Flew and the Presumption of Atheism

Who was Anthony Flew?

• Strong advocate of Atheism

• Underwent a late-in-life conversion to a belief in Deism

How does Flew describe Positive Atheism?

• Flew states that Positive Atheists believe that no deities exist and there is strong evidence to suggest that God does not exist

How does Flew describe Negative Atheism?

• Flew states that Negative Atheists don’t believe that there are any deities, yet doesn’t explicitly assert there is none

What type of Atheist was Flew? And why?

• Flew was a Negative Atheist

• He argued being a Positive Atheist was weak as it places the burden of proof on the Atheist, who has to prove that God definitely does not exist (which is impossible)

• Being a Negative Atheist meant the burden of proof is on the Theist

What is Flew’s “Presumption of Atheism” argument?

• Flew argues that the burden of proof must always lie with the theist rather than the atheist

What is Flew’s Invisible Gardener Analogy?

• He proposes that you come across a well-maintained, gardened patch of grass in the middle of a forest

• To explain this, someone suggests there is a gardener tending to it, but over time many objections to this idea are raised

• However, someone continues to add attributes to this gardener to defend this idea

• This continues infinitely, being compared to God, showing that is it ever truly possible to disprove God’s existence, as another excuse will simply be raised

Flew and the Courtroom Example

• Flew argues Theists are like the Prosecution Lawyer in a courtroom

• Flew argues the defendant is like God - he does not exist unless otherwise proven (i.e innocent until proven guilty)

• The negative atheist should be the default position and the burden of proof should lie with the theist - this is the presumption of atheism