Mill's argument against religious knowledge

Journal article

In On Liberty, Mill says that 'the same causes which make ... [a person] a Churchman in London, would have made him a Buddhist or a Confucian in Pekin.' Despite Mill's not having drawn it out, there is an argument implicit in his comments that is germane to both externalist and internalist understandings of the epistemic justification of religious beliefs, even though some of these understandings would not wish to use the term 'epistemic justification' to refer to whatever it is they suggest must be added to true belief for it to count as knowledge. In this paper, we shall articulate this argument; examine how it challenges those religious believers who would wish to claim their religious beliefs as knowledge; and consider what they may do to meet this challenge.

Authors: Mawson, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Religious Studies
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 417-434
• Publication date: 2009-01-01
• Edition: Author's Original
• DOI: 10.1017/S0034412509990047
• EISSN: 1469-901X
• ISSN: 0034-4125
• Language: English
• Keywords: John Stuart Mill; internalism; externalism; religious beliefs
• Subjects: Theology and Religion; Philosophy; Philosophy,psychology and sociology of religion