Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    The assumption of a miracle can sometimes be the most rat... — Carmelics
    Home/Natural Theology
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The assumption of a miracle can sometimes be the most rational explanation for a reported event

    Modality & Possibility
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.It can happen that every possible explanation for a fact requires presupposing certain unusual events
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.When every explanation requires unusual events, the assumption of a miracle may be the least improbable among competing explanations
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The least improbable explanation is the most probable explanation
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hume's maxim holds: the probability of testimony being false always exceeds the probability of a genuine violation of natural law.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.A miracle, by definition, requires suspending laws whose very evidential weight dwarfs any finite body of testimonial evidence.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Therefore, miracle-explanations are structurally precluded from achieving higher probability than naturalistic alternatives, however imperfect.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Swinburne and Ockham's razor jointly demand that explanatory posits be minimized unless evidential gain clearly justifies them.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Invoking divine intervention introduces an unconstrained explanatory variable that can accommodate any outcome, thereby losing falsifiability and predictive content.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.An explanation that can accommodate any data provides no genuine rational traction over rivals and cannot count as 'most rational' in any rigorous Bayesian or abductive framework.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Natural TheologyModality & Possibility

    Connections

    1 topic

    Truth & Knowledge1 linked

    Related

    A miracle, by definition, requires suspending laws whose very evidential weight ...An explanation that can accommodate any data provides no genuine rational tracti...Hume's maxim holds: the probability of testimony being false always exceeds the ...Invoking divine intervention introduces an unconstrained explanatory variable th...
    +5 moreShow less
    It can happen that every possible explanation for a fact requires presupposing c...Swinburne and Ockham's razor jointly demand that explanatory posits be minimized...The least improbable explanation is the most probable explanationTherefore, miracle-explanations are structurally precluded from achieving higher...When every explanation requires unusual events, the assumption of a miracle may ...

    Similar

    When every explanation requires unusual events, the assumption of a mi...91%Hume's argument is about the epistemic rationality of believing miracl...80%The evidential standard required to establish that a miracle has occur...79%It can happen that every possible explanation for a fact requires pres...76%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: bolzano
    View source passageHide passage
    A question in regard to which Bolzano adopted an especially interesting position was the problem of miracles. According to the traditional view, they are supernatural events or even immediate effects of God. Sometimes this is understood in the sense that miracles are events which are not explainable by means of the laws of nature or even incompatible with these laws. This view, however, has to face serious problems as Bolzano has painfully made clear (cf. RW I, 422–439, especially 424–436). Bolz
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit