Personal Testimony

In Hume’s argument, "Of Miracles", he begins by addressing the function of evidence in supporting the particular claim of a miracle, defining miracle as a violation of natural laws with the interference of a holy power. The weight of the evidence determines which of the claims about the miracle we choose to accept and which we choose to reject. He regards human testimony as sufficient evidence with, “no species of reasoning more common, more useful, and even necessary to human life”, establishing acceptable evidence for the support of miracles. The argument against the occurrence of miracles, however, also consists of human testimony by being based on the Laws of Nature, which draw evidence from human experience. The evidence against the incident of a miracle, then, is most likely to outweigh the evidence for a miraculous happening simply because the Laws of Nature are founded on an incomparable amount of human experience and a miracle is usually supported with only a single experience. What then do we do with testimonies of human witnesses? Does a Witness’s experience of a miraculous event ever outweigh the ancient laws of nature?

         While the reasonable and sensible side of me wants accept and support this argument I am torn by the first hand account of witnessing a ghost sighting. Yes it’s true I have, with my own two eyes, seen a ghost. Not just any ghost but the ghost of my grandfather Gene. I will be the first to admit that this claim sounds completely ridiculous, but it was the most amazing moment of wonder, fear, and belief that I have ever experienced. Although my grandfather was not risen from the dead, his human form appeared to me, as if he was flesh and blood standing in my home.

          Of course Hume would refute my claim by questioning my reliability as a witness. I was an imaginative child with a, to say the very least, odd sense of reality and I was going through the traumatic event of losing a loved one in my young life. This doesn’t account for the memory that has stayed with me for over fourteen years and seems to me as if it only happened yesterday. He may argue that I am working towards some personal holy campaign, using the supernatural as a force to gain followers. I am not a religious person though; I have no ulterior religious motives in telling you of my ghost experience. He may also argue that I have a tendency to believe in the unbelievable. I do not have a disposition towards believing in the supernatural though; I have always been taught to question the unknown. He may blame you, the audience, for being so entrapped by my story you have let your skepticism guard down and believe my story without proper scrutiny. Please by all means scrutinize this story as much as you possibly can.

         Obviously I am not the only witness in the world that would argue their claim of a miracle to no end. When someone has experienced something that has made such an impression it is virtually impossible to tell him or her otherwise. Hume’s reasoning of the weight of evidence and the importance of human experience in justifying or disproving a claim is sound reasoning. While this argument is a strong one for developing a belief about a miraculous occurrence it does not necessarily bring us to the truth of these events.