#51: Spirits Are Real — A Philosopher's Case | Dr. Hans van Eyghen on The Epistemology of Spirits

What if believing in demons, ghosts, and spirits isn't superstition — but is actually rational? That's exactly what philosopher Dr. Hans van Eyghen argues in his book The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs (Routledge, 2023).

In this episode of The Prometheans, Ali Zaka sits down with Dr. Hans van Eyghen — philosopher of religion at Tilburg University — for one of the most unusual and intellectually serious conversations we've ever had on this channel.

The question sounds simple: why do humans across every culture and every era believe in spirits, demons, ancestors, jinn, and supernatural agents?

The answer is anything but simple.

Dr. van Eyghen draws on epistemology, cognitive science, and the philosophy of religion to argue that these beliefs — when grounded in genuine experience — are not irrational. They are not leftovers of pre-scientific thinking. They deserve the same philosophical scrutiny we give to any other belief about the world.

We cover:

→ What does it even mean for a belief to be epistemically justified?

→ The four types of spirit experience: perception, possession, mediumship, and animism

→ Why the cognitive science of religion doesn't actually debunk supernatural belief

→ What the Quranic account of jinn and Christian demonology look like through a philosophical lens

→ Whether animism — the idea that nature is filled with agents — is making a comeback

→ The Western philosophy of religion's blind spot: it only debates God, while most of humanity believes in something far older and stranger

If you've ever felt a presence in the dark, witnessed something inexplicable, or simply wondered why spirit belief is universal — this conversation is for you.

Dr. Hans van Eyghen is a philosopher of religion and epistemologist at Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, Netherlands. He is the author of The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs (Routledge), Arguing from Cognitive Science of Religion (Bloomsbury), and Revising Cognitive and Evolutionary Science of Religion (Springer).

📖 Book: The Epistemology of Spirit Beliefs — available Open Access via Routledge

The Prometheans is a podcast and YouTube channel dedicated to interfaith dialogue, philosophy of religion, and the great questions that refuse easy answers.

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