God and Other Minds: A Study of the Rational Justification of Belief in God (Cornell Paperbacks Series) Book

In this book Alvin Plantinga wrestles with one of the central issues in the philosophy of religion: can belief in God be rationally justified? Plantinga reviews in detail the traditional and modern arguments for and against the existence of God and concludes that all fail. He then turns to the related philosophical problem of the existence of other minds and defends the so-called analogical argument against current criticisms. He goes on to show, however, that although this argument affords us the best reasons we have for belief in other minds, it finally succumbs to the same problems that beset the teleological argument for God. In his brilliantly resoned conclusion, the author holds that "belief in other minds and belief in God are in the same epistemological boat; hence if either is rational, so is the other. But obviously the former is rational; so, therefore, is the latter."