Twenty Questions about Hume's “Of Miracles”

Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 68:151-192 (2011)
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Abstract

Hume's essay on the credibility of miracle reports has always been controversial, with much debate over how it should be interpreted, let alone assessed. My aim here is to summarise what I take to be the most plausible views on these issues, both interpretative and philosophical, with references to facilitate deeper investigation if desired. The paper is divided into small sections, each headed by a question that provides a focus. Broadly speaking, §§1–3 and §20 are on Hume's general philosophical framework within which the essay is situated, §§4–11 and §19 are on Part 1, §12–18 are on Part 2, and the final three sections §§18–20 sum up my assessment of his arguments.

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Peter Millican
Oxford University

Citations of this work

Hume's Fork, and his Theory of Relations.Peter Millican - 2017 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 95 (1):3-65.
Hume and the Independent Witnesses.Arif Ahmed - 2015 - Mind 124 (496):1013-1044.
Humeanism and the epistemology of testimony.Dan O’Brien - 2020 - Synthese 199 (1-2):2647-2669.
Hume, Contrary Miracles, and Religion as We Find It.Michael Jacovides - 2022 - History of Philosophy Quarterly 39 (2):147-161.
Hume’s Maxim and Accepting Testimonies of Miracles.Jędrzej Gosiewski - 2024 - Roczniki Filozoficzne 72 (4):89-108. Translated by Joanna Frydrych.

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References found in this work

An essay concerning human understanding.John Locke - 1689 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Pauline Phemister.
Testimony: a philosophical study.C. A. J. Coady - 1992 - New York: Oxford University Press.

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