View source for Biography:R. F. Holland

{{Infobox person
| name               = R. F. Holland
| birth_name         = Roy Fraser Holland
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1923|03|18}}
| birth_place        = Manchester, England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2013|03|05|1923|03|18}}
}}

'''R.F. Holland''' was a philosopher who was a part of the group "The Swansea Wittgensteinians", or  "Swansea School", in the [[Religion:Philosophy of religion|philosophy of religion]] which sought to interpret religion in light of the works of [[Biography:Ludwig Wittgenstein|Ludwig Wittgenstein]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gaita |first=Raimond |date=2013 |title=Professor R. F. Holland, 1923–2013 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/phin.12028 |journal=Philosophical Investigations |language=en |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=195–200 |doi=10.1111/phin.12028 |issn=1467-9205|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Biography==
He attended Manchester Grammar School and University College, Oxford. In 1942, he joined the army and served as a regimental officer across Africa and South-East Asia. He later returned to Oxford in 1948 and graduated in Literae Humaniores.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Searching University of Oxford {{!}} University of Oxford |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/search?query=Roy%20holland |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=www.ox.ac.uk}}</ref>

He taught at the University College Swansea from 1950-65,<ref name=sr/> later being appointed as Professor of Philosophy at the [[Organization:University of Leeds|University of Leeds]],<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Phillips |editor1-first=D.P |editor2-last=Winch |editor2-first=Peter |title=Wittgenstein: Attention to Particulars |date=1989 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |page=vii}}</ref> here he supervised the PhD thesis of [[Biography:Raimond Gaita|Raimond Gaita]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gaita |first1=Raimond |title=R. F. Holland |journal=Philosophical Investigations |date=2012 |volume=35 |issue=3-4 |pages=260-76}}</ref> 

From 1981-2 he served as President of the [[Philosophy:Aristotelian Society|Aristotelian Society]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Council Past Presidents of the Aristotelian Society |url=https://www.aristoteliansociety.org.uk/about/the-council/ |website=aristoteliansociety.org.uk |publisher=Aristotelian Society}}</ref> and also as President of the Mind Association.<ref name=sr>{{cite book |editor1-last=Edelman |editor1-first=John T. |title=Sense and Reality: Essays Out of Swansea |date=2013 |publisher=Ontos |page=65}}</ref>

Holland edited the book series ''Studies in Philosophical Psychology''.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Schliesser |editor1-first=Eric |title=Ten Neglected Classics of Philosophy |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=257}}</ref>

== Miracles ==
In philosophy the word ''[[Philosophy:Miracle|miracle]]'' usually refers to an event caused by God or one that cannot happen within the [[Scientific law|laws of nature]].<ref>Cambridge dictionary defines [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/miracle#google_vignette miracle] as "an unusual and mysterious event that is thought to have been caused by a god because it does not follow the usual laws of nature".</ref> While this view is accepted by philosophers such as [[Biography:David Hume|David Hume]], Holland argued in his article ''The Miraculous'' that this definition is inadequate because it is too restrictive. Holland argues that a miracle is when an event contrary to usual experience occurs, and this occurrence has such human significance that it is interpreted to be miraculous. This means that a miracle can be deemed one even if there is a known natural explanation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Holland |first=R. F. |date=1965 |title=The Miraculous |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20009151 |journal=American Philosophical Quarterly |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=43–51 |issn=0003-0481}}</ref>

Holland gives an example of a boy playing with a toy motor-car on a railway crossing. A wheel of the toy gets stuck in the tracks, and a train is approaching from a curve, making it impossible for the driver to see the boy and stop before hitting him. The boy's mother sees him from their house, and hears the train approaching, but is too far away to do anything. Nevertheless, the train's brakes apply and it stops just before hitting the boy. Having seen this, the mother believes it to be a miracle, however the brakes had applied automatically because the driver passed out from circumstances unrelated to seeing the boy on the crossing. While this event has a natural explanation, the mother will continue to believe it was a miracle.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mawson |first=T. |date=2001 |title=Miracles and laws of nature |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f5b88606-59c8-4f12-a127-34be34fb40a2 |journal=Religious Studies |language=English |volume=37 |issue=1 |issn=0034-4125}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* ''[https://philpapers.org/rec/HOLRDA Religious Discourse and Theological Discourse]'' (1956) in ''Australasian Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 147–163.
* ''[https://philpapers.org/rec/HOLMPC Modern Philosophers Consider Religion: A Reply]'' (1958) in ''Australasian Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 208–209.
* ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20009151 The Miraculous]'' (1965) in ''American Philosophical Quarterly'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan., 1965), pp. 43-51.
* ''[https://philpapers.org/rec/RFHNBT Not Bending the Knee]'' (1990) in ''Philosophical Investigations'' Vol. 13 No. 1., pp. 18-30.
* ''[https://philpapers.org/rec/HOLFF Fanciful Fates]'' (1997) in ''Philosophical Investigations'', Vol. 20 No. 3., pp. 246–256.

==References==
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[[Category:Philosophers of religion]]

{{Sourceattribution|R. F. Holland}}