The Epistemological Spiral

Here’s my research paper from Dr. Netland’s Religious Epistemology course here at TEDS. My paper is a transcendental analysis of the necessary conditions of the possibility of the Inference to the Best Explanation.

Inference to the Best Explanation is eminently important in our modern lives. We use it in our scientific investigations to decide between competing theories of the universe; we use it in epistemology to assess warrant or justification for important beliefs; we use it in our medical practices to diagnose patients and save lives; we use it in our justice system to solve crimes and convict murders; we use it in religious debates to argue important theological points, which might determine a soul’s eternal destination; and most importantly, we use it to find out what happened to that last piece of deep-dish pizza which we were saving in the refrigerator.

Inference to the Best Explanation is used by many Christian philosophers and apologists in order to defend and argue for the Christian worldview, often called Cumulative Case apologetics. I argue, on the other hand, that the necessary preconditions which make Inference to the Best Explanation even possible are uniquely satisfied by the Christian worldview. And if it’s the case that Inference to the Best Explanation presupposes God, then it can never be used to disbelieve in God.

Check the link below for the paper.

Settecase – Epistemological Spiral

Advertisement