LO: I will evaluate Hume’s argument against Miracles.

Starter: Responses to Andrew Wilson’s chapter

Criticisms … Weaknesses

Practical Arguments Is the Barbarian argument fair? What about educated

believers in miracles? E.g. Polkinghorne & C S Lewis Hume is bias and wants to fail to see the miraculous The view that all of the miracle stories of different

religions cannot be true only shows this to be irrational, but miracles are still possible.

Inductive problem …

The difference between inductive and deductive reasoningDeductive reasoning moves from the general to

the particular. E.g. All elephants are mammals. Ben is an elephant. Therefore, Ben is a mammal.

Inductive reasoning goes from the particular to the general. You make an inductive inference (conclusion) from the observed to the unobserved…

Context. A man has died as a result of a bullet wound to the head. People suspect it was suicide but Sherlock has other ideas …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rVAKfMK-Hs

Inductive reasoning, going from the particular to the general …

Examples of inductive reasoningArguing inductively1. Living organisms are observed to need oxygen to survive. 2. No living organism has been observed that does not need Oxygen

to surviveCONCLUSION: Living organisms cannot survive without Oxygen

1. No empirical evidence of Unicorn’s existence has been found2. There are approximately 7 billion people living in the world today3. It is likely that if there was evidence of unicorns existing at least

one of the 7 billion people in the world would have observed it. 4. No one has produced empirical evidence of unicorns.

CONCLUSION: It is most improbable that unicorns exist

Hume argues inductively from observations that the laws of nature are such that they cannot be violated. E.g. Laws of nature tend to remain consistent and don’t change

(Observable, particular) Miracles claim to violate laws of nature The laws don’t change, so the miracle claim must be false (Move to the non-observable, general).

The fact that the probability of a miracle occurring is very low is not enough on its own to prove that it is irrational to believe that miracles do occur. Hume acknowledged this problem, but believed that there is more evidence to suggest miracles don’t occur.

However, is Andrew Wilson correct to say that Hume is ignoring the evidence?

Hume’s inductive problem

Responses to HumeUse handout to prepare a presentation to the

rest of the class on Swinburne’s response to Hume. Focus on the following:What Swinburne says about

‘generalisations’ ‘corrigible’ A definition

How Swinburne challenges what Hume has said With regards to educated people Miracles in different religious cancelling each other

out

“No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle…” - Swinburne questions this claim. We need to treat reports of miracles like reports of any past events – i.e. weigh up the evidence and conclude rather than being sceptical immediately.

Four types of historical evidence with varying degrees of reliability:1. Memories of own experiences2. Testimony of other people’s experiences3. Physical consequences/traces of an event4. Scientific information about what is impossible and what is simply improbable

Key point: Gather as much evidence as you can!

Views of other scholarsRead pg 62-63 togetherFlew, Lewis, Swinburne, Polkinghorne

HomeworkPresent a summary report to be delivered as a speech on

what different scholars have said on the topic of miracles so far. Focus on the following:HumeSwinburne

Flew Lewis Swinburne Polkinghorne

Can you tell me what the other scholars said about miracles? Do some research and bring this to your next lesson.

PlenaryLO: I will evaluate Hume’s argument against

Miracles.

Can you produce an evaluation bank?