| Revision as of 01:02, 2 August 2005 editFeloniousMonk (talk | contribs)18,409 edits To date, Flew still stands by his argument for atheism, "The Presumption of Atheism"← Previous edit | Revision as of 03:03, 2 August 2005 edit undoFeloniousMonk (talk | contribs)18,409 edits Untangling Flew's conflicting statements, w/ who, what, where. Introducing the Biola/Habermas article that started it all. Eliminating unnecessary and/or conflicting quotesNext edit → | ||
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| ==Atheism and Deism== | ==Atheism and Deism== | ||
| On several occasions, apparently starting in ], rumors circulated claiming that Flew had converted from atheism. In ] |
On several occasions, apparently starting in ], rumors circulated claiming that Flew had converted from atheism. In a ] interview conducted by ] published in ] <cite>Philosophia Christi</cite>, Flew reversed his long-standing espousal of ] by endorsing deism . This interview has been the source of much controversy, centering on claims made in the interview's preface regarding the scope and nature of Flew's beliefs and his subsequent contradictory statements that continue to endorse atheism . | ||
| Flew apparently agreed to the title of the article , "<cite>Atheist Becomes Theist Exclusive Interview with Former Atheist Antony Flew</cite>". In the interview Flew states that that certain philosophical and scientific considerations had caused him to rethink his lifelong support of atheism. Flew stated that he is now a ], though it is not clear exactly what form of deism he subscribes to. He made it clear, however, that he continues to believe in the Gods of Christianity and Islam do not exist. | |||
| :"Yes. I am open to it, but not enthusiastic about potential revelation from God. On the positive side, for example, I am very much impressed with physicist ]'s comments on Genesis 1. That this biblical account might be scientifically accurate raises the possibility that it is revelation." (Habermas, 2004) | |||
| ⚫ | Conflict was apparent in Flew's statements prior to the publication of the article on 9 December 2004. As cited in the article, Flew informed Habermas in January 2004 that he had allegedly become a theist . Yet in October 2004, in a letter written to Richard Carrier of the Secular Web, in response to a question on whether he would assert that "probably God exists", he said "''I do not think I will ever make that assertion, precisely because any assertion which I am prepared to make about God would not be about a God in that sense ... I think we need here a fundamental distinction between the God of ] or ] and the Gods of the Christian and the Islamic Revelations''" . | ||
| In general, it is not clear exactly what form of deism or theism he subscribes to. He made it clear, however, that he continues to believe that the gods of Christianity and Islam do not exist. In response to a question on whether he would assert that "probably God exists", he said: | |||
| In the months following the article Flew subsequently contradicted some statements made in the Habermas interview and retracted others. When asked by Duncan Crary of Humanist Network News if he still stood by his landmark argument for atheism, ], Flew replied he did . In an another letter to Carrier of 29 December 2004 Flew went gone on to retract his statement "a deity or a 'super-intelligence'" is "the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature." "''I now realize that I have made a fool of myself by believing that there were no presentable theories of the development of inanimate matter up to the first living creature capable of reproduction.''" wrote Flew. He blames his error on being "misled" by Richard Dawkins, claiming Dawkins "has never been reported as referring to any promising work on the production of a theory of the development of living matter," even though Dawkins had in "<cite>Evolutionary Chemistry: Life in a Test Tube</cite>," published in the 21 May 1992 issue of Nature, with L. D. Hurst. | |||
| ⚫ | :"I do not think I will ever make that assertion, precisely because any assertion which I am prepared to make about God would not be about a God in that sense ... I think we need here a fundamental distinction between the God of ] or ] and the Gods of the Christian and the Islamic Revelations |
||
| It has been claimed that Flew himself has been contradictory in his statements. A ], ] ] article quotes Flew as having changed his mind. He stated for the interview that now believes that a deity or a "super-intelligence" is "the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature" based on his understanding of the scientific evidence. (Ostling, 2004) | |||
| Yet when asked by Duncan Crary of Humanist Network News if he still stands by his landmark argument for atheism, ], in an interview conducted that same month and published ], ], Flew replied: | |||
