Alvin Carl Plantinga (born November 15, 1932) is an American analytic philosopher who works primarily in the fields of philosophy of religion , epistemology (particularly on issues involving epistemic justification ), and logic .
124-903: Plantinga is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Alvin Plantinga (born 1932), American analytic philosopher Cornelius Plantinga (born 1946), president of Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 2002 through 2011 Klaas Plantinga (1846–1922), Dutch distiller and founder of the Plantinga Distillery in Bolsward Leon Plantinga , American musicologist Piet Plantinga (1896–1944), Dutch water polo player [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
248-722: A Guggenheim Fellow , 1971–72, and elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1975. In 2006, the University of Notre Dame 's Center for Philosophy of Religion renamed its Distinguished Scholar Fellowship as the Alvin Plantinga Fellowship. The fellowship includes an annual lecture by the current Plantinga Fellow. In 2012, the University of Pittsburgh's Philosophy Department, History and Philosophy of Science Department, and
372-517: A classical language , along with Greek and Latin , and essential for study of the Old Testament in the original. Reverend Stiles, president from 1778 to 1795, brought with him his interest in Hebrew as a vehicle for studying ancient Biblical texts in their original language, requiring all freshmen to study Hebrew (in contrast to Harvard, where only upperclassmen were required to study it) and
496-442: A "free-will defense" in a volume edited by Max Black in 1965, which attempts to refute the logical problem of evil , the argument that the existence of evil is logically incompatible with the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, wholly good God. Plantinga's argument (in a truncated form) states that "It is possible that God, even being omnipotent, could not create a world with free creatures who never choose evil. Furthermore, it
620-472: A World Containing Moral Good but No Moral Evil", where he states his conclusion that, "... the price for creating a world in which they produce moral good is creating one in which they also produce moral evil." What Plantinga calls "Reformed epistemology" holds that belief in God can be rational and justified even without arguments or evidence for the existence of God. More specifically, he argues belief in God
744-400: A belief, B, is warranted if: (1) the cognitive faculties involved in the production of B are functioning properly…; (2) your cognitive environment is sufficiently similar to the one for which your cognitive faculties are designed; (3) … the design plan governing the production of the belief in question involves, as purpose or function, the production of true beliefs…; and (4) the design plan is
868-553: A campus in West Haven , and forests and nature preserves throughout New England . As of 2023 , the university's endowment was valued at $ 40.7 billion, the third largest of any educational institution . The Yale University Library , serving all constituent schools, holds more than 15 million volumes and is the third-largest academic library in the United States. Student athletes compete in intercollegiate sports as
992-524: A changing culture. Levesque concludes, noting he may have misunderstood some of the challenges, but he correctly anticipated the enduring tensions that have accompanied the emergence of the modern university. Milton Winternitz led the Yale School of Medicine as its dean from 1920 to 1935. Dedicated to the new scientific medicine established in Germany, he was equally fervent about "social medicine" and
1116-425: A classical background. The report meant the classics would not be abandoned. During this period, institutions experimented with changes in the curriculum, often resulting in a dual-track curriculum. In the decentralized environment of US higher education, balancing change with tradition was a common challenge. A group of professors at Yale and New Haven Congregationalist ministers articulated a conservative response to
1240-403: A clear winner, because scoring is subjective. With late 19th-century concerns about the impact of modern life on the body, athletics offered hope that neither the individual nor society was coming apart. In 1909–10, football faced a crisis resulting from the failure of the reforms of 1905–06, which sought to solve the problem of serious injuries. There was a mood of alarm and mistrust, and, while
1364-471: A design plan is like a technological product designed by a human being (like a radio or a wheel). Ultimately, Plantinga argues that epistemological naturalism - i.e. epistemology that holds that warrant is dependent on natural faculties—is best supported by supernaturalist metaphysics—in this case, the belief in a creator God or designer who has laid out a design plan that includes cognitive faculties conducive to attaining knowledge. According to Plantinga,
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#17327653610691488-435: A good one: that is, there is a high statistical or objective probability that a belief produced in accordance with the relevant segment of the design plan in that sort of environment is true. Plantinga seeks to defend this view of proper function against alternative views of proper function proposed by other philosophers which he groups together as "naturalistic", including the "functional generalization" view of John Pollock ,
1612-462: A hand in guiding, directing or orchestrating the course of evolution. But the scientific theory of evolution, sensibly enough, says nothing one way or the other about divine guidance. It doesn't say that evolution is divinely guided; it also doesn't say that it isn't. Like almost any theist, I reject unguided evolution; but the contemporary scientific theory of evolution just as such—apart from philosophical or theological add-ons—doesn't say that evolution
1736-417: A holistic study of humankind, lasted only a few years before resentful antisemitic colleagues drove him to resign. Before World War II , most elite university faculties counted among their numbers few, if any, Jews, blacks, women, or other minorities; Yale was no exception. By 1980, this condition had been altered dramatically, as numerous members of those groups held faculty positions. Almost all members of
1860-523: A hostile sexual climate. In response, the university formed a Title IX steering committee to address complaints of sexual misconduct. Afterwards, universities and colleges throughout the US also established sexual harassment grievance procedures. Yale instituted policies in the early 20th century designed to maintain the proportion of white Protestants from notable families in the student body (see numerus clausus ) and eliminated such preferences, beginning with
