Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Humes View of Miracles

In order to understand Hume’s critique of the belief in miracles, it is crucial to begin by defining what a miracle means. Pojman and Rea (2008) define a miracle as a supernatural event that work beyond human control. This is made clear by several instances in the Bible where miracles are said to have taken place.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hume’s View of Miracles specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One such is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is strongly believed that no human being can rise from the dead meaning that it was a miraculous act for Jesus to resurrect. In this regard, it is apparent that a miracle is based on one’s own reality and faith. However, Hume being a critic of miracles provides his own interpretation of what miracles means. According to Hume, a miracle is an infringement of the laws of nature, an occurrence, which is abnormal to a majority of humanki nd (Hume, 1985). Hume makes his point clear when he asserted, â€Å"Nothing is esteemed in a miracle if it has ever occurred in the common course of nature†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hume, 1985, p.888). He proceeds to state that it is not a miracle when an individual in good health dies a sudden death. Hume claims that despite this death appearing peculiar it is natural. According to his understanding of miracle, he could only define it as a true miracle in case the deceased were to rise from dead the same way Jesus is claimed to have arisen. Hume (1985) argues that this will be considered a miracle because no such event has ever been witnessed. Therefore, Hume’s critique of miracle is purely based on his belief that miracles goes against the laws of nature. Van Inwagen’s problem with Hume’s understanding of miracles Peter Ivan Inwagen criticizes Hume’s understanding of miracles when Hume states that a miracle pertains to events, which run contrary to the experience of humankind. Inwagen criticizes this idea arguing that seeing what this idea amounts to is not easy. Therefore, by failing to find any other meaning of ‘contrary to experience’ capable of proving Hume’s assertions, Inwagen concludes that Hume’s understanding of miracles is a fallacy (Pojman and Rea, 2008). Hume’s four reasons in proof that miracles does not happen In defending his philosophy of what a true miracle means Hume provides four reasons to prove his claims. In his first criticism of miracles, Homes argue that there has never been a witness of a miraculous event throughout history to prove that a miracle has ever happened. Secondly, Hume disputes the existence of a miracle arguing that all that people chose to accept or believe in are based on experience and history. Hume’s third reason contradicting the belief in a miracle is based on testimony versus reality. In his argument, he states that what used to be considered miracles in the past can no longer be considered so in the present world or future. He claims that what somebody might have considered a miracle in the past must have been based on the individual’s perceptions and beliefs at that given time, which is bound to change with time.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Lastly, Hume discredits the belief in miracles arguing that for miracles to be said to have happened, there must be several witnesses to prove the miracle. In fact, Hume narrates several incidences that are claimed to have been miraculous while criticizing them using his four reasoning against miracles (Hume, 1985). Of all his reasons discrediting the belief in a miracle, I find the fourth point to be the most plausible. This is because, for us to belief that a questionable event like a miracle has happened witnesses must be present to prove the event otherwise the happening would not amount to a miracle. References Hume, D. (1985). Of miracles. New York, NY: Open Court. Pojman, L.P., Rea, M.C. (2008). Philosophy of religion: an anthology. Manson, OH: Cengage Learning. This essay on Hume’s View of Miracles was written and submitted by user Timothy Gomez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Three Types of Exceptions in Java

Three Types of Exceptions in Java Errors are the bane of users and programmers alike. Developers obviously dont want their programs falling over at every turn and users are now so used to having errors in programs that they grudgingly accept to pay the price for software that will almost certainly have at least one error in it. Java is designed to give the programmer a sporting chance in designing an error-free application. There are exceptions that the programmer will know are a possibility when an application interacts with a resource or a user and these exceptions can be handled. Unfortunately, there are exceptions the programmer cant control or simply overlooks. In short, all exceptions are not created equal and therefore there are several types for a programmer to think about. An exception is an event which causes the program to be unable to flow in its intended execution. There are three types of exception- the checked exception, the error and the runtime exception. The Checked Exception Checked exceptions are exceptions that a Java application should be able to cope with. For example, If an application reads data from a file it should be able to handle the FileNotFoundException . After all, there is no guarantee that the expected file is going to be where it is supposed to be. Anything could happen on the file system, which an application would have no clue about. To take this example one step further. Lets say we are using the FileReader class to read a character file. If you have a look at the FileReader constructor definition in the Java api you will see its method signature: public FileReader(String fileName) throws FileNotFoundException As you can see the constructor specifically states that the FileReader constructor can throw a FileNotFoundException. This makes sense as its highly likely that the fileName String will be wrong from time to time. Look at the following code: public static void main(String[] args){ FileReader fileInput null; //Open the input file fileInput new FileReader(Untitled.txt); } Syntactically the statements are correct but this code will never compile. The compiler knows the FileReader constructor can throw a FileNotFoundException and its up to the calling code to handle this exception. There are two choices - firstly we can pass the exception on from our method by specifying a throws clause too: public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException{ FileReader fileInput null; //Open the input file fileInput new FileReader(Untitled.txt); } Or we can actually handle with the exception: public static void main(String[] args){ FileReader fileInput null; try { //Open the input file fileInput new FileReader(Untitled.txt); } catch(FileNotFoundException ex) { //tell the user to go and find the file } } Well-written Java applications should be able to cope with checked exceptions. Errors The second kind of exception is known as the error. When an exception occurs the JVM will create an exception object. These objects all derive from the Throwable class. The Throwable class has two main subclasses- Error and Exception. The Error class denotes an exception that an application is not likely to be able to deal with.   These exceptions are considered rare. For example, the JVM might run out of resources due to the hardware not being able to cope with all the processes it is having to deal with. Its possible for the application to catch the error to notify the user but typically the application is going to have to close until the underlying problem is dealt with. Runtime Exceptions A runtime exception occurs simply because the programmer has made a mistake. Youve written the code, it all looks good to the compiler and when you go to run the code, it falls over because it tried to access an element of an array that does not exist or a logic error caused a method to be called with a null value. Or any number of mistakes a programmer can make. But thats okay, we spot these exceptions by exhaustive testing, right? Errors and Runtime Exceptions fall into the category of unchecked exceptions.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Islame Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Islame - Essay Example The Holy Quran addresses the concept of leadership and gives an Islamic view about how God sees human beings. One of the critical characteristics of good leadership emphasized by the Holy Quran is the issue of teamwork. â€Å"Bring me blocks of iron.† At length when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountainsides he said â€Å"Blow (with your bellows).† Then when he had made it (red) as fire, he said, â€Å"Bring me that I may pour over it molten lead.† (Quran, 18:96). On the other hand, one of the most important Hadiths about leadership is when the Prophet opined, â€Å"Each of you is a shepherd, and all of you are responsible for your flocks.† (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim) The verse and the Hadith have critical significance and relevance for Muslims in contemporary context. With the current global political, social and economic challenges, one will ask what Islam’s position is on leadership. From the verse and the Hadith, it is clear than teamwork forms an important characteristic of good leadership. According to the verse teamwork create unity of purpose and makes people