Reformed and Evolutionary Epistemology and the Noetic Effects of Sin...

...is the title of an interesting new paper by Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt. Here's the abstract:

Despite their divergent metaphysical assumptions, Reformed and

evolutionary epistemologists have converged on the notion of proper

basicality. Where Reformed epistemologists appeal to God, who has

designed the mind in such a way that it successfully aims at the truth,

evolutionary epistemologists appeal to natural selection as a mecha-

nism that favors truth-preserving cognitive capacities. This paper

investigates whether Reformed and evolutionary epistemological ac-

counts of theistic belief are compatible. We will argue that their chief

incompatibility lies in the noetic e ects of sin and what may be termed

the noetic e ects of evolution, systematic tendencies wherein human

cognitive faculties go awry. We propose a reconceptualization of the

noetic e ects of sin to mitigate this tension.