1984-625: A major center for analytic philosophy. In 1963, he accepted a teaching job at Calvin University, where he replaced the retiring Jellema. He then spent the next 19 years at Calvin before moving to the University of Notre Dame in 1982. He retired from the University of Notre Dame in 2010 and returned to Calvin University, where he holds the first William Harry Jellema Chair in Philosophy. He has trained metaphysics and epistemology -focused philosophers including Michael Bergmann , Michael Rea , and Trenton Merricks . Plantinga served as president of
2108-672: A medical campus adjacent to the Yale–New Haven Hospital . In western New Haven, the university holds 500 acres (2.0 km ) of athletic facilities, including the Yale Golf Course . In 2008, Yale purchased the 17-building, 136-acre (0.55 km ) former Bayer HealthCare complex in West Haven , Connecticut, the buildings of which are now used as laboratory and research space. Yale also owns seven forests in Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire—the largest of which
2232-554: A moral philosopher, was president from 1871 to 1886. During an age of expansion in higher education, Porter resisted the rise of the new research university, claiming an eager embrace of its ideals would corrupt undergraduate education. Historian George Levesque argues Porter was not a simple-minded reactionary, uncritically committed to tradition, but a principled and selective conservative. Levesque says he did not endorse everything old or reject everything new; rather, he sought to apply long-established ethical and pedagogical principles to
2356-613: A new partnership with the National University of Singapore led to the opening of Yale-NUS College in Singapore, a joint effort to create a new liberal arts college in Asia featuring a curriculum including Western and Asian traditions. In 2017, having been suggested for decades, Yale University renamed Calhoun College, named for slave owner , anti-abolitionist , and white supremacist Vice President John C. Calhoun . It
2480-518: A number of intelligent design conferences. In a March 2010 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education , philosopher of science Michael Ruse labeled Plantinga as an "open enthusiast of intelligent design". In a letter to the editor, Plantinga made the following response: Like any Christian (and indeed any theist), I believe that the world has been created by God, and hence "intelligently designed". The hallmark of intelligent design, however,
2604-474: A philosophical basis for Christian belief, an argument for why Christian theistic belief can enjoy warrant. In the book, he develops two models for such beliefs, the "A/C" ( Aquinas / Calvin ) model, and the "Extended A/C" model. The former attempts to show that a belief in God can be justified, warranted and rational, while the Extended model tries to show that specifically Christian theological beliefs including
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#17327653610692728-558: A reputation as having the worst record of labor tension of any university in the U.S. Moreover, Yale has been accused by the AFL–CIO of failing to treat workers with respect, as well as not renewing contracts with professors over involvement in campus labor issues. Yale has responded to strikes with claims over mediocre union participation and the benefits of their contracts. Yale's central campus in downtown New Haven covers 260 acres (1.1 km ) and comprises its main, historic campus and
2852-444: A semester. He applied to Harvard and was awarded a scholarship. In the fall of 1950, Plantinga transferred to Harvard, where he spent two semesters. In 1951, during Harvard's spring recess, Plantinga attended a few philosophy classes at Calvin University and was so impressed with Calvin philosophy professor William Harry Jellema that he returned in 1951 to study philosophy under him. In 1954, Plantinga began his graduate studies at
2976-428: A slightly different way: According to Craig, premises (2)–(5) are relatively uncontroversial among philosophers, but "the epistemic entertainability of premise (1) (or its denial) does not guarantee its metaphysical possibility." Furthermore, Richard M. Gale argued that premise three, the "possibility premise", begs the question . He stated that one only has the epistemic right to accept the premise if one understands
3100-571: A substantial sum of money. Cotton Mather suggested the school change its name to "Yale College". The name Yale is the Anglicized spelling of the Welsh name Iâl , which had been used for the family estate at Plas yn Iâl, near Llandegla , Wales. Meanwhile, a Harvard graduate working in England convinced 180 prominent intellectuals to donate books to Yale. The 1714 shipment of 500 books represented
3224-461: A teaching job in Michigan in 1941. Cornelius also had a master's degree in psychology. He taught several academic subjects at different institutions throughout his career. Plantinga married Kathleen De Boer in 1955. They had four children. One of Plantinga's brothers, Cornelius "Neal" Plantinga Jr. , is a theologian and the former president of Calvin Theological Seminary and another, Leon ,
3348-692: A trilogy of books on epistemology, culminating in Warranted Christian Belief (2000) that was simplified in Knowledge and Christian Belief (2015). Plantinga was born on November 15, 1932, in Ann Arbor, Michigan , to Cornelius A. Plantinga (1908–1994) and Lettie G. Bossenbroek (1908–2007), immigrants from the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. After Cornelius earned a PhD in philosophy from Duke University , he secured
3472-444: A web of friendships and affiliations built up in school." CNN suggests that George W. Bush benefited from preferential admissions policies for the "son and grandson of alumni", and for a "member of a politically influential family". Elisabeth Bumiller and James Fallows credit the culture of community that exists between students, faculty, and administration, which downplays self-interest and reinforces commitment to others. During
3596-529: Is properly basic , and due to a religious externalist epistemology, he claims that it could be justified independently of evidence. His externalist epistemology, called "proper functionalism", is a form of epistemological reliabilism . Plantinga discusses his view of Reformed epistemology and proper functionalism in a three-volume series. In the first book of the trilogy, Warrant: The Current Debate , Plantinga introduces, analyzes, and criticizes 20th-century developments in analytic epistemology, particularly
3720-739: Is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut , United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States , and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution . Yale was established as the Collegiate School in 1701 by Congregationalist clergy of the Connecticut Colony . Originally restricted to instructing ministers in theology and sacred languages ,
3844-667: Is a portrait of them in Sterling Memorial Library , painted by Brenda Zlamany . In 1966, Yale began discussions with its sister school Vassar College about merging to foster coeducation at the undergraduate level. Vassar, then all-female and part of the Seven Sisters —elite higher education schools that served as sister institutions to the Ivy League when nearly all Ivy League institutions still only admitted men—tentatively accepted, but then declined
