Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2019
Kegan J. Shaw
Pages 102-128
https://doi.org/10.5840/faithphil2019117118
A Plea for the Theist in the Street
A Defense of Liberalism in the Epistemology of Religious Experience
It can be easy to assume that since the ¡°theist in the street¡± is unaware of any of the traditional arguments for theism, he or she is not in position to offer independent rational support for believing that God exists. I argue that that is false if we accept with William Alston that ¡°manifestation beliefs¡± can enjoy rational support on the basis of suitable religious experiences. I make my case by defending the viability of a Moorean-style proof for theism¡ªa proof for the existence of God that parallels in structure G. E. Moore¡¯s famous proof for the existence of the external world. I argue that this shows that even if the theist in the street has nothing to offer for helping to convince the religious sceptic, this needn¡¯t entail that she cannot offer independent rational support in defense of her theistic belief.