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Antony Flew

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Anthony Flew (also known as Antony Flew) (born February 11 1923) is a British philosopher, known as a supporter of libertarianism and a past supporter of atheism. He 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".

In his 1975 book Thinking about Thinking, he developed the No true Scotsman fallacy. He is a prominent leader of The Freedom Association.

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.

Atheism debated

On several occasions, apparently starting in 2001, rumors circulated claiming that he had converted from atheism. In 2004, Flew attracted much attention after he apparently stated that scientific evidence indeed points to an agent of 'first cause' and therefore the existence of some God entity, seemingly contradicting his lifelong support of atheism. Some confusion now reigns, over his precise position. Flew has stated that he is simply a deist. He has also made remarks that indicate an "openness" to theistic revelation, however:

"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 Gerald Schroeder's comments on Genesis 1. That this biblical account might be scientifically accurate raises the possibility that it is revelation." (Habermas, 2004) [1]

In general, it is not clear exactly what form of deism or theism he subscribes to, and whether his position has shifted. He made it clear, however, that he continued to believe that the gods of Christianity and Islam did not exist. 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." (Carrier, 2004) [2]

Flew himself has been contradictory in his statements. A 9 December, 2004 Associated Press 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) [3]

Yet in an interview conducted by Duncan Crary of Humanist Network News that same month and published 22 December, 2004, Flew, when asked if he still stands by his landmark argument for atheism, The Presumption of Atheism, said:

"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) [4]

When asked whether or not he has kept up with the most recent science and theology. He responded with "Certainly not." 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 release next year 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

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