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3968-548: Is an emeritus professor of musicology at Yale University . As an adolescent, Alvin Plantinga's family moved from Michigan to North Dakota for his father's job at Jamestown College . At his father's advice, Alvin skipped his last year of high school to enroll at Jamestown College in 1949 at 16. That year, his father accepted a teaching job at Calvin University which began in January 1950. Alvin Plantinga moved to Grand Rapids with his family and attended Calvin University for
4092-615: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Alvin Plantinga From 1963 to 1982, Plantinga taught at Calvin University before accepting an appointment as the John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame . He later returned to Calvin University to become the inaugural holder of the Jellema Chair in Philosophy. A prominent Christian philosopher, Plantinga served as president of
4216-511: Is in the Georgian style . Georgian-style buildings erected from 1929 to 1933 include Timothy Dwight College , Pierson College , and Davenport College , except the latter's east, York Street façade, which was constructed in the Gothic style to coordinate with adjacent structures. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library , designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill ,
4340-405: Is necessary (it is possibly true in all worlds). Plantinga's version of S5 suggests that "To say that p is possibly necessarily true is to say that, with regard to one world, it is true at all worlds; but in that case it is true at all worlds, and so it is simply necessary." A version of his argument is as follows: Plantinga argued that, although the first premise is not rationally established, it
4464-494: Is not contrary to reason. Michael Martin argued that, if certain components of perfection are contradictory, such as omnipotence and omniscience, then the first premise is contrary to reason. Martin also proposed parodies of the argument, suggesting that the existence of anything can be demonstrated with Plantinga's argument, provided it is defined as perfect or special in every possible world. Another Christian philosopher, William Lane Craig , characterizes Plantinga's argument in
4588-510: Is not surpassed. It does not, he argued, demonstrate that such a being has unsurpassed greatness in this world. In an attempt to resolve this problem, Plantinga differentiated between "greatness" and "excellence". A being's excellence in a particular world depends only on its properties in that world; a being's greatness depends on its properties in all worlds. Therefore, the greatest possible being must have maximal excellence in every possible world. Plantinga then restated Malcolm's argument, using
4712-500: Is now Hopper College, after Grace Hopper . In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests , the #CancelYale tag was used on social media to demand that Elihu Yale's name be removed from Yale University. Much of the support originated from right-wing pundits such as Mike Cernovich and Ann Coulter , who intended to satirize what they perceived as the excesses of cancel culture . Yale spent most of his professional career in
4836-415: Is one of the largest buildings in the world reserved exclusively for the preservation of rare books and manuscripts. The library includes a six-story above-ground tower of book stacks, filled with 180,000 volumes, that is surrounded by large translucent Vermont marble panels and a steel and granite truss. The panels act as windows and subdue direct sunlight while also diffusing the light in warm hues throughout
4960-552: Is organized into fourteen constituent schools, including the original undergraduate college , the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale Law School . While the university is governed by the Yale Corporation , each school's faculty oversees its curriculum and degree programs. In addition to a central campus in downtown New Haven , the university owns athletic facilities in western New Haven,
5084-502: Is possible that God, even being omnibenevolent, would desire to create a world which contains evil if moral goodness requires free moral creatures." However, the argument's handling of natural evil has been disputed. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy , the argument also "conflicts with important theistic doctrines" such as the notion of a heaven where free saved souls reside without doing evil, and
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5208-581: Is put on a plaque with Plantinga's image in the Institute for Studies in Religion. He was named the first fellow of the center as well. He was awarded the 2017 Templeton Prize . Plantinga has argued that some people can know that God exists as a basic belief , requiring no argument. He developed this argument in two different ways: firstly, in God and Other Minds (1967), by drawing an equivalence between
5332-429: Is required for knowledge. In the second book, Warrant and Proper Function , he introduces the notion of warrant as an alternative to justification and discusses topics like self-knowledge, memories, perception, and probability. Plantinga's "proper function" account argues that as a necessary condition of having warrant, one's "belief-forming and belief-maintaining apparatus of powers" are functioning properly—"working
5456-457: Is responsible for the Hebrew phrase אורים ותמים ( Urim and Thummim ) on the Yale seal. A 1746 graduate of Yale, Stiles came to the college with experience in education, having played an integral role in founding Brown University . Stiles' greatest challenge occurred in 1779 when British forces occupied New Haven and threatened to raze the college. However, Yale graduate Edmund Fanning , secretary to
5580-582: Is the 7,840-acre (31.7 km ) Yale-Myers Forest in Connecticut's Quiet Corner —and nature preserves including Horse Island . Yale is noted for its largely Collegiate Gothic campus as well as several iconic modern buildings commonly discussed in architectural history survey courses: Louis Kahn 's Yale Art Gallery and Center for British Art, Eero Saarinen 's Ingalls Rink and Ezra Stiles and Morse Colleges, and Paul Rudolph's Art & Architecture Building . Yale also owns and has restored many noteworthy 19th-century mansions along Hillhouse Avenue , which
5704-452: Is the claim that this can be shown scientifically; I'm dubious about that. ...As far as I can see, God certainly could have used Darwinian processes to create the living world and direct it as he wanted to go; hence evolution as such does not imply that there is no direction in the history of life. What does have that implication is not evolutionary theory itself, but unguided evolution, the idea that neither God nor any other person has taken
5828-561: Is unguided. Like science in general, it makes no pronouncements on the existence or activity of God. The attitude that he proposes and elaborates upon in Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism is that there is no tension between religion and science, that the two go hand in hand, and that the actual conflict lies between naturalism and science. Yale University Yale University
