18 episodes
Ian Ramsey Centre: The Deist Controversy Oxford University
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The Deist Controversy was an extended debate that took place first in England and then Continental Europe roughly from the late 1600s through the mid 1700s. The deists, most of whom believed that there was a god worthy of worship who had created the world, denied special divine action beyond creation. Hence they claimed that Christianity as a revealed religion was false or even contemptible. A wide array of scholars responded to the deists and the resulting arguments shaped a landscape of ideas that largely persists to the present day.
This podcast series consists of eighteen lectures delivered as a graduate-level online course at Western Michigan University, USA, 11 May - 1 July 2015 by Timothy McGrew, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy. The series was produced in collaboration with the Ian Ramsey Centre, Oxford University Faculty of Theology and Religion, as part of the Special Divine Action project, sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.
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Lecture 18: Hume’s “Of Miracles,” Part 2
The final lecture gives an overview of the second part of Hume’s argument in ‘Of Miracles’, with responses from William Adams, George Campbell, Peter Bayne, and John Douglas.
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Lecture 17: Hume’s “Of Miracles,” Part 1
The second in this series on Hume explicates the details of his argument and gives an explanation of the argument in part one, as well as responses from Hume’s contemporary, William Adam, and the Mathematician Charles Babbage.
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Lecture 16: David Hume: Introduction to “Of Miracles”
Here begins the discussion of David Hume, especially his essay ‘Of Miracles’ from his Philosophical Essays. This lecture includes differing interpretations for the argument Hume is making in part one of his essay.
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Lecture 15: Dodwell and his Critics
This lecture wraps up the discussion of Dodwell, containing more of his thoughts, and reactions to them from Philip Doddridge and John Leland, with additional comments on the connection between Dodwell and David Hume.
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Lecture 14: Annet and Dodwell
This lecture continues Annet’s response to the Tryal of the Witnesses and a rebuttal of him by Charles Moss. Another subject covered is the work of Henry Dodwell Jr and his arguments against using reason as a basis for Christianity.
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Lecture 13: Thomas Chubb and Peter Annet
This lecture details the ideas of two popular Deists, Thomas Chubb and Peter Annet, as well as responses by Caleb Fleming, Jonathan Edwards, and John Leland.