The Possibility of Miracle

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the possibility of miracles from a purely philosophical point of view. It centers on the consideration given to the theme by David Hume. Though an avowed atheist, and dismissive of the Christian faith, Hume provides a robust, penetrating and unbiased examination. The writer discusses that the startling outcome is that Hume does allow the possibility of miracles, even though other Enlightenment philosophers were busy belittling the miracles of Christianity as superstition. The paper shows how empirical skepticism allows for miracles. It then goes on to show that even deterministic science must come to conclusion that miracles are possible, even though scientists themselves are steadfast in their denial of it.

From the Paper:

"Hume was the first to tackle the question squarely, in the chapter titled "Of Miracles" in the 1948 publication An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. From purely metaphysical considerations the conclusion is that miracles are indeed possible. We must remember that the core of Hume's philosophy is empirical skepticism. The materialists, weaned on the mechanics of Newton, were pronouncing outright miracles impossible. The laws of motion and gravity were successfully explaining the heavenly bodies, and hardly anyone suspected that they were not universal in scope. Newtonian mechanics has no place for miracles. This was almost a proof of the invalidity of miracles. But the proud determinism that they espoused had no philosophical foundation to it. Descartes, and the Cartesians, tried desperately for a metaphysics of materialism, but to know avail. Finally Hume overthrew all the strained Cartesian designs, and advanced a devastating critique of reason, as applied to empirical sense data, to deliver objective knowledge. It turned Enlightenment thinking on its head. Knowledge is not possible, and yet miracles are."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Andrews, R. (1987). The Routledge Dictionary of Quotations. New York: Routledge.
• Bacon, F. (2000). The New Organon. L. Jardine, M. Silverthorne (Eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hume, D. (1993). An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. E. Steinberg (Ed.) Boston: Hackett Publishing.
• Moore, D. (2006). Zen Wisdom: Magnetic Quotes and Proverbs. Kennebunkport, ME: Cider Mill Press Book Publishers.
• Polkinghorne, J. C. (2001). Faith, Science and Understanding. New Haven, CT: Yale University P

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