William Alston
(1921-2009)
William P. Alston was an analytic philosopher and epistemologist. With
Alvin Plantinga, he founded the Society of Christian Philosophers and the journal
Faith and Philosophy.
He argued for a blend of
internalism and
externalism. The fulfillment of one's epistemic duty (deontological justification) strengthened
foundationalist justification on the internalist side. He argued for
levels of justification, first order, second order, etc. One need not be justified in holding a second-order belief in
p, but still may be directly justified in believing
p.
Alston tried to show the
reliability of perception, despite circular reasoning, and thereby defended justified beliefs in God.
On the externalist side, he followed
Thomas Reid in seeing
justification as a certain kind of social practice.
Alston was a leader in the effort to create a "
reformed epistemology" that could justify belief in God as a "basic belief" and defend faith as rational. Basic beliefs do not require explicit justification. They are self-justifying, according to some epistemologists. Alston did not care for the adjective "Reformed," as it refers back to John Calvin's Reformed theology, and the doctrine that God placed a
sensus divinatus in the minds of men.
For Teachers
To hide this material, click on the Normal link.
For Scholars
To hide this material, click on the Teacher or Normal link.
Notes
1.
2.
Bibliography
Normal |
Teacher |
Scholar
|
