Richard Swinburne is a prominent philosopher of religion who has made a significant contribution to the argument for the existence of God based on religious experience. Swinburne's argument relies heavily on the concept of testimony, which is the idea that we can trust the reports of others who claim to have had religious experiences. However, his argument has also been subject to criticism, particularly with respect to the problem of credulity.
Testimony is a key idea in Swinburne's argument for the existence of God based on religious experience. According to Swinburne, we can reasonably believe in the existence of God based on the testimony of others who claim to have had religious experiences. Swinburne argues that we can use our own experiences as a basis for understanding the experiences of others, and that we can trust the reports of others who claim to have had experiences that are similar to our own. In his book, The Existence of God, Swinburne writes, "We can come to know things about the world that we cannot know by our own experience by trusting the testimony of others" (Swinburne, 2004, p. 60).
However, the problem of credulity poses a challenge to Swinburne's argument. Credulity refers to a tendency to believe something without sufficient evidence, and in the context of religious experience, it raises questions about the reliability of testimony. Critics argue that individuals may attribute experiences to God without considering alternative explanations or scrutinizing their experiences critically.
In response to this criticism, Swinburne acknowledges that we must be cautious when assessing testimony. In The Existence of God, he writes, "Testimony is not to be accepted without question...we must always look to see whether there is any reason to suppose that the testimony is unreliable" (Swinburne, 2004, p. 59). Swinburne suggests that we can assess the reliability of testimony by considering factors such as the number and diversity of witnesses, the coherence of their accounts, and the degree to which their experiences can be independently verified.
Despite Swinburne's efforts to address the problem of credulity, critics remain skeptical of the reliability of testimony as evidence for the existence of God. For example, philosopher Michael Martin argues that testimony is inherently problematic because it relies on the assumption that the witnesses are reliable and truthful. In his book, Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, Martin writes, "The problem with religious experience is that it involves testimonial evidence, and testimonial evidence is not reliable" (Martin, 1992, p. 90).
References:
James, W. (1985). The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature. New York: Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1902)
Martin, M. (1992). Atheism: A philosophical justification. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Swinburne, R. (2004). The existence of God (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.