5952-607: The American Philosophical Association , Western Division, from 1981 to 1982. and as president of the Society of Christian Philosophers from 1983 to 1986. He has honorary degrees from Glasgow University (1982), Calvin University (1986), North Park College (1994), the Free University of Amsterdam (1995), Brigham Young University (1996), and Valparaiso University (1999). He was
6076-507: The Colony of Connecticut on October 9, 1701. The Act was an effort to create an institution to train ministers and lay leadership. Soon after, a group of ten Congregational ministers, Samuel Andrew , Thomas Buckingham, Israel Chauncy, Samuel Mather (nephew of Increase Mather ), Rev. James Noyes II (son of James Noyes ), James Pierpont , Abraham Pierson , Noadiah Russell , Joseph Webb, and Timothy Woodbridge , all Harvard alumni , met in
6200-571: The Democratic or Republican ticket in every U.S. presidential election between 1972 and 2004. Yale-educated presidents since the end of the Vietnam War include Gerald Ford , George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton , and George W. Bush , and major-party nominees include Hillary Clinton (2016), John Kerry (2004), Joseph Lieberman (vice president, 2000), and Sargent Shriver (vice president, 1972). Other alumni who have made serious bids for
6324-497: The Intelligent Design Movement , and was a member of the "Ad Hoc Origins Committee" that supported Philip E. Johnson 's 1991 book Darwin on Trial , he also provided a back-cover endorsement of Johnson's book: "Shows how Darwinian evolution has become an idol." He was a Fellow of the (now defunct) pro-intelligent design International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design , and has presented at
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#17327653610696448-619: The Intercollegiate Athletic Association . While the big three had attempted to operate independently of the majority, the changes pushed did reduce injuries. Starting with the addition of the Yale School of Medicine in 1810, the college expanded gradually, establishing the Yale Divinity School in 1822, Yale Law School in 1822, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1847, the now-defunct Sheffield Scientific School in 1847, and
6572-498: The Israel–Hamas war . The student protestors demanded that Yale University divest from companies with ties to Israel 's war on Gaza. Protests continued during the summer and in the new academic year starting September 2024. The Boston Globe wrote in 2002 that "if there's one school that can lay claim to educating the nation's top national leaders over the past three decades, it's Yale". Yale alumni were represented on
6696-810: The Society of Christian Philosophers from 1983 to 1986. He has delivered the Gifford Lectures twice and was described by Time magazine as "America's leading orthodox Protestant philosopher of God". In 2014, Plantinga was the 30th most-cited contemporary author in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was awarded the Templeton Prize in 2017. Some of Plantinga's most influential works include God and Other Minds (1967), The Nature of Necessity (1974), and
6820-643: The Tony Blair Faith Foundation 's United States Faith and Globalization Initiative. As of 2009, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo is the director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and teaches an undergraduate seminar, "Debating Globalization". As of 2009, former presidential candidate and DNC chair Howard Dean teaches a residential college seminar, "Understanding Politics and Politicians". Also in 2009, an alliance
6944-622: The Trinity , the Incarnation , the resurrection of Christ , the atonement , salvation etc. Under this model, Christians are justified in their beliefs because of the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing those beliefs about in the believer. James Beilby has argued that the purpose of Plantinga's Warrant trilogy, and specifically of his Warranted Christian Belief , is firstly to make a form of argument against religion impossible—namely,
7068-418: The University of Michigan where he studied under William Alston , William Frankena , and Richard Cartwright, among others. A year later, in 1955, he transferred to Yale University where he received his PhD in 1958. Plantinga began his career as an instructor in the philosophy department at Yale in 1957, and then in 1958, he became a professor of philosophy at Wayne State University during its heyday as
7192-622: The Vanderbilt family , including Vanderbilt Hall, Phelps Hall, St. Anthony Hall (a commission for member Frederick William Vanderbilt ), the Mason, Sloane and Osborn laboratories, dormitories for the Sheffield Scientific School (the engineering and sciences school at Yale until 1956) and elements of Silliman College , the largest residential college. The oldest building on campus, Connecticut Hall (built in 1750),
7316-874: The Yale Bulldogs in the NCAA Division I Ivy League conference. As of October 2020 , 65 Nobel laureates, 5 Fields medalists , 4 Abel Prize laureates, and 3 Turing Award winners have been affiliated with Yale University. In addition, Yale has graduated many notable alumni , including 5 U.S. presidents , 10 Founding Fathers , 19 U.S. Supreme Court Justices , 31 living billionaires , 54 college founders and presidents , many heads of state , cabinet members and governors . Hundreds of members of Congress and many U.S. diplomats , 96 MacArthur Fellows , 263 Rhodes Scholars , 123 Marshall Scholars , 81 Gates Cambridge Scholars , 102 Guggenheim Fellows and 9 Mitchell Scholars have been affiliated with
7440-468: The Yale School of Architecture in 1916, the Yale School of Nursing 1923, the Yale School of Drama in 1955, the Yale School of Management in 1976, and the Jackson School of Global Affairs in 2022. The Sheffield Scientific School would also reorganize its relationship with the university to teach only undergraduate courses. Expansion caused controversy about Yale's new roles. Noah Porter ,
7564-434: The Yale School of Fine Arts in 1869. In 1887, under the presidency of Timothy Dwight V , Yale College was renamed to Yale University, and the former name was applied only to the undergraduate college . The university would continue to expand into the 20th and 21st centuries, adding the Yale School of Music in 1894, the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in 1900, the Yale School of Public Health in 1915,
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#17327653610697688-496: The surname Plantinga . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plantinga&oldid=1230641678 " Categories : Surnames Surnames of Dutch origin Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
