Seeking Philosophical Insights

[Masha Ava]

Hey guys, I'm a history scholar who also has a keen interest in philosophy, but I always seem to run into a certain group of people who argue that knowledge is dependent on a metaphysical being, like Yahweh/Christian God. This kind of thinking falls under presuppositional apologetics. It just confuses me a bit because I'm not convinced that knowledge relies solely on the existence of a metaphysical entity. I'm wondering if there are any philosophers out there who can provide some insights into this and explain the reasoning behind such claims. 

Thank You..

[DavidOdden]

Beats me, mostly. However, the conclusion that knowledge relies solely on the existence of a metaphysical entity fundamentally contradicts doctrines of any version of Christianity (also Judaism and Islam). If it were true, it would mean that God directly implants knowledge into our minds, and we do not have a choice to learn or not learn.  Rather than relying on faith in his existence, God would simply implant certainty of his existence in the mind.

Since knowledge is a relationship between a consciousness and reality, you could however declare that if God had not created reality and various consciousnesses, there would be no consciousness which would perceive and therefore know anything, so perhaps you could say that the existents presupposed in the concept “knowledge” (i.e. “consciousness, existence”) themselves presuppose a divine being. At this point you probably end up in a regress of arbitrary and fundamentally irrational assertions about why a divine being is a “necessary” condition for existence. Anyhow, I think you would get better-informed responses by probing the question at a Christian philosophical website (like Christianity Stackexchange).

[Doug Morris]

9 hours ago, Masha Ava said:

Hey guys, I'm a history scholar who also has a keen interest in philosophy, but I always seem to run into a certain group of people who argue that knowledge is dependent on a metaphysical being, like Yahweh/Christian God.

For a very different view, read Ayn Rand's Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology and/or read the relevant parts of Leonard Peikoff's The Objectivist Philosophy of Ayn Rand.

[Masha Ava]

9 hours ago, Doug Morris said:

For a very different view, read Ayn Rand's Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology and/or read the relevant parts of Leonard Peikoff's The Objectivist Philosophy of Ayn Rand.

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