The final strategy of those seeking compatibility between religion and science is to retreat into something that is reminiscent of solipsism... In a recent book, ”Where the Conflict Really Lies,” the eminent analytical philosopher Alvin Plantinga acknowledges the possibility of evolution, but suggests that random mutations and the like are “clearly compatible with their being caused by God.
Plantinga argues that Christian believers have a sixth sense, a “sensus divinitatis” that allows them to sense God, with that sense defective or absent in nonbelievers. One could, of course, equally generate an infinite range of similar hypotheses, none scientifically testable, such as “only Zeus believers have a working Zeus sense,” “only ghost believers have a ghost sense,” and so forth, but...But that's enough. My acute sixth sense for theo-nonsense is quavering.
Godlike Great Programmers: The Scientists Arguing for Religious Belief : The New Yorker (Thanks for the link, DB)
What sense did Platinga use to detect the presence of his "sensus divinitatis?" A "sensus detectus divinitatis?" Does he advocate an infinite regression of senses to detect senses to detect senses that ultimately allow him to sense God? I think it makes much more sense to hypothesize that Platinga is just using his ordinary senses to detect stories about God, just like all believers do.
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