7812-477: The teleological argument and the common sense view that people have of other minds existing by analogy with their own minds. Plantinga has also developed a more comprehensive epistemological account of the nature of warrant which allows for the existence of God as a basic belief. Plantinga has also argued that there is no logical inconsistency between the existence of evil and the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, wholly good God. Plantinga proposed
7936-616: The 1988 presidential election, George H. W. Bush (Yale '48) derided Michael Dukakis for having "foreign-policy views born in Harvard Yard's boutique". When challenged on the distinction between Dukakis's Harvard connection and his Yale background, he said that, unlike Harvard, Yale's reputation was "so diffuse, there isn't a symbol, I don't think, in the Yale situation, any symbolism in it" and said Yale did not share Harvard's reputation for "liberalism and elitism". In 2004 Howard Dean stated, "In some ways, I consider myself separate from
8060-1184: The British general in command of the occupation, intervened and the college was saved. In 1803, Fanning was granted an honorary degree LL.D. . As the only college in Connecticut from 1701 to 1823, Yale educated the sons of the elite. Punishable offenses included cardplaying , tavern-going, destruction of college property, and acts of disobedience. Harvard was distinctive for the stability and maturity of its tutor corps, while Yale had youth and zeal. The emphasis on classics gave rise to private student societies, open only by invitation, which arose as forums for discussions of scholarship, literature and politics. The first were debating societies: Crotonia in 1738, Linonia in 1753 and Brothers in Unity in 1768. Linonia and Brothers in Unity continue to exist; commemorations to them can be found with names given to campus structures, like Brothers in Unity Courtyard in Branford College. The Yale Report of 1828
8184-828: The Center for the History and Philosophy of Science co-awarded Plantinga the Nicholas Rescher Prize for Systematic Philosophy , which he received with a talk titled, "Religion and Science: Where the Conflict Really Lies". In 2017, Baylor University's Center for Christian Philosophy inaugurated the Alvin Plantinga Award for Excellence in Christian Philosophy. Awardees deliver a lecture at Baylor University and their name
8308-688: The Faculty of Arts and Sciences—and some members of other faculties—teach undergraduate courses, more than 2,000 of which are offered annually. In 1793, Lucinda Foote passed the entrance exams for Yale College, but was rejected by the president on the basis of her gender. Women studied at Yale from 1892, in graduate-level programs at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences . The first seven women to earn PhDs received their degrees in 1894: Elizabeth Deering Hanscom , Cornelia H. B. Rogers, Sara Bulkley Rogers, Margaretta Palmer , Mary Augusta Scott , Laura Johnson Wylie, and Charlotte Fitch Roberts . There
8432-719: The International Union of Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America in late 2010, even though the Yale administration contested the election. In October 2014, after deliberation, Yale security decided to form a new union, the Yale University Security Officers Association, which has since represented the campus security officers. Yale has a history of difficult and prolonged labor negotiations, often culminating in strikes. There have been at least eight strikes since 1968, and The New York Times wrote that Yale has
8556-571: The US Justice Department sued Yale for alleged discrimination against Asian and white candidates, through affirmative action admission policies. In 2021, under the new Biden administration, the Justice Department withdrew the lawsuit. The group, Students for Fair Admissions , later won a similar lawsuit against Harvard . In April 2024, Yale students joined other campuses across the United States in protests against
8680-402: The Wild West. The fictional, turn-of-the-20th-century Yale man Frank Merriwell embodied this same heroic ideal without racial prejudice, and his fictional successor Dink Stover in the novel Stover at Yale (1912) questioned the business mentality that had become prevalent at the school. Increasingly students turned to athletic stars as their heroes, especially since winning the big game became
8804-441: The Yale Corporation, or board of trustees, is the governing body of the university and consists of thirteen standing committees with separate responsibilities outlined in the by-laws. The corporation has 19 members: three ex officio members, ten successor trustees, and six elected alumni fellows. The university has three major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate program), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and
8928-588: The acceptability of axioms for modal logic depends on which of these uses we have in mind." In Plantinga's evolutionary argument against naturalism , he argues that if evolution is true, it undermines naturalism . His basic argument is that if evolution and naturalism are both true, human cognitive faculties evolved to produce beliefs that have survival value (maximizing one's success at the four Fs: "feeding, fleeing, fighting, and reproducing"), not necessarily to produce beliefs that are true. Thus, since human cognitive faculties are tuned to survival rather than truth in
9052-419: The argument that whether or not Christianity is true, it is irrational—so "the skeptic would have to shoulder the formidable task of demonstrating the falsity of Christian belief" rather than simply dismiss it as irrational. In addition, Plantinga is attempting to provide a philosophical explanation of how Christians should think about their own Christian belief. Plantinga has expressed a modal logic version of
9176-639: The behest of either Rector Samuel Andrew or the colony's Governor Gurdon Saltonstall , Cotton Mather contacted the Boston-born businessman Elihu Yale to ask for money to construct a new building for the college. Through the persuasion of Jeremiah Dummer , Yale, who had made a fortune in Madras while working for the East India Company as the first president of Fort St. George , donated nine bales of goods, which were sold for more than £560,
9300-504: The best of modern English literature, science, philosophy and theology. It had a profound effect on intellectuals at Yale. Undergraduate Jonathan Edwards discovered John Locke 's works and developed his " new divinity ". In 1722 the rector and six friends, who had a study group to discuss the new ideas, announced they had given up Calvinism , become Arminians , and joined the Church of England . They were ordained in England and returned to
9424-518: The changes brought by Victorian culture . They concentrated on developing a person possessed of religious values strong enough to sufficiently resist temptations from within, yet flexible enough to adjust to the ' isms ' ( professionalism , materialism , individualism , and consumerism ) tempting them from without. William Graham Sumner , professor from 1872 to 1909, taught in the emerging disciplines of economics and sociology to overflowing classrooms. Sumner bested President Noah Porter , who disliked
