About the lecture

In this module, we examine different understandings of a miracle, focusing particularly on (i) Voltaire’s weak and strong senses of a miracle (i) Hume’s idea of a miracle as an unusual, improbable event or prodigy (ii) the theological conception of a miracle as divine intervention (iii) the importance of miracles as prodigies for Hume’s argument (iv) depictions of miracles in religious documents (v) the epistemological character of Hume’s argument.

About the lecturer

Dr Arif Ahmed is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He writes mainly on decision theory, but also has an interest in religion and has debated the subject against William Lane Craig, Tariq Ramadan, Rowan Williams and others. Some of his recent publications include (as editor) Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: A Critical Guide (2010), Evidence, Decision and Causality (2014) and (as editor) Classical Philosophical Arguments: Newcomb's Problem (2018).