Publication: Bilim tasavvuru bakımından mucizenin imkanı
Abstract
Mucizenin imkanı problemi değişen bilim tasavvuruyla farklı bağlamlarda tartışılmaktadır. Bir din felsefesi terimi olarak kabul görmüş haliyle mucize “Tanrı tarafından meydana getirilen ve dini önemi haiz, olağanüstü türde bir olay” olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Dolayısıyla bir olayı mucize kılan şey onun Tanrı tarafından gerçekleştirilmesi, dini bir değerinin bulunması ve son olarak olağanüstü olmasıdır. Mucizenin olağanüstü bir hadise olarak tanımlanması onun tabiatta ne şekilde ortaya çıkabileceği problemini beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu problem teolojilerin ortak kaygısıolmuştur. Teolojilerde mucizenin imkanı problemi bir taraftan nedensellik diğer taraftan ilahi müdahale bağlamında izah edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Mucizelerin düzenli bir doğada vuku bulması erken Orta Çağ döneminden itibaren hem düzenli doğa fikrinin tartışılmasını hem de düzenli doğaya olan ilahi müdahale tartışmalarını beraberinde getirmiştir. İslam kelamından Eşarilerin “adet teorisi”, evrene dair düşünceleri ve teolojileri arasında tutarlı bir yol benimsemenin ilk örneklerinden olmuştur. Hıristiyan kelamından erken ve geç Orta Çağ dönemlerine atıf yaparak isimlendirdiğimiz klasik dönemde Augustinus‟un evrene dolaylı müdahale fikri, Aquinas‟ın Aristoteles‟ten gelennesnenin doğası anlayışıyla mucizenin imkanına dair getirdiği izahlar mucizelerin inançları gerekçelendirmede tutarlı bir yol izleme kaygılarının yine önemli örneklerinden olmuştur. Tüm bu tartışmalar değişen bilim anlayışıyla seyrinideğiştirmiştir. Nitekim Aristoteles‟ten gelen nesnenin bir doğası olduğu inancı 17.yüzyıldan itibaren yerini doğanın yasaları olduğu inancına bırakmıştır. Bu bağlamda geliştirilen mekanik evren tasavvuru mucizenin imkanı artışmalarına yeni bir boyut kazandırmıştır. Mekanik bir evrene Tanrı‟nın müdahalesinin ne boyutlarda olabileceğiönemli sorunlardan biri haline gelmiştir. Descartes (1596-1650), Newton (1643-1727), Leibniz (1646-1716) gibi sistem kurucuları mekanik bir evrene Tanrı‟nın müdahalesinin nasıl olabileceğini teolojileriyle tutarlı bir yol izleyerek izah etmeye çalışmışlardır. Mekanik filozofların mucize izahları, erken-geç Orta Çağ teolog ve filozofların açıklamalarının geliştirilmiş bir hali olarak gözükmektedir. Nihayetinde mekanik filozoflar da mekanik bir evrende ilahi müdahale fikrini mümkün görmüşlerdir. Bu bakımdan mekanik filozofların görüşleri, mekanik evrende mucizenin imkanını kendilerine intikal eden felsefi mirasın problemlerini, kendi felsefelerinde ve bilim anlayışlarında nasıl aşmaya çalıştıklarını göstermesi bakımından önem arz etmektedir.
The question of the possibility of miracles has been discussed in different contexts and with reference to changing conceptions of science. As a term of the philosophy of religion, miracles denotes “a supernatural event that is created by God, and has religious significance”. In this regard, an event can be defined as a miracle if it is supernatural; created by God, and has religious importance. That miracle is defined as a supernatural event brings the question of how it occurs in the nature. This problem constitutes a common problematique for theologies. The problem of the possibility of miracles has been tried to explained within the contexts of causality and divineintervention. For miracles occur in an ordinate nature, the questions concerning the idea of in natural order, and of divine intervention to the order of nature have been a part of scholarly inquiries since the medieval era. “The theory of divine habit” of the Asharite theologians constitutes an example of the espousal of a coherent middle way between the ideas and theologies concerning the universe. One may final similar attempt to explain the occurence of miracles developped by Christian theologians. For example, Augustine‟s idea of God‟s indirect intervension to nature, which was derived from Aristotle‟s explanations regarding the possibility of miracles with reference to thenature of objects, has been among significant examples of endeavors for grounding the beliefs with reference to miracles. The course of all these discussions changed in relation to the changes of the conception of science. Indeed, beginning in the 17th century, the Aristotelian conception of the object‟s nature has been replaced by thebelief assuming that the nature has laws. The envision of a mechanical universe brought a new dimension to the discussions regarding the possibility of miracles. The question of the limits of divine intervention to a mechanical universe appeared as a philosophical inquiry. System founders, like Descartes (1596-1650), Newton (1643-1727) and Leibniz (1646-1716) attempted to explain the possibility of divine intervention to nature in their theologies in a coherent way. Mechanist philosophers‟ explanations of miracles seem like an advanced version of the theories developed by the theologians and philosopher of the middle ages. In the end, mechanistic philosophers regarded miracles as possible in a mechanical universe. In this sense, the ideas of mechanist philosophers are significant for they display how they tried to modify the legacy of medieval thinkers regarding the possibility of miracle to suit their own visions of science and philosophy.
The question of the possibility of miracles has been discussed in different contexts and with reference to changing conceptions of science. As a term of the philosophy of religion, miracles denotes “a supernatural event that is created by God, and has religious significance”. In this regard, an event can be defined as a miracle if it is supernatural; created by God, and has religious importance. That miracle is defined as a supernatural event brings the question of how it occurs in the nature. This problem constitutes a common problematique for theologies. The problem of the possibility of miracles has been tried to explained within the contexts of causality and divineintervention. For miracles occur in an ordinate nature, the questions concerning the idea of in natural order, and of divine intervention to the order of nature have been a part of scholarly inquiries since the medieval era. “The theory of divine habit” of the Asharite theologians constitutes an example of the espousal of a coherent middle way between the ideas and theologies concerning the universe. One may final similar attempt to explain the occurence of miracles developped by Christian theologians. For example, Augustine‟s idea of God‟s indirect intervension to nature, which was derived from Aristotle‟s explanations regarding the possibility of miracles with reference to thenature of objects, has been among significant examples of endeavors for grounding the beliefs with reference to miracles. The course of all these discussions changed in relation to the changes of the conception of science. Indeed, beginning in the 17th century, the Aristotelian conception of the object‟s nature has been replaced by thebelief assuming that the nature has laws. The envision of a mechanical universe brought a new dimension to the discussions regarding the possibility of miracles. The question of the limits of divine intervention to a mechanical universe appeared as a philosophical inquiry. System founders, like Descartes (1596-1650), Newton (1643-1727) and Leibniz (1646-1716) attempted to explain the possibility of divine intervention to nature in their theologies in a coherent way. Mechanist philosophers‟ explanations of miracles seem like an advanced version of the theories developed by the theologians and philosopher of the middle ages. In the end, mechanistic philosophers regarded miracles as possible in a mechanical universe. In this sense, the ideas of mechanist philosophers are significant for they display how they tried to modify the legacy of medieval thinkers regarding the possibility of miracle to suit their own visions of science and philosophy.