9548-552: The class of 1970. In 2006, Yale and Peking University (PKU) established a Joint Undergraduate Program in Beijing, an exchange program allowing Yale students to spend a semester living and studying with PKU honor students. In July 2012, the Yale University-PKU Program ended due to weak participation. In 2007 outgoing Yale President Rick Levin characterized Yale's institutional priorities: "First, among
9672-462: The colonies as missionaries for the Anglican faith. Thomas Clapp became president in 1745, and while he attempted to return the college to Calvinist orthodoxy, did not close the library. Other students found Deist books in the library. Yale College undergraduates follow a liberal arts curriculum with departmental majors and is organized into a social system of residential colleges . Yale
9796-642: The community in our admissions, and there is a very strong tradition of volunteerism at Yale." Yale historian Gaddis Smith notes "an ethos of organized activity" at Yale during the 20th century that led Kerry to lead the Yale Political Union 's Liberal Party, George Pataki the Conservative Party, and Lieberman to manage the Yale Daily News . Camille Paglia points to a history of networking and elitism: "It has to do with
9920-407: The concept of "maximal greatness". He argued that it is possible for a being with maximal greatness to exist, so a being with maximal greatness exists in a possible world. If this is the case, then a being with maximal greatness exists in every world, and therefore in this world. The conclusion relies on a form of modal axiom S5 , which states that if something is possibly true, then its possibility
10044-401: The contrary assumption—that there is, in fact, a relatively strong correlation between truth and survival—if human belief-forming apparatus evolved giving a survival advantage, then it ought to yield truth since true beliefs confer a survival advantage. Plantinga counters that, while there may be overlap between true beliefs and beliefs that contribute to survival, the two kinds of beliefs are not
10168-428: The crisis was developing, the presidents of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton developed a project to reform the sport and forestall possible radical changes forced by government. Presidents Arthur Hadley of Yale, A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard, and Woodrow Wilson of Princeton worked to develop moderate reforms to reduce injuries. Their attempts, however, were reduced by rebellion against the rules committee and formation of
10292-611: The dean of the Divinity School, Rebecca Chopp , was appointed president of Colgate University and later went on to serve as the president of Swarthmore College in 2009, and then the first female chancellor of the University of Denver in 2014. In 2004, Provost Dr. Susan Hockfield became the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . In 2004, Dean of the Nursing school, Catherine Gilliss,
10416-565: The employ of the East India Company (EIC), serving as the governor of the Presidency of Fort St. George in modern-day Chennai . The EIC, including Yale himself, was involved in the Indian Ocean slave trade , though the extent of Yale's involvement in slavery remains debated. His singularly large donation led critics to argue Yale University relied on money derived from slavery for its first scholarships and endowments. In 2020,
10540-443: The evolutionary/etiological account provided by Ruth Millikan , and a dispositional view held by John Bigelow and Robert Pargetter. Plantinga also discusses his evolutionary argument against naturalism in the later chapters of Warrant and Proper Function . In 2000, the third book of the trilogy, Warranted Christian Belief , was published. In this volume, Plantinga's warrant theory is the basis for his theological end: providing
10664-399: The field hockey team, Richard Kentwell. While unsuccessful in the courts, the legal reasoning changed the landscape of sex discrimination law and resulted in the establishment of Yale's Grievance Board and Women's Center. In 2011 a Title IX complaint was filed against Yale by students and graduates, including editors of Yale's feminist magazine Broad Recognition , alleging the university had
10788-583: The first treasurer of Yale, Nathaniel Lynde, donated land and a building. In 1716, it moved to New Haven. Meanwhile, there was a rift forming at Harvard between its sixth president, Increase Mather, and the rest of the Harvard clergy, whom Mather viewed as increasingly liberal, ecclesiastically lax, and overly broad in Church polity . The feud caused the Mathers to champion the Collegiate School in
10912-443: The goal of the student body, the alumni, and the team itself. Along with Harvard and Princeton , Yale students rejected British concepts about ' amateurism ' and constructed athletic programs that were uniquely American. The Harvard–Yale football rivalry began in 1875. Between 1892, when Harvard and Yale met in one of the first intercollegiate debates , and in 1909 (year of the first Triangular Debate of Harvard/Yale/Princeton)
11036-609: The hope it would maintain the Puritan religious orthodoxy in a way Harvard had not. Rev. Jason Haven , minister at the First Church and Parish in Dedham , Massachusetts, had been considered for the presidency on account of his orthodox theology and "Neatness dignity and purity of Style [which] surpass those of all that have been mentioned", but was passed over due to his "very Valetudinary and infirm State of Health". In 1718, at
11160-409: The idea that God has free will yet is wholly good. Critics thus maintain that, if we take such doctrines to be (as Christians usually have), God could have created free creatures that always do right, contra Plantinga's claim. J. L. Mackie saw Plantinga's free-will defense as incoherent. Plantinga's well-received book God, Freedom and Evil , written in 1974, gave his response to what he saw as
11284-1116: The impetus for the trailblazing lawsuit Alexander v. Yale . In the 1970s, a group of students and a faculty member sued Yale for its failure to curtail sexual harassment, especially by male faculty. The case was partly built from a 1977 report authored by plaintiff Ann Olivarius , "A report to the Yale Corporation from the Yale Undergraduate Women's Caucus." This case was the first to use Title IX to argue and establish that sexual harassment of female students can be considered illegal sex discrimination. The plaintiffs were Olivarius, Ronni Alexander, Margery Reifler, Pamela Price, and Lisa E. Stone. They were joined by Yale classics professor John "Jack" J. Winkler. The lawsuit, brought partly by Catharine MacKinnon , alleged rape, fondling, and offers of higher grades for sex by faculty, including Keith Brion , professor of flute and director of bands, political science professor Raymond Duvall, English professor Michael Cooke , and coach of
