Philosophy: An introduction

by Antony Flew

This lively introduction to the major questions of philosophy is indispensable for instructors seeking a text that explains the basic problems in clear and non-technical language. In addition to addressing the crucial "What is philosophy?" this book concentrates on topics most likely to be of immediate interest to the beginning student. Questions of ethics, skepticism and the external world, epistemology, the nature of God, free will and determinism, and political philosophy are discussed in detail. This original book also includes critical analyses of such thinkers as Plato, Descartes, Hume, Pascal, Marx, and Locke, among others. A valuable text, ideal by itself or for augmenting any anthology.

Genres: Philosophy

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

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.