Date of Award

5-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Languages, Philosophy and Communication Studies

Abstract

Albert Einstein once said, "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is." A quick study of David Hume's Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding reveals that he believed strongly in the first way. Why is this? First of all, it is in his definition of miracle. Hume defines a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature. This is a problematic definition to begin with, as it appears to preclude the possibility of there ever being a miracle. If a miracle is something that violates the laws of nature, and the laws of nature can not be violated, it looks as if a miracle by definition is impossible. However, we will ignore this for the time being and look into what he says about believing reports of miracles.

Included in

Philosophy Commons

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Faculty Mentor

Charles W. Johnson

Departmental Honors Advisor

Charles W. Johnson