Hume, Laws of Nature, and Miracles

Bibliographic Data

ID3970513
AuthorsNathan M Otteman (Independent Scholar, James Madison University, 425 St Ida Cir., Lafayette, CO 80026, USA), Daniel E Flage (James Madison University, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume29
Issue7-8
Pages716-731
Publication date2024-11-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe European Legacy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10848770.2024.2387971
OpenAlexW4401550713
LanguageEN
References cited23

This article explores the connection between Hume’s view of “laws of nature” and his view of miracles by addressing three foci. First, it presents arguments that Hume construed “laws of nature” as merely beliefs in perfect or imperfect causal uniformity. So construed, laws of nature can be violated, so miracles are possible. Second, it shows that Hume’s criteria for evaluating human testimony are found in the popular textbooks of logic of the time. Hume explicitly used these criteria to criticize nonbiblical reports of miracles. Finally, the article shows that Hume took John Tillotson’s examination of transubstantiation to reduce scripture to apostolic testimony and to collapse the distinction between divine and human testimony. This implies that educated Christians entertain inconsistent beliefs

Epistemology · Imperfect · Natural law · Political science · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy

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