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    The occurrence of rare, unusual, or extraordinary events ... — Carmelics
    Home/Skepticism
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    The occurrence of rare, unusual, or extraordinary events does not demonstrate that the laws of nature have been violated

    Natural TheologySkepticism
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.When irregular and extraordinary events occur, closer examination generally uncovers hidden or concealed natural causes
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    • 2.Our experience shows that nature is uniform and regular
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    • 3.Concluding that the laws of nature are violated from extraordinary events reflects ignorance and credulity, not sound reasoning
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.C.S. Lewis and Richard Swinburne argue that laws of nature are descriptive regularities, not governing necessities, so divine intervention adds an uncaused event rather than violating a prescription.
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    • 2.If laws of nature merely describe what happens absent supernatural intervention, then an extraordinary event caused by a personal agent logically supplements rather than contradicts those laws.
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    • 3.Identifying an event as a miracle requires prior theological commitments, not ignorance, as Swinburne's evidential framework in 'The Concept of Miracle' demonstrates.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.The methodological principle that hidden natural causes exist cannot be established without presupposing the very uniformity of nature it is meant to support.
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    • 2.Hume himself demonstrated in the Treatise that the uniformity of nature cannot be rationally justified, undermining appeals to it as a defeater for miracle claims.
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    SkepticismNatural Theology

    Related

    C.S. Lewis and Richard Swinburne argue that laws of nature are descriptive regul...Concluding that the laws of nature are violated from extraordinary events reflec...Hume himself demonstrated in the Treatise that the uniformity of nature cannot b...Identifying an event as a miracle requires prior theological commitments, not ig...
    +4 moreShow less
    If laws of nature merely describe what happens absent supernatural intervention,...Our experience shows that nature is uniform and regularThe methodological principle that hidden natural causes exist cannot be establis...When irregular and extraordinary events occur, closer examination generally unco...

    Similar

    A rare or unusual event is not a miracle if it falls within the common...86%Concluding that the laws of nature are violated from extraordinary eve...82%Events that fall within the common course of nature, however rare, are...82%If 'laws of nature' means empirical laws, then a departure from empiri...81%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: hume-religion
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    Hume’s views on miracles have been criticized from a variety of perspectives. Some critics have claimed that Hume, in laying down that miracles run up against uniform experience, is simply assuming at the outset that the probability of miracle occurrences is equal to zero (see Johnson 1999 and Earman 2003). In response to this is has been pointed out that Hume’s concern is not with the factual question as to whether miracles have occurred or not, but with the epistemic question of whether it can
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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