Essays in Logic and Language

by Antony Flew

(From p.1) The success of 'Logic and Language (First Series)' makes it possible to bring out this second and complementary volume. The aim of the former volume was a dual one - and different from that of similar collections which have appeared lately: both to provide, for the general interested and educated public, an introduction to the recent linguistic developments in philosophy; and to make available in book form , for students and specialists, some of the important articles which previously were only accessible in those librariess which take the philosophical journals.

Genres: Philosophy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Antony Garrard Newton Flew (11 February 1923 – 8 April 2010) was a British philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, he was notable for his works on the philosophy of religion.

Flew was a strong advocate of atheism, arguing that one should presuppose atheism until empirical evidence of a God surfaces. He also criticised the idea of life after death, the free will defence to the problem of evil, and the meaningfulness of the concept of God. In 2003 he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto. However, in 2004 he stated an allegiance to deism, more specifically a belief in the Aristotelian God, stating that in keeping his lifelong commitment to go where the evidence leads, he now believes in the existence of God.

He later wrote the book There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind, with contributions from Roy Abraham Varghese. This book (and Flew's conversion itself) has been the subject of controversy, following an article in the New York Times magazine alleging that Flew had mentally declined, and that Varghese was the primary author. The matter remains contentious, with some commentators including PZ Myers and Richard Carrier supporting the allegations, and others, including Flew himself, opposing them.