The Change of Paradigm about God in Antony Flew

Abstract

Antony Flew is one of the most devout names of philosophical atheism. He spent almost all his life in defense of atheism. On the other hand he was distinguished from his fellow atheists by so-called dramatic shift that ensued in his philosophy. He who had committed all his philosophical efforts to the denial of the existence of God due to insufficient evidence has gave up his claim by the same token. Flew has believed that justification of any claim, idea or belief was possible only with its rationality and demonstrability and worked within this framework. He thus stated that this principle has also shaped opposing intellectual processes that he underwent in regard to God. As a consequence of this argument, he has been targeted numerous critiques both negative and positive. Flew has amplified upon this transition with justifying reasons in his “There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed his Mind”, the book that put him on the spot. (The book is also translated into Turkish) The chief purpose of this article is to trace this transformation and analyze its motives in a critical manner.

Keywords

• God; Theism; Atheism; Fine Tuning; Eternity

ANTONY FLEW’DE TANRIYA DAİR PARADİGMA DEĞİŞİKLİĞİ

Öz

Antony Flew, ismi ateizmle anılan en meşhur felsefecilerden birisidir. Hayatının tamamına yakını ateizm müdafaasıyla geçmiştir. Fakat onu diğer ateist felsefecilerden ayıran en önemli özelliği felsefi tutumundaki radikal sayılabilecek değişimdir. Tüm felsefi mücadelesini, hakkında yeterli delil olmadığı gerekçesiyle Tanrı’nın varlığını inkâra odaklayan Flew benzer gerekçelerle bu görüşlerinden vazgeçmiştir. Her türlü inanç, fikir ve iddianın itibarını büyük oranda rasyonel ve kanıtlanabilir olmasına bağlayan ve tüm faaliyetlerini bu çerçeve dâhilinde sürdüren Flew, Tanrı ile ilgili geçirmiş olduğu karşıt her iki sürecin bu prensip doğrultusunda şekillendiğini iddia etmiştir. Doğal olarak bu iddiası nedeniyle hem lehte hem de aleyhte sayılabilecek birçok eleştiriye maruz kalmıştır. Flew dünya kamuoyu nezdinde kendisini popüler yapan ve dilimize “Yanılmışım Tanrı Varmış” ismiyle tercüme edilen “There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed his Mind” adlı kitabını kaleme almak suretiyle hem bu eleştirilere cevap vermiş hem de bu değişim sürecini ve gerekçelerini ayrıntılı bir şekilde dile getirmiştir. Bu makalenin temel amacı da Flew’ün Tanrı hakkındaki tutum değişikliğini ve gerekçelerini; kendisine yöneltilen eleştirilerle birlikte ele almak ve analizini yapmak olacaktır.  

 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Tanrı; Teizm; Ateizm; İnce Ayar; Sonsuzluk

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