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Antony Garrard Newton Flew (; 11 February 1923 – 8 April 2010)〔.〕〔.〕 was an English〔Antony Flew self identified as English not British: "I am the first Englishman and the first professional philosopher to receive the Schlarbaum Prize. So it seems appropriate to begin by talking about the greatest English philosopher, John Locke." Flew, Antony. "(Locke versus Rawls on Equality )" ''Mises''. 24 October 2001.〕 philosopher. Belonging to the analytic and evidentialist schools of thought, Flew was most notable for his work related to the philosophy of religion. During the course of his career he taught at the universities of Oxford, Aberdeen, Keele and Reading, and at York University in Toronto. For much of his career Flew was known as 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. He stated that in keeping his lifelong commitment to go where the evidence leads, he now believed in the existence of a god. A book outlining his reasons for changing his position, ''There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind'' was written by Flew in collaboration with Roy Abraham Varghese. The 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 the book was primarily the work of Varghese;〔.〕 Flew himself specifically denied this, stating that the book represented his views, and he acknowledged that due to his age Varghese had done most of the actual work of writing the book. He was also known for the development of the no true Scotsman fallacy, and his debate on retrocausality with Michael Dummett. ==Biography== Flew, the son of Methodist minister/theologian Robert Newton Flew (1886–1962) and his wife Winifred ''née'' Garrard (1887–1982), was born in London. He was educated at St Faith's School, Cambridge followed by Kingswood School, Bath. He is said to have concluded by the age of 15 that there was no God.〔http://www.fwponline.cc/v27n1/reviewone_editor.html〕 During the Second World War he studied Japanese at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and was a Royal Air Force intelligence officer. After a period with the Inter-Services Topographical Department in Oxford, he was posted to Bletchley Park in June 1944.〔Smith, Michael (2000), ''The Emperor's Codes'', Bantam, p. 246〕 After the war, Flew achieved a first class degree in ''Literae Humaniores'' at St John's College, Oxford (1947). He also won the John Locke Scholarship in Mental Philosophy in the following year.〔http://infidels.org/library/modern/antony_flew/flew-bio.html〕 Flew was a graduate student of Gilbert Ryle, prominent in ordinary language philosophy. Both Flew and Ryle were among many Oxford philosophers fiercely criticised in Ernest Gellner's book ''Words and Things'' (1959). A 1954 debate with Michael Dummett over backward causation was an early highlight in Flew's career. For a year, 1949–50, Flew was a lecturer in philosophy at Christ Church, Oxford.〔''Who's Who'', 1974, London : A. & C. Black, 1974, p. 1118〕 From 1950 to 1954 he was a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, and from 1954 to 1971 he was a professor of philosophy at the University of Keele.〔 He held a professorship at the University of Calgary, 1972-73.〔 Between 1973 and 1983 he was professor of philosophy at the University of Reading. At this time, he developed one of his most famous arguments, the No true Scotsman fallacy in his 1975 book, ''Thinking About Thinking''. Upon his retirement, Flew took up a half-time post for a few years at York University, Toronto. Politically Flew was a libertarian-leaning conservative and wrote articles for The Journal of Libertarian Studies. His name appears on letterheads into 1992 as a Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club, and he held the same position in the Western Goals Institute.〔''Labour Research'', November 1988, p. 2.〕 He was one of the signatories to a letter in ''The Times'' along with Lord Sudeley, Sir Alfred Sherman, and Dr. Harvey Ward, on behalf of the Institute, "applauding Alfredo Cristiani's statesmanship" and calling for his government's success in defeating the Cuban and Nicaraguan-backed communist FMLN terrorists in El Salvador.〔''The Times'', 29 September 1989.〕 Flew married on 28 June 1952. He had two daughters. Flew died on 8 April 2010, while nursed in an Extended Care Facility in Reading, England, suffering from dementia.〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Antony Flew」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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