David Hume and Maurice Wiles on Miracles (AQA A-Level Religious Studies): Flashcards
📚Flashcards
Practise the cards
10 cards from this deck
ShowHide
Practise the cards
10 cards from this deck
Hume's philosophical position
Hume's philosophical position
Empiricist - knowledge from sense experience
Hume's principle on belief & evidence
Hume's principle on belief & evidence
A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence
Hume's definition of miracle
Hume's definition of miracle
A violation of the laws of nature
Hume: probability of miracle vs lying/mistake
Hume: probability of miracle vs lying/mistake
Lying/mistake always more probable than miracle occurring
Type of argument Hume uses
Type of argument Hume uses
Inductive - deals in probabilities, not certainties
Wiles' view: what are miracles?
Wiles' view: what are miracles?
Sign events - symbolic, not literal violations of natural law
Wiles' moral argument against miracles
Wiles' moral argument against miracles
Selective intervention would make God seem immoral
Wiles' example of lack of intervention
Wiles' example of lack of intervention
Why didn't God prevent Auschwitz or Hiroshima?
Wiles: what is the one-and-only miracle?
Wiles: what is the one-and-only miracle?
The creation of the world itself
Key difference: Hume vs Wiles approach
Key difference: Hume vs Wiles approach
Hume: realist (literal); Wiles: anti-realist (symbolic)