Mary and Fátima: A Modest C-Inductive Argument for Catholicism

C-Inductive arguments are arguments that increase the probability of a hypothesis. In this paper, we offer a C-Inductive argument for the Roman Catholic hypothesis. We specifically argue that one would expect the Miracle of Fátima on Roman Catholicism more so than on alternative hypotheses. Since our argument draws on confirmation theory, we first give a primer for how confirmation theory works. We then, provide the historical facts surrounding the Miracle of Fátima. We offer up two competing naturalistic explanations that attempt to explain the historical facts, but then, argue that a supernatural explanation is superior. Having established that something miraculous likely occurred at Fátima, we move to argue for the overall thesis of the paper. Finally, we engage several objections to our argument.

Gods, Fate, and the Character of Oedipus

In both plays, character drives the actions that are represented or reported on stage. Although Oedipus and his family are living through a fate allotted to them by the gods, they show genuine agency in their actions. The only stage action that calls for a supernatural explanation is the miracle at the end of Oedipus at Colonus, when Oedipus seems to understand the voice of Zeus in the sound of thunder. Otherwise, all the actions can be explained in terms of the character qualities of the agents. Oedipus’s character is a blend of qualities that not only explain his actions but render him attractively human. The blend is unique: Sophocles shows us an Oedipus who is an individual, not a type. Power figures who are impetuous, prone to anger, and self-absorbed may be a familiar type, but Oedipus’s rampant curiosity makes him unique.

Fantastic Elements in Djebar's La Femme sans sépulture

Fantastic Elements in Djebar’s La Femme sans sépulture Todorov famously defined the fantastic genre as comprising texts set in a recognisably ‘real’ world that involve the possibility, but only the possibility, of a supernatural explanation underlying the events of the story related. Where the supernatural and the natural co-exist as hypotheses within the text, the reader enters a state of hesitation concerning the status of the story-events set before her (Todorov, 1975). If this hesitation is sustained to the end, according to Todorov the text can usefully be classified as belonging to the (pure) fantastic genre. Is La Femme sans sépulture an example of the fantastic genre? Certainly the author plays with the conventions of that genre, skilfully juxtaposing two types of explanation for the events recounted and fostering a hesitation on the part of the reader. But this is not an end in itself for Djebar. Rather, the possibility of the supernatural seems to function as a metaphor; if the ghost of Zoulikha ‘haunts’ those who live on after her disappearance (her daughters and former comrades, the narrator herself, and all those for whose freedom she fought), this means that we all owe a duty to the past. Only once she has done her duty to Zoulikha in this way can the author-narrator feel that she has truly returned home. And it is entirely appropriate to represent this relationship to the past as a kind of haunting. This is the use to which Djebar puts the idea of the supernatural; whilst celebrating and continuing Zoulikha’s struggle for the liberation of Algeria and its women, she uses the possibility of the fantastic to convey the uncanny experience of a constant return to her own (cultural) self.

A Change in the Forest: Myth and History in West Java

The demarcation of boundaries is an important feature of the Sundanese social and geographical landscape. Markers indicating the limits of territories, ceremonial areas and the like abound. Linguistic markers indicate interpersonal social boundaries. Boundaries are generally regarded as places of danger and various supernatural entities are said to guard those between any two spheres in general. On Java generally, regularly recurring anniversaries, such as Idul Fitri and 1 Sura, the Javanese new year are marked with significant ceremonies such as bersih desa or petik laut or, in the past, rampok macan protecting the village or realm from evil.Less immediately obvious are boundaries in time, marking the transition between zaman, or eras. A change in era is of a different kind from the cyclical changes since by its very nature it is a non-repeating event. The topic of this paper is one such change in West Java, the change from Hindu rule to Islamic hegemony, and the mythology which consequently arose, providing a supernatural explanation for this quite powerful event.

Virgil, Aeneid 7.620–2

Virgilian scholars appear not to have appreciated the full dramatic significance of this passage, which provides a further example of Virgil's use of divine intervention in events which he wishes to mark as particularly significant in the course of the poem. These three lines signal the onset of the war with which the remainder of the Aeneid will be concerned; since line 607, Virgil has been working towards them by means of a detailed description of the gates of war themselves and of the tradition attached to them. But at this point in Italian history there is an ominous departure from the traditional procedures regarding the declaration of war. Latinus, who according to what Virgil depicts as the already well-established tradition was bound to open the gates in order to mark the beginning of war against the Trojans, has refused in horror to carry out his duty, opposed as he is to the turn recent events have taken in Latium. At this point Juno intervenes dramatically, as she had intervened before to sow the seeds of the ‘horrida bella’ (6.86, 7.41) between the Trojans and the indigenous population (323ff.). Virgil depicts her as sweeping down from heaven in person in order to push open the gates. The reader is shown how at her touch the gates burst open (‘rumpit’) without the involvement of any human or visible agency. It is an action which apparently has only a supernatural explanation, clearly described to the reader as the work of Juno.

Drau Ni Kau

Drau ni kau is a syndrome found in Fijians. This syndrome is essentially a supernatural explanation for natural disease processes or reactions to stresses. The history of drau ni kau is reviewed. A clinical case involving mother and son is described. The son had Klinefelter's syndrome and the mother rheumatic heart disease. The son exhibited asocial behaviour; the mother an ill-defined syndrome of anxiety and depression. Other clinical aspects of reputed supernatural disease encountered in the Fijian are mentioned. The techniques of inducing and relieving drau ni kau are discussed in past and present perspective.