Sources

James Beilby, ed., “Naturalism Defeated?” (opens in a new tab)
James Beilby, ed., “Naturalism Defeated? Essays on Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism” (Cornell University Press, 2002)

Objections & responses

Plantinga’s reply that selection acts on behavior, not belief content, assumes beliefs and behavior can come apart. If my belief that the cliff is dangerous causes me to avoid it, selection for the behavior is selection for the belief.: This is the strongest version of the reply, associated with Fodor and with Fitelson and Sober, and it is the one to quote. Plantinga’s response is that beliefs cause behavior by their neural properties, and it is the neural properties that are selected, so semantic content comes along only if it happens to be correlated; naturalists reply that the correlation is exactly what evolution would produce. This is where the argument stands or falls, and the debate is unresolved. You should see both moves and decide for yourself.

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