Evidence, Uncertainty, And Belief: A Critique Of The Common Epistemic Grounds For Fideism And Agnosticism

Year 2022, Volume: 22 Issue: 2, 813 - 842, 30.09.2022

Nesim Aslantatar

https://doi.org/10.33415/daad.1107348

Abstract

Uncertainty elicits more than one doxastic attitude towards God’s existence, namely agnosticism and fideism, which have very similar epistemic foundations despite the dissimilarity in their outcomes. This similarity mainly depends on the alleged uncertainty of evidence, and to disclose both attitudes in all their bearings, two fundamental theses, epistemic and practical, will be suggested. Employing these two theses, this study aims to investigate the crucial points where agnosticism and fideism overlap and diverge depending on the uncertainty and argue that the epistemic common ground, the basis of many criticisms of fideism, is self-destructive. The uncertainty concerning the evidence for God, ambiguity, or vagueness will be explored to justify this claim. This will bear the question of whether the evidence is ambiguous because it is absent mainly or because it is present but vague. Or is it neither absent nor vague but still ambiguous because both sides have clear evidence? Consequently, the current study shall object to the idea that agnosticism equals vagueness which implicitly means that agnosticism is a necessary stance and defends that fideism’s having loose or no relation to evidence is irrational.

Keywords

Philosophy of Religion, Agnosticism, Fideism, Uncertainty, Ambiguity, Vagueness

Supporting Institution

Yok.

Thanks

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Sadenur Doğan Aslantatar, Abdulkadir Tanış, Zeynep Baktemur, and İbrahim Yıldız for their invaluable contribution to the study.

Kanıt, Belirsizlik Ve İnanç

Abstract

Belirsizlik, sonuçlarındaki farklılıklara rağmen, Tanrı’nın varlığına yönelik oldukça benzer epistemik temellere sahip agnostisizm ve fideizm olmak üzere birden fazla önermesel tutumu ortaya çıkarır. Söz konusu benzerlik, esasen, Tanrı’nın varlığına dair kanıtların yeterli olmadığı varsayımına dayanır. Bu çalışma bağlamında, her iki tutumu da kanıta dair yaklaşımları bakımından tüm yönleriyle ele almak adına epistemik ve pratik olmak üzere iki temel tez önerilecektir. Bu tezler aracılığıyla, agnostisizm ve fideizmin belirsizliğe bağlı olarak kesiştiği ve ayrıldığı kritik noktaları ele alacak ve fideizme yönelik birçok eleştirinin temeli olan epistemik ortaklığın fideizm açısından yıkıcı olduğunu savunacağız. Bu iddiamızı kanıtlamak adına, öncelikle, Tanrı’nın varlığına dair belirsizliğin –muğlaklık ya da müphemlik- mahiyeti üzerinde duracağız. Bu bağlamda, belirsizlik noktasında, iki konu üzerinde duracağız: (i) kanıt var olmadığı için mi muğlaktır, yoksa var ancak müphem midir? (ii) Kanıt, hem Tanrı’nın varlığını hem de var olmadığını destekleyen yeterince kanıt olduğu için mi muğlaktır? Sonuç olarak, mevcut çalışma, agnostisizmin müphemlik olarak anlaşılması fikrine karşı çıkarak agnostisizmin zorunlu bir tutum olmadığını savunacak; fideizmin kanıtlarla ilişkisinin zayıf olmasının ya da hiç olmamasının irrasyonel olduğunu göstermeye çalışacaktır.

Keywords

Din Felsefesi, Agnostisizm, Fideizm, Belirsizlik, Muğlaklık, Müphemlik

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