ASR100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Summa Contra Gentiles, Deakin University
Deakin University ASR100 Trimester Two 2017
Week Nine: Christianity II - Miracles and Feminist
Theology
What is a Miracle
• From the Latin īrus, odeful miraculum = "ojet of ode
• An event that is contrary to laws of nature—an event whose occurrence cannot be explained
by some prior state of the world or in terms of some natural law and instead requires a
supernatural cause
• This excludes remarkable coincidences, incredibly unlikely marvellous events,
extraordinary timed events
• Nothig is esteeed a irale if it eer happe i the ommon course of nature. It is no
miracle that a man, seemingly in good health, should die on a sudden: because such a
kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been frequently observed to
happen. But it is a miracle that a dead man should come to life, because that has never
ee osered, i ay age or outry. Hue, p.
Philosophical Definitions of 'Miracles"
• Augustine – a miracle is not contrary to nature, but only to our knowledge of nature (City of
God, XXI.8.2)
• Aquinas – those things are properly called miracles which are done by divine agency beyond
the order commonly observed in nature (Summa Contra Gentiles, III)
• Swinburne – [a] non-repeatable counter-instance to a law of nature (The Concept of Miracle)
• Hume – a transgression of a law of nature by a particular volition of the Deity, or by the
interposition of some invisible agent (Of Miracles)
David Hume
• Scottish philosopher – empiricist, skeptic, naturalist
• ‘eall: udle theo ad Buddhiss o-self
• Atheist? Never explicitly claimed this. His work was highly skeptical, however. So much
so that the Catholi Chuh plaes all his itigs o its Ide of Foidde Books i
1761
• Citiall eaied the adeua of aguets fo Gods eistee osologial, otological,
from design, from miracles)
• His olusio: No atioal peso should ase elief i iales o soeoe elses testio
that miracles occurred
• epistemological argument: how it is possible to know in the sense of having justified true
belief
Hume's Argument
Chapte Of Miales, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)
1. The ise a popotios his elief to the eidee. p.
2. A law of nature is a regularity to which no exception has previously been observed.
3. Hence, the evidence from past experience in favour of the laws of nature is extremely strong.
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Deakin University ASR100 Trimester Two 2017
• [ee though epeiee a soeties e liited: The Idia pie ho efused to
believe the first relations concerning the effects of frost, reasoned justly; and it naturally
required very strong testimony to engage his assent to facts that arose from a state of
nature with which he was unacquainted, and which bore so little analogy to those
eets of hih he has had ostat ad uifo epeiee. p.]
4. A iale is a iolatio of the las of atue. p.
5. Hence, all of our past experience counts against the occurrence of miracles – so, a miracle is
(by definition) a highly improbable event
6. The more improbable an event is, the stronger must be the testimony in its favour if belief in
the event is to be justified. (Hue’s priiple goerig the aeptae of testioy)
7. But the testimony in support of a miracle is never so strong as to outweigh the evidence in
support of the laws of nature.
• Reasons to doubt testimonies:
• Witesses ofte ueliale thee is ot to e foud…a iale attested a
sufficient number of men of such unquestioned good-sense, education, and learning as
to seue us agaist all delusio i theseles p.
• We like to sensationalise, and these stories are circulated more enthusiastically (The
pleasure of telling a piece of news so interesting, of propagating it, and of being the first
epotes of it, speads the itelligee. p.
• Miracle-stoies oe a lega of ou igoat ad aaous aestos pp.-5)
• Miracle-stories often used to discredit rival religious systems (ulterior motives)
• Weighig up testioies ith the eight of epeietial eidee: …oliges us to
compare the instances of the violation of the truth in the testimony of men, with those
of the violation of the laws of nature by miracles, in order to judge which of them is
ost likel ad poale. p.
8. Therefore, it is never reasonable to believe in miracles.
…the Christia Religio ot oly as at first atteded ith irales, ut ee at this day
cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to
convince us of its veracity: and whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of
a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his
understanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to
custom and experience. (pp.329-330)
What kind of argument is this?
• A priori vs a posteriori – how one knows the claim in question is true
• A priori – known independently of experience (all triangles have 3 sides); can be known
based on the mere definition
• A posteriori – knowledge proven by experience (some swans are black); needs checking
in the world
• Hume sees his argument as a priori: there is here a direct and full proof, from the nature of the
fact, against the existence of any miracle (Of Miracles, Part 1)
• J. C. Thotos ojetio: its eall a a posteioi aguet
• “uffice it to say that if Hume's argument is interpreted not as an a priori argument to
show that it is impossible to have grounds for believing a miracle to have occurred, but
as an a posteriori argument to show the extreme improbability of our ever having such
gouds, I thik his aguet iesapale. Thoto,
• BUT: whether something seems probable alead depeds o hethe oe alead has a
elief i a alight pesoal god. …The poailit of a patiula iale sto it ill e
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Document Summary
Week nine: christianity ii - miracles and feminist. It is no miracle that a man, seemingly in good health, should die on a sudden: because such a kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been frequently observed to happen. But it is a miracle that a dead man should come to life, because that has never (cid:271)ee(cid:374) o(cid:271)ser(cid:448)ed, i(cid:374) a(cid:374)y age or (cid:272)ou(cid:374)try. (cid:863) (cid:894)hu(cid:373)e, p. (cid:1007)(cid:1006)(cid:1006)(cid:895) Philosophical definitions of "miracles: augustine a miracle is not contrary to nature, but only to our knowledge of nature (city of. God, xxi. 8. 2: aquinas those things are properly called miracles which are done by divine agency beyond the order commonly observed in nature (summa contra gentiles, iii) So much so that the catholi(cid:272) chu(cid:396)(cid:272)h pla(cid:272)es all his (cid:449)(cid:396)iti(cid:374)gs o(cid:374) its (cid:862)i(cid:374)de(cid:454) of fo(cid:396)(cid:271)idde(cid:374) books(cid:863) i(cid:374) The christia(cid:374) religio(cid:374) (cid:374)ot o(cid:374)ly (cid:449)as at first atte(cid:374)ded (cid:449)ith (cid:373)ira(cid:272)les, (cid:271)ut e(cid:448)e(cid:374) at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one.
