Are Reports About Miracles Credible?
Throughout history there have been countless reports of miraculous events that are attributed to a divine authority. The British philosopher David Hume (arguably one of the greater philosophers in history) wrote about these reports in such a manner as to discount their credibility. I agree with Hume’s position in this regard, and this essay will discuss the reasons for Hume’s arguments, some definitions of miracles, and Hume’s specific arguments against the validity of accounts of miracles. In addition, I will attempt to provide some additional arguments and discussions that further support Hume’s position and reveal the lack of credibility found in most chronicles of miracles.
The first question one must ask is: why was Hume writing about miracles? Most people believed that people were created in God’s image. Hume was most concerned with human nature, however, and he believed that people were essentially just very intelligent animals (Craig, 2002, p. 26). His goal was to change these ideas and show that, although people are very intelligent and capable of planning and reasoning, they have much more in common with animals than they do with a divine being. In fact, Hume’s beliefs and arguments lead us to entertain the concept of the non-existence of God.
It does not appear that Hume wanted to completely obliterate religion. He did, however, want to strip away the superstition that was embedded in religious practices and beliefs. Hume believed that religious belief systems were formed in one of two ways: from personal experience and reason or through revelation (via a religious text or religious authority) (Craig, 2002, p.28). The problem, according to Hume, is that people can never...
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...e impossible for one to ever believe the report of a miracle. The very nature of miracles seems to preclude the possibility of being “believable”. Even if, at some point, an event occurs that defies the laws of nature and is witnessed by a sufficiently large number of people and is repeatable, the most likely response from a logical-minded individual would be to begin the search for empirical evidence and the search for its scientific explanation. In my opinion, it is extremely unlikely that such an event would, today, be attributed to a supernatural deity.
Works Cited
Craig, E. (2002). Philosophy: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miracle. 2011. Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. (n.d.). Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved January 21, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miracle
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David Hume was a British empiricist, meaning he believed all knowledge comes through the senses. He argued against the existence of innate ideas, stating that humans have knowledge only of things which they directly experience. These claims have a major impact on his argument against the existence of miracles, and in this essay I will explain and critically evaluate this argument.
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In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume, the idea of miracles is introduced. Hume’s argument is that there is no rational reason for human beings to believe in miracles, and that it is wrong to have miracles as the building blocks for religion. It is because the general notion of miracles come from the statement of others who claim to have seen them, Hume believes that there is no way to prove that those accounts are accurate, because they were not experienced first-hand. In order to believe a miracle, the evidence should be concrete, and something irrefutable. When there is any sort of doubt to a miracle, Hume says that any evidence that can be contrary to the proof of a miracle is merely evidence that the miracle did not happen, and it should be disproved. The only way a miracle can be proven is from the testimony of the person who had witnessed it, while any evidence against the miracle is something that defies the laws of nature. It falls upon the reputation of the witness to prove whether or not he or she actually observed a miracle, because a miracle can only be plausible when it is more likely than the opposing laws of nature. Hume’s reasoning in favour of miracles being insufficient events are also explanations as to why he believes miracles are not probable. First is the idea that human beings are not honest enough to be able to have possibly witnessed a miracle. Next is that human beings want to believe in the supernatural, and that desire allows us to believe in things that could never happen, simply because it would be wonderful and fantastical if that miracle actually did occur. Thirdly, the people who usually report sightings of a miracle are those who are uncivilized, or unsophisticated, so they ...
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In this paper I will look at David Hume’s (1711-1776) discussion from the An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Of Miracles regarding whether it is a reasonable assumption to believe in the existence of miracles. I will first discuss why the existence of miracles matters and how miracles relate to our understanding of the laws of nature. Secondly, I will look at how Hume argues that it is never reasonable to believe in miracles. I will then provide objections to this argument which I feel support the idea that belief is not only reasonable but a necessary condition for a faithful life.
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Hume's writing posed an interesting starting off point for Kant's theories. As said before, Kant attributes Hume's writing with waking him from his "dogmatic slumber." He recognizes both Hume's intelligence and the validity of his statements. However, he does n...
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...m convictions and evidence that cannot be justified by argument. In a simple and assertive way of putting it, Hume showed us that common sense and science are matters of faith. The faith which Hume so greatly defends, we have no way of avoiding or resisting. It is fair to conclude, that while Hume attempts to refute the existence of a miracle, whether through the induction theory or his personal, individual opinion, Hume’s conclusions tend to fail in a range of aspects, but the most intriguing relates to his inadequate proposal and later the revision of a law of nature. He forgets the concept that if ever a more accurate explanation is found, there would be no reason to view miracles as a violation of the laws of nature. Who’s to say miracles need to violate the laws of nature? Can’t unexpected, everyday events, which we live through, account to be miraculous?
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