The Church's and Epistemology

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Hello all,

I have recently been reading a lot about Reformed Epistemology (the work of Alvin Plantinga to name one). I am not a Catholic, and I was simply wondering if the Church has a specific view/stance on epistemology (how does one know what one knows etc) or is it one of those topics where wiggle room is allowed?

Thanks for any help!
 
Interesting question. I don’t know the answer, but I have read a little bit (and only a little bit) of reformed epistemology too, mostly in terms of is Theism and Christianity “properly basic.” It makes some sense, I think, and I don’t think it’s contrary to Church teaching, but I don’t know if there is a specific catholic position on it. I’d be interested if anyone else knew.
 
danserr said:
Interesting question. I don’t know the answer, but I have read a little bit (and only a little bit) of reformed epistemology too, mostly in terms of is Theism and Christianity “properly basic.” It makes some sense, I think, and I don’t think it’s contrary to Church teaching, but I don’t know if there is a specific catholic position on it. I’d be interested if anyone else knew.
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St. Thomas Aquinas has a lot to say about it in Summa Theologica. He uses philosophical methods to give demonstrations why theological truths are reasonable. The subject you are talking about is not anything dogmatic, but does have important theological implications, especially for refuting existentialism and refuting he idea that humans are not different than animals.

I took a Christian Anthropology class that taught some things about the intellect. For example, this is one of the answers I wrote for a quiz:
  1. How can we demonstrate the spiritual nature of the intellect?
    We can demonstrate the spiritual nature of the intellect because it has the capacity to form universal and abstract ideas. The intellect grasps universals without the individualizing characteristics. It is able to abstract and dematerialize to apprehend a concept. If our intellect can dematerialize, the intellect can’t be material.
    The intellect is also able to grasp the concept of abstract ideas that have no shape or sense data attached. The imagination cannot image abstract concepts such as truth. St Thomas says that everything is received according to the mode of the receiver. Therefore, the receiver must be like what is being received. If the receiver, i.e., the brain, is matter, it can only receive matter. If the intellect is immaterial, it can receive immaterial things like ideas. These abstract ideas go beyond sense data and matter. Our understanding of an immaterial thing is not a material thing that can be sensed by one’s five senses. The brain is composed of neurons that are not aware of what the concept is about. It is just an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling. It does not have intelligence in itself.
    We can also demonstrate the spiritual nature of the intellect because it has the capacity to reflect on its own acts in self-consciousness. Humans are the only creatures who know that they know. They are self-aware of their being and actions. Material objects and other animals do not introspect about their existence. Neither does any organ or part of our body have this self-awareness. My arm does not know it is an arm or that it is a part of a whole body. Animals do not know anything more than how to act like the kind of animal they are. Their actions are determined by instinct and the ability to associate through conditioning to respond in a certain way that gains a reward. That is not intellect.
    Our will is also reflexive in that it can desire to desire, love to love, want to want. Our will transcends the material body. Though we imagine the heart as the seat of our desire, the heart has no capacity to desire or will.
 
Phew, I’m glad people are replying. I was worried this thread would vanish into the forums! Epistemology certainly isn’t too common of a topic (though it should be!).

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

@danserr I too am intrigued by Reformed’s position of Christian belief being properly basic. I would be curious if there is anything in Catholic teaching that would rule out this foundationlist approach.

@bettyg Thank you for sharing that with me. I’ve always thought Aquinas’ thought has such wonderful fluidity (though I don’t know if I am a through and through Thomist).

Perhaps I’ll have to give Catholic Answers Live a call. Even if the Church has no official position, I would be curious for whether foundationalism and coherentism are held in equal standing (i would think not!) and if not to what degree.
 
Welcome to the forums.

I too came to Catholic theology from Reformed Theology. There is no “standard” or “dogmatic” epistemological stance, just as the Church does not have an official philosophy.

I will say though that the Church has understood her doctrines – the Eucharist, predestination, grace, faith, etc – through Aristotlean realism. Consider the word transubstantiation, for instance: trans-substance. The notions of substance and form are particularly helpful. If I were you, I would stick with traditional Thomist/Aristotlean epistemology, not only because it is what the tradition has held, but also because it is, in my mind, the only system which makes most sense of all the facts.

A good person to read, depending on how well one is acquainted with Aristotle and philosophy, is Garrigou-Lagrange, particularly his 2 volume treatise on God, His Existence and Nature.
 
Fulton Sheen’s “God and Intelligence” is also a good read on the subject.
 
GonzoMonk89 said:
Hello all,

I have recently been reading a lot about Reformed Epistemology (the work of Alvin Plantinga to name one). I am not a Catholic, and I was simply wondering if the Church has a specific view/stance on epistemology (how does one know what one knows etc) or is it one of those topics where wiggle room is allowed?

Thanks for any help!
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Hi GonzoMonk89:

It does not have a specific stance on epistemology, but given that Augustine and Aquinas have done lots of work on this, they’re one way to start. But honestly, if I could only give you one resource, I would say, read this book:

amazon.com/Degrees-Knowledge-Collected-Jacques-Maritain/dp/0268008868

Here my namesake (the greatest Catholic epistemologist of the 20th century) updated the Medieval Scholastics (particularly the Angelic Doctor) and brought Catholic epistemology into the modern era. It is NOT an easy book. But it changed my life, and it can change yours too. It is that important. Aquinas was able to incorporate Greek philosophy into Christian theology, but only Maritain could create a “critical realism” that helps the analytic/formalistic philosophers find their way back to the primacy of metaphysics. Maritain develops an epistemology that covers the full range of human knowledge, from simple sense perception, supernatural knowledge, and even knowledge of the Divine. He answers the “problem of Descartes” (cogito, ergo sum), and even manages to create a “sixth way” in Approaches to God.

Jacques
 
I don’t think there is a specific doctrine in Epistemology, considering the two main Theologians in the West (Augustine and Aquinas) have opposing epistemological views (Realism and Moderate Realism respectively).

I am a Realist
 
Well, you’re making headway, with some arguments others have more or less made, but it won’t matter to devout Christians.

And I think you need to consider the concept of Deism, in which God exists but does not interfere in the world or with natural law.

We simply have no proof one way or the other and probably never will. Even we atheists ultimately take our atheism on faith, however solidly grounded we believe it is.
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