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Evidentialism: Procedure In Epistemology

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Evidentialism is based on a particular theory of procedure in epistemology. According to this theory, there is an analogy between the legal sphere and the religious sphere. In a legal system, the guilt of a defendant is considered to be false until it is proven to be true. The prosecution should prove that someone is guilty of a crime by providing evidence. Similarly, in the religious sphere, the existence of God is considered to be false until it is proven to be true. Religious believers should prove that the existence of God is true by providing evidence.6 An example of a philosopher who argued for this version of Evidentialism was Anthony Flew.7 On this account, religious beliefs would be considered false until they are shown to be true based on evidence. As a result, …show more content…

For recent developments in this area, see the papers in Trent Dogherty (ed.), Evidentialism and its Discontents (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011). For a recent defence of religious belief against the challenge of Evidentialism based on the argument that knowledge of God is immediate, see: Abbas Yazdani, Evidentialism and the Rationality of Religious Belief: Responding to the Evidentialist Challenge to the Rationality of Belief in God (Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010). For a defence of religious belief based on the rejection of Evidentialism, see: Kelly James Clark, Return to Reason: A Critique of Enlightenment Evidentialism and a Defense of Reason and Belief in God (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990).
9 Peter Forrest, “The Epistemology of Religion”, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-epistemology/,

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