Antony Flew, Deist
Apr. 6th, 2005 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsSo, I heard the interview with Antony Flew on BBC3, and I have to say that if I was hoping for something soul-shaking in either direction I remain disappointed. He is a deist, there seems to be little question of that, but when it comes to reasons for why he is quite circumspect. However, some choice quotes caught my attention:
As I said, I was hoping for something clearer, with a premise and a foundation and a list of arguments leading to a conclusion, rather than something from the argument sketch. Flew says that the introduction to his forthcoming book will make his position clear, but I'm hoping that's not just an attempt to drive up book sales. If he means what he says he should be able to say what he means.
"The original intro which I wrote for this book did express my own incredulity on [abiogenesis]. My new one goes into what has in fact been done and indicates that my incredulity has stopped in the face of the evidence... I have come up-to-date on the science and it won't give any sort of comfort to devout believers."
"I've never thought that the fine-tuning argument was any sort of proof."
"I think there's a prime mover, but... I haven't really formulated what I believe."
"The belief in the Christian god... is an appalling nightmare. I reject the notion that the whole universe was created by this kind of evil creature who would create such a thing."
As I said, I was hoping for something clearer, with a premise and a foundation and a list of arguments leading to a conclusion, rather than something from the argument sketch. Flew says that the introduction to his forthcoming book will make his position clear, but I'm hoping that's not just an attempt to drive up book sales. If he means what he says he should be able to say what he means.