| :"Oh yes. Yes I think so. That's how you should deal with any question which is seriously controversial. You don't wonder whether the evidence is something that other people know much more (about) than you do. But in a serious controversy this is the proper way to proceed." "We must follow the argument wherever it leads..." "I've never thought I knew that there was no God. I merely thought there is no sufficient reason that there is." (Crary, 2004) | |||
| Flew's original argument was that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of a God surfaces. He still stands behind this ] approach, although he may have now changed his mind about what the evidence says. | Flew's original argument was that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of a God surfaces. He still stands behind this ] approach, although he may have now changed his mind about what the evidence says. | ||
| When asked whether or not he has kept up with the most recent science and theology, he responded with "Certainly not", stating that there is simply too much to keep up with. During the same interview Flew again denied that there was any truth to rumors of 2001 and 2003 that he had abandoned his atheism or converted to Christianity. | When asked by Crary whether or not he has kept up with the most recent science and theology, he responded with "Certainly not", stating that there is simply too much to keep up with. During the same interview Flew again denied that there was any truth to rumors of 2001 and 2003 that he had abandoned his atheism or converted to Christianity. | ||
| In December, 2004, Flew finished writing the first formal account of his new outlook for the introduction to a new edition of his "God and Philosophy," scheduled for publication in 2005 by Prometheus Books. | In December, 2004, Flew finished writing the first formal account of his new outlook for the introduction to a new edition of his seminal 1965 book "God and Philosophy," scheduled for publication in 2005 by Prometheus Books. | ||
| ==Works== | ==Works== | ||
Revision as of 03:03, 2 August 2005
Antony Flew (born February 11 1923) is a British philosopher, known as a supporter of libertarianism and supporter of atheism.
Flew was a student of Gilbert Ryle, and one of the more prominent in the group identified with Oxford linguistic philosophy. An early point in his career was a 1954 debate with Michael Dummett over backward causation. He strongly defended Oxford philosophy against Ernest Gellner's attack on it in the book Words and Things, which he called a "juvenile work".
He was a Lecturer in Philosophy at Christ Church, Oxford from 1949 to 1950, and followed this with four years as a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, and twenty years as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Keele. Between 1973 and 1983 he was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Reading, and on his retirement took up a half-time post for a few years at York University, Toronto.
In his 1975 book Thinking about Thinking, he developed the No true Scotsman fallacy. He coined the term "cosmic Saddam Hussein" to describe the Christian and particularly the Muslim gods, comparing their violence and insistence on obedience to that of Saddam.
Flew sits on the management committee of The Freedom Association, and has contributed to Right Now! magazine, the Salisbury Review and various publications of the Libertarian Alliance.
Atheism and Deism
On several occasions, apparently starting in 2001, rumors circulated claiming that Flew had converted from atheism. In a 2004 interview conducted by Gary Habermas published in Biola University's Philosophia Christi, Flew reversed his long-standing espousal of atheism by endorsing deism . This interview has been the source of much controversy, centering on claims made in the interview's preface regarding the scope and nature of Flew's beliefs and his subsequent contradictory statements that continue to endorse atheism .
Flew apparently agreed to the title of the article , "Atheist Becomes Theist Exclusive Interview with Former Atheist Antony Flew". In the interview Flew states that that certain philosophical and scientific considerations had caused him to rethink his lifelong support of atheism. Flew stated that he is now a deist, though it is not clear exactly what form of deism he subscribes to. He made it clear, however, that he continues to believe in the Gods of Christianity and Islam do not exist.
Conflict was apparent in Flew's statements prior to the publication of the article on 9 December 2004. As cited in the article, Flew informed Habermas in January 2004 that he had allegedly become a theist . Yet in October 2004, in a letter written to Richard Carrier of the Secular Web, in response to a question on whether he would assert that "probably God exists", he said "I do not think I will ever make that assertion, precisely because any assertion which I am prepared to make about God would not be about a God in that sense ... I think we need here a fundamental distinction between the God of Aristotle or Spinoza and the Gods of the Christian and the Islamic Revelations" .
