Formal Methods in the Epistemology of Religion, 10. June 2009 - 12. June 2009.

The past few years have witnessed a resurgence of interest in the intersection of exact methodology and epistemological inquiry, manifested in the organisation of various conferences and the publication of a number of edited volumes.

In this intellectual climate, it is worth remembering that the philosophy of religion has long proven to be an extremely fertile ground for the application of formal methods to traditional philosophical debates concerning rational belief. Examples abound, from the decision-theoretic issues raised by Pascal's Wager to the meta-statistical controversies surrounding the Argument from Design.

This conference, organised in collaboration with the Center for Philosophy and Religion at the University of Glasgow, aims to bring together under one roof the contributions of technically-minded scholars sharing an interest in the epistemological questions raised by theism.

Topics will include:

• Pascalian arguments
• Cosmic and organic design arguments
• Arguments from miracles
• Problems of evil
• Religious pluralism and disagreement

These questions are all the more interesting in that they typically hinge on vexed foundational questions within formal epistemology and decision theory. Can one adequately model agnosticism within a standard Bayesian framework? What is the relation between probability and the acceptance or rejection of theories? How should one formally analyse the concept of evidential 'favouring'? Should decision theory countenance infinite utilities? We will be welcoming contributions informed by recent discussions of these and other issues.

We anticipate that this event will prove to be of interest to a wide section of the philosophical community, from philosophers of religion, through epistemologists and decision theorists, to logicians and philosophers of science.

For further information, please contact jacob [dot] chandler [at] hiw [dot] kuleuven [dot] be.