Antony Flew - Definition and Overview

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

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.

On several occasions, apparently starting in 2001, rumors circulated claiming that he had converted from atheism. In 2004, Flew attracted much controversy after he stated that scientific evidence points to the possible existence of a God, contradicting his lifelong support of atheism. Some Christians misunderstood his statements and posted them on the Internet, implying that he had converted to Christianity. Flew attempted to make his position more clear, stating that he had only become a deist. He has also given 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." (January 2004) [1] (http://www.biola.edu/antonyflew/index.cfm)

In general, it is not clear exactly what form of deism or theism he subscribes to, and it is likely changing over time. 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 of 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." (October 19, 2004) [2] (http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=369)

References

1. Atheist Becomes Deist: Exclusive Interview with Former Atheist Antony Flew (http://www.biola.edu/antonyflew/index.cfm)
2. Antony Flew Considers God...Sort Of (http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=369)
3. No longer atheist, Flew stands by "Presumption of Atheism" (http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/index.html?id=172&syn=true#n1)

External links

• Flew's Flawed Science -- a critique of the "science" Flew refers to, published in Free Inquiry magazine (http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/stenger_25_2.html)