Hume In Explaining Humes Critique Of The Belief In Miracles, We Must

Hume In explaining Hume's critique of the belief in miracles, we must first understand the definition of a miracle. The Webster Dictionary defines a miracle as: a supernatural event regarded as to define action, one of the acts worked by Christ which revealed his divinity an extremely remarkable achievement or event, an unexpected piece of luck. Therefore, a miracle is based on one's perception of past experiences, what everyone sees. It is based on a individuals own reality, and the faith in which he/she believes in, it is based on interior events such as what we are taught, and exterior events, such as what we hear or see first hand. When studying Hume's view of a miracle, he interprets or defines a miracle as such; a miracle is a violation of the laws of nature, an event which is not normal to most of mankind. Hume explains this point brilliantly when he states, ?Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it has ever happened in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man seem ingly in good health should die on a sudden.? (Hume p.888) Hume states that this death is quite unusual, however it seemed to happen naturally. He could only define it as a true miracle if this dead man were to come back to life. This would be a miraculous event because such an experience has not yet been commonly observed. In which case, his philosophical view of a miracle would be true. Hume critiques and discredits the belief in a miracle merely because it goes against the laws of nature. Hume defines the laws of nature to be what has been ?uniformly? observed by mankind, such as the laws of identity and gravity. He views society as being far to liberal in what they consider to be a miracle. He gives the reader four ideas to support his philosophy in defining a true miracle, or the belief in a miracle. These points leads us to believe that there has never been a miraculous event established. Hume's first reason in contradicting a miracle is, in all of history there has not bee n a miraculous event with a sufficient number of witnesses. He questions the integrity of the men and the reputation in which they hold in society. If their reputation holds great integrity, then and only then can we have full assurance in the testimony of men. Hume is constantly asking throughout the passage questions to support proof for a miracle. He asks questions such as this; Who is qualified? Who has the authority to say who qualifies? As he asks these questions we can see there are no real answers, in which case, it tends to break the validity of the witnesses to the miracle. Hume's second reason in contradicting the validity of a miracle is that he views all of our beliefs, or what we choose to accept, or not accept through past experience and what history dictates to us. Furthermore, he tends to discredit an individual by playing on a human beings consciousness or sense of reality. An example is; using words such as, the individuals need for ?excitement? and ?wonder? arisi ng from miracles. Even the individual who can not enjoy the pleasure immediately will still believe in a miracle, regardless of the possible validity of the miracle. With this, it leads the individual to feel a sense of belonging and a sense of pride. These individuals tend to be the followers within society. These individuals will tend to believe faster than the leaders in the society. With no regard to the miracles validity, whether it is true or false, or second hand information. Miracles lead to such strong temptations, that we as individuals tend to lose sense of our own belief of fantasy and reality. As individuals we tend to believe to find attention, and to gossip of the unknown. Through emotions and behavior Hume tends to believe there has been many forged miracles, regardless if the information is somewhat valid or not. His third reason in discrediting the belief in a miracle is testimony versus reality. Hume states, ?It forms a strong presumption against all supernatur al and miraculous events, that they

Free Essays on Privacy

Privacy in the Classroom Privacy is the voluntary and temporary withdrawal of a person from the general society through physical or psychological means, either in a state of solitude or small-group intimacy or, when among larger groups, in a condition of anonymity or reserve. The question is privacy being invaded in the classroom or are critics on privacy being too critical? I believe that there is an issue of privacy in the classroom that teacher and parents along with students are unaware of. Philip, a little boy with a learning disability, was placed in a special education class two days out of the week and the other three days he was placed in a â€Å"mainstream† fifth grade class so he could be around children that he should be on the same level as. One day the teacher asked the class to switch quizzes and grade them. Philip, being in a special education class, hadn’t grasped the subject as the other children had and he received a failing grade. The teacher called out student’s names so the grader of the student’s paper would announce the score in front of the class. Philip was devastated. He was the only student in the class with a low grade. In this example peer grading is unacceptable and a violation of student privacy. The teacher knew what kind of students he/she had in the classroom and could have saved Phillips embarrassment of publicizing his failure. In a middle school English class a teacher ask the students to pull out their journals and write about topics such as; draw a picture of your house and family occupants and write what each one is saying; who has the last word in your family; reveal who in your family brings you the greatest sadness and why, who brings you the greatest joy and why. Journal questions like this invade a kid’s privacy. Children wouldn’t know the difference if they were asked a general question or a question to know what’s going on their household. Thus, selected... Free Essays on Privacy Free Essays on Privacy Privacy in the Classroom Privacy is the voluntary and temporary withdrawal of a person from the general society through physical or psychological means, either in a state of solitude or small-group intimacy or, when among larger groups, in a condition of anonymity or reserve. The question is privacy being invaded in the classroom or are critics on privacy being too critical? I believe that there is an issue of privacy in the classroom that teacher and parents along with students are unaware of. Philip, a little boy with a learning disability, was placed in a special education class two days out of the week and the other three days he was placed in a â€Å"mainstream† fifth grade class so he could be around children that he should be on the same level as. One day the teacher asked the class to switch quizzes and grade them. Philip, being in a special education class, hadn’t grasped the subject as the other children had and he received a failing grade. The teacher called out student’s names so the grader of the student’s paper would announce the score in front of the class. Philip was devastated. He was the only student in the class with a low grade. In this example peer grading is unacceptable and a violation of student privacy. The teacher knew what kind of students he/she had in the classroom and could have saved Phillips embarrassment of publicizing his failure. In a middle school English class a teacher ask the students to pull out their journals and write about topics such as; draw a picture of your house and family occupants and write what each one is saying; who has the last word in your family; reveal who in your family brings you the greatest sadness and why, who brings you the greatest joy and why. Journal questions like this invade a kid’s privacy. Children wouldn’t know the difference if they were asked a general question or a question to know what’s going on their household. Thus, selected...

Global Management of Information Systems- MISM 3303, Information Research Paper

Global Management of Information Systems- MISM 3303, Information Systems Theory and Practice - Research Paper Example This document also encourages for the adoption of new research methods by researchers in global information systems research. Advances in information technology and globalization trends have for the last two decades dominated the business world. Globalization reflects the interconnection of societies in terms of political, cultural and economic aspects (Giddens, 2002). Opportunities and feasibility of globalization have been enhanced by information and communication technology, by enabling new structural organizations, new modes of work and communication across space and time (Walshan, 2001) as well as facilitation of movement of goods and coordination of services (Palvia and Wang, 1995). Businesses today find it necessary to incorporate global information systems in their organizational structure due to its usefulness and impact. A firm’s global business strategy can be achieved through global applications such as using information technology platforms to transmit, store, and manipulate data across diverse cultural environments (Wang, 1995). Global Information systems deal with development, management and use of information systems across the globe. Implementation and use of information systems may be affected by national differences such as infrastructure capabilities, physical environments, cultural issues, economic and political factors. Hence, it is essential to understand the challenges and opportunities related to global information systems in the volatile business world. Research on global management of information systems goes across national boundaries to include research spanning on multiple countries. Recent research studies have focused only on particular aspects of global IS. It has been revealed through a literature search (Lehman & Gallupe, 2004) that, less than 1 percent of the IS literature published in academic