In the months following the article Flew subsequently contradicted some statements made in the Habermas interview and retracted others. When asked by Duncan Crary of Humanist Network News if he still stood by his landmark argument for atheism, The Presumption of Atheism, Flew replied he did . In an another letter to Carrier of 29 December 2004 Flew went gone on to retract his statement "a deity or a 'super-intelligence'" is "the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature." "I now realize that I have made a fool of myself by believing that there were no presentable theories of the development of inanimate matter up to the first living creature capable of reproduction." wrote Flew. He blames his error on being "misled" by Richard Dawkins, claiming Dawkins "has never been reported as referring to any promising work on the production of a theory of the development of living matter," even though Dawkins had in "Evolutionary Chemistry: Life in a Test Tube," published in the 21 May 1992 issue of Nature, with L. D. Hurst.
Flew's original argument was that one should presuppose atheism until evidence of a God surfaces. He still stands behind this evidentialist approach, although he may have now changed his mind about what the evidence says.
When asked by Crary whether or not he has kept up with the most recent science and theology, he responded with "Certainly not", stating that there is simply too much to keep up with. During the same interview Flew again denied that there was any truth to rumors of 2001 and 2003 that he had abandoned his atheism or converted to Christianity.
In December, 2004, Flew finished writing the first formal account of his new outlook for the introduction to a new edition of his seminal 1965 book "God and Philosophy," scheduled for publication in 2005 by Prometheus Books.
Works
- A New Approach to Psychical Research (1953)
- New Essays in Philosophical Theology (1955) editor with Alasdair Macintyre
- Essays in Conceptual Analysis (1956)
- Hume's Philosophy of Belief (1961)
- Logic And Language (1961) editor
- God and Philosophy (1966)
- Logic & Language (Second Series) (1966) editor
- Evolutionary Ethics (1967)
- An Introduction to Western Philosophy - Ideas and Argument from Plato to Sartre (1971)
- Body, Mind and Death (1973)
- Crime or Disease (1973)
- Thinking About Thinking (1975)
- Sociology, Equality and Education: Philosohical Essays In Defence Of A Variety Of Differences (1976)
- Thinking Straight (1977)
- A Dictionary of Philosophy (1979) editor, later edition with Stephen Priest
- Philosophy, an Introduction (1979)
- Libertarians versus Egalitarians (c.1980) pamphlet
- The Politics of Procrustes: contradictions of enforced equality (1981)
- Darwinian Evolution (1984)
- The Presumption of Atheism (1984)
- Agency and Necessity (Great Debates in Philosophy) (1987) with Godfrey Norman Agmondis Vesey
- Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? The Resurrection Debate (1987) with Gary Habermas
- Power to the Parents: Reversing Educational Decline (1987)
- Readings in the Philosophical Problems of Parapsychology (1987) editor
- God, A Critical Inquiry (1988)
- Does God Exist?: A Believer and an Atheist Debate (1991) with Terry L. Miethe
- A Future for Anti-Racism? (Social Affairs Unit 1992) pamphlet
- Atheistic Humanism (1993)
- Thinking About Social Thinking (1995)
- Education for Citizenship (Studies in Education No. 10) (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2000)
- Merely Mortal? (2000)
- Social Life and Moral Judgment (2003)
References
- Carrier, Richard (2005). Antony Flew Considers God...Sort Of. Retrieved May 3, 2005.
- Crary, Duncan (2004). No longer atheist, Flew stands by "Presumption of Atheism". Retrieved May 3, 2005.
- Habermas, Gary Dr. (2004). Atheist Becomes Theist. Retrieved May 3, 2005.
- Ostling, Richard (2004). Leading Atheist Philosopher Concludes God's Real. Retrieved May 3, 2005.
External links
- Freedom for Universities by Antony Flew, The Freedom Association
- Letter from Antony Flew on Darwinism and Theology by Antony Flew, Philosophy Now
- Flew's Flawed Science by Victor J. Stenger, Free Inquiry Magazine
- Thinking Straighter by James A. Beverley, Christanity Today