Collins, Hume e i miracoli: il caso Saragozza

Abstract

A version of the essay “Of Miracles” was included in Hume’s Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748) but the first draft probably dates back to the Treatise years. The essay begins with a quotation from a sermon of John Tillotson, probably taken from A Discourse against Transubstantiation (1684), which Hume uses “pro domo sua”: while Tillotson only criticizes the miracle of transubstantiation, Hume enlarges the target of his scepticism to include the whole question of the possibility of miracles. Like Anthony Collins before him, he initially insists on the role of testimonies in facts which belongs to the realm of faith. However, in the course of the essay, he extends his critical approach even to testimonies and then concludes that no miracle can be deemed real against reason. This is plainly confirmed by Hume’s analysis of the miracle of Saragossa, which is supported by a high number of testimonies but, nonetheless, should be considered false for its lack of any rational foundation.