11408-435: The incomplete and uncritical view of theism's criticism of theodicy . Plantinga's contribution stated that when the issue of a comprehensive doctrine of freedom is added to the discussion of the goodness of God and the omnipotence of God then it is not possible to exclude the presence of evil in the world after introducing freedom into the discussion. Plantinga's own summary occurs in his discussion titled "Could God Have Created
11532-469: The intellectual influence of Reverend William Sloane Coffin on future candidates. Yale President Levin attributes the run to Yale's focus on creating "a laboratory for future leaders", an institutional priority that began during the tenure of Yale Presidents Alfred Whitney Griswold and Kingman Brewster . Richard H. Brodhead , former dean of Yale College and now president of Duke University , stated: "We do give very significant attention to orientation to
11656-522: The invitation. Both schools introduced coeducation independently in 1969. Amy Solomon was the first woman to register as a Yale undergraduate; she was the first woman at Yale to join an undergraduate society, St. Anthony Hall . The undergraduate class of 1973 was the first to have women starting from freshman year; all undergraduate women were housed in Vanderbilt Hall. A decade into co-education, student assault and harassment by faculty became
11780-474: The nation's finest research universities, Yale is distinctively committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Second, in our graduate and professional schools, as well as in Yale College, we are committed to the education of leaders." In 2009, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair picked Yale as one location – the others being Britain's Durham University and Universiti Teknologi Mara – for
11904-450: The naturalism-evolution model, there is reason to doubt the veracity of the products of those same faculties, including naturalism and evolution themselves. On the other hand, if God created man " in his image " by way of an evolutionary process (or any other means), then Plantinga argues our faculties would probably be reliable. The argument does not assume any necessary correlation (or uncorrelation) between true beliefs and survival. Making
12028-409: The nested modal operators , and that if one understands them within the system S5—without which the argument fails—then one understands that "possibly necessarily" is in essence the same as "necessarily". Thus the premise begs the question because the conclusion is embedded within it. On S5 systems in general, James Garson writes that "the words 'necessarily' and 'possibly', have many different uses. So
12152-457: The ontological argument in which he uses modal logic to develop, in a more rigorous and formal way, Norman Malcolm 's and Charles Hartshorne 's modal ontological arguments . Plantinga criticized Malcolm's and Hartshorne's arguments, and offered an alternative. He argued that, if Malcolm does prove the necessary existence of the greatest possible being, it follows that there is a being which exists in all worlds whose greatness in some worlds
12276-399: The other three (Yale) candidates of 2004. Yale changed so much between the class of '68 and the class of '71. My class was the first class to have women in it; it was the first class to have a significant effort to recruit African Americans. It was an extraordinary time, and in that span of time is the change of an entire generation". The President and Fellows of Yale College , also known as
12400-473: The presidency include Amy Klobuchar (2020), Tom Steyer (2020), Ben Carson (2016), Howard Dean (2004), Gary Hart (1984 and 1988), Paul Tsongas (1992), Pat Robertson (1988) and Jerry Brown (1976, 1980, 1992). Several explanations have been offered for Yale's representation since the end of the Vietnam War. Sources note the spirit of campus activism that has existed at Yale since the 1960s, and
12524-415: The rhetoric, symbolism, and metaphors used in athletics were used to frame these debates. Debates were covered on front pages of college newspapers and emphasized in yearbooks , and team members received the equivalent of athletic letters for their jackets. There were rallies to send off teams to matches, but they never attained the broad appeal athletics enjoyed. One reason may be that debates do not have
12648-410: The same, and he gives the following example with a man named Paul: Perhaps Paul very much likes the idea of being eaten, but when he sees a tiger, always runs off looking for a better prospect, because he thinks it unlikely the tiger he sees will eat him. This will get his body parts in the right place so far as survival is concerned, without involving much by way of true belief... Or perhaps he thinks
12772-445: The school's curriculum expanded, incorporating humanities and sciences by the time of the American Revolution . In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first PhD in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Yale's faculty and student populations grew rapidly after 1890 due to the expansion of the physical campus and its scientific research programs. Yale
12896-544: The social sciences and wanted Yale to lock into its traditions of classical education. Porter objected to Sumner's use of a textbook by Herbert Spencer that espoused agnostic materialism because it might harm students. Until 1887, the legal name of the university was "The President and Fellows of Yale College, in New Haven." In 1887, under an act passed by the Connecticut General Assembly , Yale
13020-532: The study of Reverend Samuel Russell , in Branford , to donate books to form the school's library. The group, led by James Pierpont , is now known as "The Founders". Known from its origin as the "Collegiate School", the institution opened in the home of its first rector , Abraham Pierson, who is considered Yale's first president. Pierson lived in Killingworth . The school moved to Saybrook in 1703, when
13144-435: The study of humans in their environment. He established the "Yale System" of teaching, with few lectures and fewer exams, and strengthened the full-time faculty system; he created the graduate-level Yale School of Nursing and the psychiatry department and built new buildings. Progress toward his plans for an Institute of Human Relations, envisioned as a refuge where social scientists would collaborate with biological scientists in
13268-508: The tiger is a large, friendly, cuddly pussycat and wants to pet it; but he also believes that the best way to pet it is to run away from it... Clearly there are any number of belief-desire systems that equally fit a given bit of behaviour. The argument has received favorable notice from Thomas Nagel and William Lane Craig , but has also been criticized as seriously flawed, for example, by Elliott Sober . Even though Plantinga believes that God could have used Darwinian processes to create
13392-468: The twelve professional schools. Yale's former president Richard C. Levin was, at the time, one of the highest paid university presidents in the United States with a 2008 salary of $ 1.5 million. Yale's succeeding president Peter Salovey ranks 40th with a 2020 salary of $ 1.16 million. The Yale Provost's Office and similar executive positions have launched several women into prominent university executive positions. In 1977, Provost Hanna Holborn Gray
