According to Eric Funkhouser, omnipotence and necessary moral perfection (what Funkhouser calls "... more According to Eric Funkhouser, omnipotence and necessary moral perfection (what Funkhouser calls "impeccability") are not compatible. Funkhouser gives two arguments for this claim. In this paper, I argue that neither of Funkhouser's arguments is sound. The traditional theist can reasonably claim that, contra Funkhouser, (i) there is no possible being who possesses all of God's attributes sans impeccability, and (ii) the fact that there are things that God cannot do does not entail that God lacks omnipotence. Armed with (i) and (ii), the theist has all that is needed to refute Funkhouser's arguments.
Perception, Evidence, and the Epistemology of Disagreement
In this paper I argue for a version of the Total Evidence view according to which the rational re... more In this paper I argue for a version of the Total Evidence view according to which the rational response to disagreement depends upon one's total evidence. I argue that perceptual evidence of a certain kind is significantly weightier than many other types of evidence, including testimonial. Furthermore, what is generally called "The Uniqueness Thesis" is actually a conflation of two distinct principles that I dub "Evidential Uniqueness" and "Rationality Uniqueness." The former principle is likely true but the latter almost certainly false. Seeing why the Rationality Uniqueness fails opens the door to seeing how mutual reasonable disagreement is possible even among those who share the same evidenc
Taking up where 2008's The Elusive God left off, The Evidence for God is Paul Moser's second book... more Taking up where 2008's The Elusive God left off, The Evidence for God is Paul Moser's second book in his attempt to reorient religious epistemology. As with the earlier volume, The Evidence for God is daring and provocative. Among the important topics it deals with are naturalism, fideism, natural theology, and the role that volition plays in our ascertaining evidence of God's existence.
This book is a wide ranging and well informed general inquiry into rationality. Though religious ... more This book is a wide ranging and well informed general inquiry into rationality. Though religious belief is just one of the areas investigated, it receives special attention. As Stenmark sees it, a theory of rationality lays down principles for how we should conduct our cognitive affairs. Four models are consid
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Sep 1, 1996
The distinction between prima facie and what is sometimes called 'ultima facie' justification in ... more The distinction between prima facie and what is sometimes called 'ultima facie' justification in epistemology is familiar. Yet I believe that its importance is generally under-appreciated. This distinction is extremely useful in making clear the demarcations between competing epistemological theories. I begin this paper by discussing the primary motivation for recognizing this distinction, and then enumerate the ways that it sheds light on the foundationalist/coherentist, internalist/externalist, and naturalism debates in contemporary epistemology. 2. Marking the Distinction The primary reason to make the distinction between prima and ultima facie justification is to make a place for epistemic defeasibility. The need for an account of defeasibility arises from the recognition that there are two rather different ways of having unjustified beliefs. One's belief might be unjustified because one bases one's belief on either bad reasons or no reasons. Let me briefly describe three cases that will serve as paradigms in the discussion that follows: Case 1: Chuck believes that Mary doesn't like chicken because they were once at a restaurant together and Mary ordered lamb when she could have had chicken. Case 2: Alice looks across the quad (in good light) and sees in the distance a person she takes to be her colleague Ed. She comes to believe that she sees Ed. However, Alice also (justifiably) believes that Ed is in France and will not return to the U.S. for another six months. THE PRIMA/ULTIMA FACIE JUSTIFICATION DISTINCTION IN EPISTEMOLOGY 551
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