title: Naturalism Defeated?: Essays on Plantinga's Evolutionary Argument against Naturalism
author: James Beilby
description: "Plantinga has both defended and embellished his view in his response to his critics, and sometimes what he has learned from them has strengthened and refined his own argument at important points."Russell DiSilvestro, Bowling Green State University, Philosophia Christi, 5:1, 2003<br /><br />"I have been emphasizing the similarities between the critical essays in Beilby's book, but there are important differences as well, differences that add to the depth of the book. Moreover, the similarities give the book a great deal more cohesiveness than one would have expected to find in a collection of essays by distinct authors, especially given the variety of interesting issues raised by Plantinga's argument. Thus, my overall evaluation of the book is very positive."Paul Draper, Florida International University, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 55, 2004<br /><br />"This book has much to offer scholars in the fields of philosophy, religious studies, theology, and science and religion. I highly recommend its use with upper-level undergraduates through faculty. We are all indebted to Beilby who has deepened the sophistication of a growing discussion of evolutionary epistemology. Does Plantinga defeat naturalism? Read the book and decide for yourself."Peter Heltzel, Fordham University, Religious Studies Review Vol 30 No 1, January 2004
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  1
  Alvin Plantinga's Evolutionary Argument
   
   against 
   
  Naturalism
   
  By: Arash Naraghi
   
   
  Introduction
   
   After years defending the rationality of theism in general and Christian beliefs in particular, 
  Alvin Plantinga has taken the offensive.   He proposes an argument against naturalism, and 
  claims the falsity, or at least, irrationality of naturalism.  He made three major claims against 
  naturalism:
   
  First claim: The probability of our cognitive faculties being reliable given the conjunction of 
  what he calls "metaphysical or philosophical naturalism" and some version of the theory of 
  evolution is fairly low or inscrutable.( The Probability Thesis- hereafter (PT) )1
   
  Second claim: Naturalism is false.
   
  Third claim: Naturalism is self-defeating, and therefore, it cannot be rationally held.
   
            Here by "naturalism" or "metaphysical/philosophical naturalism", Plantinga means the 
  belief that there are not any supernatural beings- no such person as God, for example, but