Emerging Scholars Blog

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David Hume

Faith and Reason, Part 5: Hume

david hume photo
Photo by stephengg

Frequent ESN contributor and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA Graduate & Faculty Ministries Staff Mark Hansard explores David Hume’s ideas in Part 5 of his series on faith and reason. As you may remember, Part 1 took a brief look at a Scriptural basis for using reason and logic, Part 2 discussed St. Augustine’s ideas about faith and reason, Part 3 engaged with the thought of Aquinas, and Part 4 addressed John Locke. Image: Sculpture of David Hume. [Read more…] about Faith and Reason, Part 5: Hume

An Apologia for Charlatanism – On the art of reading much and knowing little

Vineyard on Montebello Ridge. Author: Brian Sterling

After heeding the Surgeon General’s statutory warning that lives, bridges and sermons are not to demise on the reprise of this theme, shall we visit the premise of charlatanism and test its truth and troth. Charlatans are contextual chameleons who can hold a conversation about any topic without having a deeper insight into definitions or knowing whether or not their claims are based on factual grounds. I am hard pressed to meet a Christian or sober-­minded secular intellectual who will sanctify this concept. A few years ago, an eminent philosopher wrote a masterful essay On ####; an expression that has been bowdlerized into Bovine Scatology for our more august audience. Harry Frankfurt makes a careful distinction between a liar and a person who specializes in the craft of the second letter of the English Alphabet in juxtaposition with the nineteenth letter in majuscule form. A liar seeks to intentionally mislead, while the person who practices the afore-­mentioned ineffable craft of which one shall dare not speak, is informally speaking, phony. On a personal note, I have been to a few wine-­tasting events without knowing the first thing about wine. Obviously, there is an element of phoniness at play here, an appearance of connoisseurship sans savoir or connaitre. Even so, sommeliers and avocation-­seeking amateurs are not the only ones granted entrance into these nose-­rubbing spaces of snobbery and shallow conversations. Even a die-­hard puritan is more inclined to pronounce a dire indictment on the ‘diabolical’ art of pressing dead grapes and the attendant ‘evil’ enzymes involved in fermentation rather than anathematize the innocuous act of gathering for conversation. [Read more…] about An Apologia for Charlatanism – On the art of reading much and knowing little

Miracles and the Definition Science

How do you define science?  What are its boundaries?  Does the scientific mind have any space for miracles?

Came across a BioLogos Forum series on Miracles and Science by the physicist Ard Louis.*  Below’s a quote on defining science, from the end of Miracles and Science, Part 1.

The problem of deciding where to draw the lines around science has vexed generations of philosophers. Like many unsolved issues, it has been given its own name — “the demarcation problem.” Although one can determine with some degree of consensus what the extremes of the science/non-science continuum are, exactly where the boundary lies is fuzzy. This doesn’t mean, however, that we cannot recognize science when we see it, but rather that a watertight definition is difficult to create. The old fashioned idea (still taught in many schools) that scientific practice follows a well-defined linear process — first make an observation, then state a hypothesis, and then test that hypothesis — is certainly far too simple –  Miracles and Science, Part 1 (Ard Louis. BioLogos Forum. 06/25/2010).

In the Miracles and Science Part 2 (7/3/2010), Louis weaves together the tapestry of science (experimental results, interpretations, explanations, etc.) and points out some of the limits of science.  At least one more post in the series, but you can jump directly to more of the material as it’s drawn from a recently-posted scholarly essay.**

So how do you define science?  What are its boundaries?  Does the practice of science (or a scientifically informed perspective) have any space for miracles? Do you frame these questions along similar lines to Louis?  If  you’re uncomfortable with Louis’ perspective, do you have an alternative to offer?

[Read more…] about Miracles and the Definition Science