An argument that shows only that a BIV's self-referential denial is vacuously true leaves open whether normal English speakers are BIVs, since it presupposes the very distinction it needs to establish.

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BIV (Brain in a Vat)(Used as the basis of a skeptical hypothesis challenging knowledge of the external world.): A hypothetical scenario in which a person's brain is removed from their body and kept alive in a vat of nutrients, with its neural connections fed simulated experiences by a computer, such that the person cannot distinguish this scenario from ordinary reality.
Presupposes(as describing what Plantinga's argument takes for granted): Assumes something to be true without proving it—like how an argument might presuppose that logic works, without first arguing that logic is valid.
Self-referential(as used in logic): When a statement refers to itself rather than to something external; like a sentence that talks about its own truth or falsehood.
epistemology(Contrasted with purely descriptive scientific inquiry): A normative enterprise that tells us how we ought to reason from evidence and how we ought to justify our beliefs, as distinct from merely describing how we do reason or justify beliefs

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