Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T03:49:58.791Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

THEISM, NATURALISM, AND INVISIBLE GARDENERS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2020

Get access

Abstract

In this article, I consider the famous Invisible Gardener Parable which aims to show that theism is not a viable theory because it can be endlessly amended to accommodate for prima facie disconfirming data. I point out that the parable fails to consider how tolerance for theory adjustment is relative to the perceived explanatory power of the theory. I also point out that naturalism is no less subject to adaptation than is theism. Thus, if endless adaptability constitutes an objection for theism then it does so for naturalism as well.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)