Hume on prophecy

Hume claims that his argument against miracles applies ‘without any variation' to prophecies. While Hume's argument against miracles has been thoroughly examined in the philosophical literature, his claim that this argument works against prophecies has been left relatively unexplored. In t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religious studies
Main Author: McShane, Paddy Jane (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2016]
In: Religious studies
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Hume, David 1711-1776 / Prophecy
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
VB Hermeneutics; Philosophy
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Summary:Hume claims that his argument against miracles applies ‘without any variation' to prophecies. While Hume's argument against miracles has been thoroughly examined in the philosophical literature, his claim that this argument works against prophecies has been left relatively unexplored. In this article I examine Hume's conception of ‘prophecy' and I argue that it is flawed. I also argue, however, that Hume's argument against miracles does indeed apply to prophecies, but only if we amend Hume's conception of ‘prophecy'. I articulate and defend such an amendment.
ISSN:1469-901X
Contains:Enthalten in: Religious studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0034412515000049