13516-754: The union's elections were undemocratic and how graduate students are not employees; the move to not recognize the union has been criticized by the American Federation of Teachers . In addition, officers of the Yale University Police Department are represented by the Yale Police Benevolent Association, which affiliated in 2005 with the Connecticut Organization for Public Safety Employees. Yale security officers joined
13640-543: The university. Yale's current faculty include 67 members of the National Academy of Sciences , 55 members of the National Academy of Medicine , 8 members of the National Academy of Engineering , and 193 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . Yale traces its beginnings to "An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School", a would-be charter passed in New Haven by the General Court of
13764-546: The walls of the buildings portray contemporary college personalities, such as a writer, an athlete, a tea-drinking socialite, and a student who has fallen asleep while reading. Similarly, the decorative friezes on the buildings depict contemporary scenes, like a policemen chasing a robber and arresting a prostitute (on the wall of the Law School), or a student relaxing with a mug of beer and a cigarette. The architect, James Gamble Rogers , faux-aged these buildings by splashing
13888-482: The walls with acid, deliberately breaking their leaded glass windows and repairing them in the style of the Middle Ages , and creating niches for decorative statuary but leaving them empty to simulate loss or theft over the ages. In fact, the buildings merely simulate Middle Ages architecture, for though they appear to be constructed of solid stone blocks in the authentic manner, most actually have steel framing as
14012-412: The way it ought to work". Plantinga explains his argument for proper function with reference to a "design plan", as well as an environment in which one's cognitive equipment is optimal for use. Plantinga asserts that the design plan does not require a designer: "it is perhaps possible that evolution (undirected by God or anyone else) has somehow furnished us with our design plans", but the paradigm case of
14136-421: The works of Chisholm , BonJour , Alston , Goldman , and others. In the book, Plantinga argues specifically that the theories of what he calls "warrant"—what many others have called justification (Plantinga draws out a difference: justification is a property of a person holding a belief while warrant is a property of a belief)—put forth by these epistemologists have systematically failed to capture in full what
14260-405: The world, he stands firm against philosophical naturalism . He said in an interview on the relationship between science and religion that: Religion and science share more common ground than you might think, though science can't prove, it presupposes that there has been a past for example, science does not cover the whole of the knowledge enterprise. Plantinga participated in groups that support
14384-569: Was a dogmatic defense of the Latin and Greek curriculum against critics who wanted more courses in modern languages, math and science. Unlike higher education in Europe , there was no national curriculum for US colleges and universities. In the competition for students and financial support, college leaders strove to keep current with demands for innovation. At the same time, they realized a significant portion of students and prospective students demanded
14508-430: Was appointed interim president of Yale and later went on to become president of the University of Chicago, being the first woman to hold either position at each respective school. In 1994, Provost Judith Rodin became the first permanent female president of an Ivy League institution at the University of Pennsylvania . In 2002, Provost Alison Richard became the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge . In 2003,
14632-421: Was appointed the dean of Duke University's School of Nursing and vice chancellor for nursing affairs. In 2007, Deputy Provost H. Kim Bottomly was named president of Wellesley College . Similar examples for men who have served in Yale leadership positions can also be found. In 2004, Dean of Yale College Richard H. Brodhead was appointed as the president of Duke University . In 2008, Provost Andrew Hamilton
14756-590: Was commonly used in 1930. One exception is Harkness Tower , 216 feet (66 m) tall, which was originally a free-standing stone structure. It was reinforced in 1964 to allow the installation of the Yale Memorial Carillon . Other examples of the Gothic style are on the Old Campus by architects like Henry Austin , Charles C. Haight and Russell Sturgis . Several are associated with members of
14880-474: Was confirmed to be the vice chancellor of the University of Oxford. Yale University staff are represented by several different unions. Clerical and technical workers are represented by Local 34, and service and maintenance workers are represented by Local 35, both of the same union affiliate UNITE HERE . Unlike similar institutions, Yale has consistently refused to recognize its graduate student union, Local 33 (another affiliate of UNITE HERE), citing claims that
15004-630: Was considered the most beautiful street in America by Charles Dickens when he visited the United States in the 1840s. In 2011, Travel + Leisure listed the Yale campus as one of the most beautiful in the United States. Many of Yale's buildings were constructed in the Collegiate Gothic architecture style from 1917 to 1931, financed largely by Edward S. Harkness , including the Yale Drama School . Stone sculpture built into
15128-405: Was formed among Yale, University College London , and both schools' affiliated hospital complexes to conduct research focused on the direct improvement of patient care—a field known as translational medicine . President Richard Levin noted that Yale has hundreds of other partnerships across the world, but "no existing collaboration matches the scale of the new partnership with UCL". In August 2013,
15252-433: Was renamed "Yale University". The Revolutionary War soldier Nathan Hale (Yale 1773) was the archetype of the Yale ideal in the early 19th century: a manly yet aristocratic scholar, well-versed in knowledge and sports, and a patriot who "regretted" that he "had but one life to lose" for his country. Western painter Frederic Remington (Yale 1900) was an artist whose heroes gloried in the combat and tests of strength in
15376-713: Was swept up by the great intellectual movements of the period—the Great Awakening and Enlightenment —due to the religious and scientific interests of presidents Thomas Clap and Ezra Stiles . They were instrumental in developing the scientific curriculum while dealing with wars, student tumults, graffiti, "irrelevance" of curricula, desperate need for endowment and disagreements with the Connecticut legislature . Serious American students of theology and divinity, particularly in New England, regarded Hebrew as
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