Background
Plantinga, Alvin was born on November 15, 1932 in Michigan, United States. Son of Cornelius A. and Lettie Gertrude (Bossenbroek) Plantinga.
(Book annotation not available for this title. Title: God ...)
Book annotation not available for this title. Title: God and Other Minds Author: Plantinga, Alvin Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr Publication Date: 1990/06/01 Number of Pages: Binding Type: PAPERBACK Library of Congress: 90173100
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(This book, one of the first full-length studies of the mo...)
This book, one of the first full-length studies of the modalities to emerge from the debate to which Saul Kripke, David Lewis, Ruth Marcus, and others are contributing, is an exploration and defense of the notion of modality de re, the idea that objects have both essential and accidental properties. Plantinga develops his argument by means of the notion of possible worlds and ranges over such key problems as the nature of essence, transworld identity, negative existential propositions, and the existence of unactual objects in other possible worlds. He also applies his logical theories to the elucidation of two problems in the philosophy of religion: the problem of evil and the ontological argument.
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(In his discussion of natural theology (arguments to prove...)
In his discussion of natural theology (arguments to prove the existence of God) and natural atheology (arguments for the falsehood of theistic belief) Plantinga focuses on two of the traditional arguments: the ontological argument as an example of natural theology, and the problem of evil as the most important representative of natural atheology. Accessible to serious general readers.
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(Known for distinguished work in the fields of metaphysics...)
Known for distinguished work in the fields of metaphysics and philosophy of religion, Alvin Plantinga ventures further into epistemology in this book and its companion volume, Warrant and Proper Function. Plantinga examines the nature of epistemic warrant; whatever it is that when added to true belief yields knowledge. This present volume surveys current contributions to the debate and paves the way for his own positive proposal in Warrant and Proper Function. This first volume serves as a good introduction to the central issues in contemporary epistemology.
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(In this companion volume to Warrant: The Current Debate, ...)
In this companion volume to Warrant: The Current Debate, Alvin Plantinga develops an original approach to the question of epistemic warrant; that is what turns true belief into knowledge. He argues that what is crucial to warrant is the proper functioning of one's cognitive faculties in the right kind of cognitive environment. Although this book is in some sense a sequel to its companion volume, the arguments do not presuppose those of the first book and it stands alone as a stimulating contribution to epistemology.
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(This is the third volume in Alvin Plantinga's trilogy on ...)
This is the third volume in Alvin Plantinga's trilogy on the notion of warrant, which he defines as that which distinguishes knowledge from true belief. In this volume, Plantinga examines warrant's role in theistic belief, tackling the questions of whether it is rational, reasonable, justifiable, and warranted to accept Christian belief and whether there is something epistemically unacceptable in doing so. He contends that Christian beliefs are warranted to the extent that they are formed by properly functioning cognitive faculties, thus, insofar as they are warranted, Christian beliefs are knowledge if they are true.
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Plantinga, Alvin was born on November 15, 1932 in Michigan, United States. Son of Cornelius A. and Lettie Gertrude (Bossenbroek) Plantinga.
Bachelor, Calvin College, 1954. Master of Arts, University Michigan, 1955. Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University, 1958.
Several honorary degrees.
Instructor Yale University, New Haven, 1957-1958. Associate professor Wayne State University, Detroit, 1958-1963. Professor Calvin College, Grand Rapids, 1963-1982.
John A. O'Brien professor philosophy University Notre Dame, Indiana, 1982—2010, director Center for Philosophy of Religion, 1983—2003. Director summer seminar Council Philosophic Studies, Grand Rapids, 1973. Director summer seminars National Endowment of the Humanities, Grand Rapids, 1975, 76, 78, co-director, 1986.
Director Notre Dame Center Philosophy of Religion.
(In his discussion of natural theology (arguments to prove...)
(This book, one of the first full-length studies of the mo...)
(Known for distinguished work in the fields of metaphysics...)
(In this companion volume to Warrant: The Current Debate, ...)
(This is the third volume in Alvin Plantinga's trilogy on ...)
(Warranted Christian Belief [Paperback]Alvin Plantinga (Au...)
(Book annotation not available for this title. Title: God ...)
Plantinga’s work has been characterized by the careful application of techniques of modem logic to traditional problems in epistemology, metaphysics and especially the philosophy of religion. A member of the Christian Reformed Church, he has tried to defend religious belief against the claim that it is irrational. In God and Other Minds (1967) he argued that belief in God was, in crucial ways, like belief in other minds.
Neither can be given any ultimate rational justification, but neither needs it: they can be regarded as beliefs which are epistemologically basic, and which it is rational to accept without justification. This theory of knowledge, known as ‘reformed epistemology’, has been developed in detail in Plantinga’s later works. More generally, he has argued that a belief is justified if it is the result of properly functioning cognitive capacities in an appropriate environment, a conception which, he holds, has its most natural home in a theistic setting.
In The Nature of Necessity (1974) he developed a ’quantified modal realism’, a theory, derived Partly from Leibniz, which explains the nature of necessity in terms of possible worlds.
Much of Plantinga’s work has been informed by this conception. Plantinga’s w°rk has been one of the major stimuli to the use °t modem logical and philosophical techniques in Philosophical theology, particularly in the US. He,s generally regarded as one of most powerful modem philosophers of religion.
Member American Philosophical Association (president central division 1982), Society Christian Philosophers (president 1983-1986).
Married Kathleen Ann DeBoer, June 16, 1955. Children: Carl, Jane, Harry, Annual.