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This is a 3 page paper that provides an overview of Hume's skepticism. The argument from "On Miracles" is analyzed from an empirical epistemological perspective. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
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3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KW60_KFhume01.doc
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weighed against another. In this context, the study of epistemology has many potent implications in the search for any kind of truth, as the ability to resolve contradictions is positively
vital for such an endeavor. Throughout the history of philosophy, a variety of epistemological perspectives have emerged and contested with one another for validity. One of the most enduring, however,
is the empirical perspective; namely, the epistemological view that knowledge must be judged on the basis of evidence, and that evidence is acquired most readily through the human senses and
the faculty of reason. One of the most important constructions of an empirical epistemology can be found in the writings of David Hume, in his text, An Enquiry Concerning Human
Understanding, and in particular the passage "On Miracles". This paragraph helps the student look at the context for Humes skeptical formulations. "On Miracles" is a short section of Humes larger
treatise, but it remains one of his most popular pieces of writing. This is because it uses a very simplistic appeal to empiricism in order to offer a very reasonable
argument against the existence of miracles that can be quite confounding to refute. This empirical emphasis, in which Hume reinforces the importance of direct experience in the formulation of knowledge,
is at the core of Humes overarching skepticism, which makes a topic like "miracles" a natural target for his analysis. By utilizing an empirical framework to attempt to disprove the
existence of miracles, Hume is not only lambasting the miraculous, but underlining the credibility of his skeptical, reason-centric epistemology as a whole. Humes argument in "On Miracles" is a
simple one. He begins by asserting that any competing claims must be judged on the merit of the evidence available for each claim. In other words, when one is confronted
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