Q&A: The Proof from Epistemology
The Proof from Epistemology
Question
In your book The First Being, you present the exposing argument according to which our belief in our cognitive system reveals that we implicitly assume the existence of God.
The way to ground the claim is by asking the question: where do we get the confidence that our cognitive system gives us “correct” answers?
The problem I find with this question is that it is meaningless. In order to test whether a claim is correct, we need to check whether it does not contradict the rules of the system we are in. In the case at hand, there is no system. There is no meaning to the question of whether our cognitive system is right or wrong, because we have nothing against which to test it.
Answer
Obviously there is something to compare it to: reality itself. We have no way to make that comparison (because cognition is always mediated through the senses), and that is precisely my difficulty.
“How do we know with confidence that our cognitive system gives us ‘correct’ answers?”
The answer is that this is a genetic flaw that produces self-confidence, and it is necessary for our survival; otherwise a person would freeze in place from fear and die of thirst.
After human beings began to think (to cast doubt), fear began to awaken. And in order to calm that fear, religions were created.