Jacob Clift Intro to Philosophy 1010 Dr.

Michael Hermon Commentary of Baurmanns Rational Fundamentalism Michael Baurmann wrote an essay in 2007 titled Rational Fundamentalism: An Explanatory Model of Fundamentalist Beliefs. The goal of his essay is to explain the rationale behind fundamentalist causes and show that there is rational thinking behind what seems to be irrational behavior. He writes that it is possible that fundamentalist beliefs can emerge as a result of an individual rational adaptation to the context of special living conditions. To summarize his arguments, he makes the claim that there are rational beliefs behind every fundamentalist action, that fundamentalist beliefs are dangerous and the cause of unremitting hostilities, and that a worldview is dependent on the social environment from which the individual hails from. In the first part of his essay he writes about faith in science and how our knowledge of the world is largely dependent on testimony. The worldview of cultures is based on what is taught in that culture. For example, there is a different belief about government in the United States than there is in Europe, specifically that there is a belief in the United States that the government should not be responsible for the lives and affairs of private citizens and corporations, while the majority belief in European countries that governments should regulate as many activities as possible such as health care. The next section is titled Faith in Fundamentalism, and starts out by defining fundamentalism through three attributes. The first, the propagation of the supreme value of salvation goods over worldly goods. The second, the infallibility of their Weltanschauung, or, their worldview, and the third, and the belief that the world is divided into good and evil and that there is a huge difference between them. Baurmann writes that these convictions are objectively unjustified and irrational from a scientific and enlightened perspective. He argues that such convictions can be considered rational by

fulfilling four conditions: social trust, epistemic seclusion and social isolation, and if the views have a common sense plausibility. One suggestion he brings up is that because of their very nature, ideological convictions of a society make fundamentalism rational to that society. Rational fundamentalism, as explained in Baurmanns writing, is subjectively rational, and is contextual on the societal origin of the individual expressing fundamentalist beliefs. Rational ideas are only considered rational if the thinking behind them is that of religious obedience or of societal norms and beliefs. He writes that we must be open to the idea that others are insane, and that fundamentalist beliefs are dangerous because of the three attributes behind them, and that they can cause hostilities between cultures. In conclusion, Michael Baurmann explains the rationale behind fundamentalist beliefs as being rational when taken under subjective and contextual views. To summarize his arguments, he makes the claim that there are rational beliefs behind every fundamentalist action, that fundamentalist beliefs are dangerous and the cause of unremitting hostilities, and that a worldview is dependent on the social environment from which the individual hails from. He wrote that fundamentalist views are extreme views and are seen by outsiders as absurd and bizarre-a fact that is known by many followers of fundamentalist ideas themselves.