MICHAEL MARTIN (PHILOSOPHER)

'Michael L. Martin' (born 3 February 1932) is an analytic philosopher and retired professor emeritus at Boston University.^[1]
Martin has concerned himself largely with philosophy of religion, though the philosophies of science, law, and sport have not escaped his attention. On the former, Martin has published a number of books and copious articles defending atheism and various arguments against the existence of God in exhaustive detail (among them, the Transcendental argument for the non-existence of God). Martin, in his introduction to ''Atheism: a Philosophical Justification'', cites a general absence of an atheistic response to contemporary work in philosophy of religion, and accepts the responsibility of a rigorous defense of nonbelief as, jestingly, his "cross to bear:"
:The aim of this book is not to make atheism a popular belief or even to overcome its invisibility. My object is not utopian. It is merely to provide good reasons for being an atheist. … My object is to show that atheism is a rational position and that belief in God is not. I am quite aware that theistic beliefs are not always based on reason. My claim is that they should be. — ''Atheism: A Philosophical Justification'', 24
Martin is a pluralist naturalist, as opposed to a physicalistic naturalist. He believes in non-physical abstract objects, as to explain the Principles of Logic and objective morality.^[2]
Martin serves on the academic advisory board of the Secular Student Alliance ^[3] and the editorial board of Philo.^[4]

Contents

Published books

References

External links

Published books

★ ''Probability, Confirmation and Simplicity'' (New York: Odyssey Press, 1966) with M. Foster

★ ''Concepts of Science Education: A Philosophical Analysis'' (Chicago: Scott-Foresman, 1972) ISBN 0-8191-4479-7

★ ''Social Science and Philosophical Analysis: Essays on The Philosophy of The Social Sciences'' (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1978)

★ ''The Legal Philosophy of H.L.A. Hart: A Critical Appraisal'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1987) ISBN 0-87722-471-4

★ ''Atheism: A Philosophical Justification'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989, republished 1992) ISBN 0-87722-943-0

★ ''The Case Against Christianity'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991) ISBN 1-56639-081-8

★ ''Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science'' (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1994) with L. McIntyre; ISBN 0-262-13296-6

★ ''The Big Domino in The Sky and Other Atheistic Tales'' (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1996) ISBN 1-57392-111-4

★ ''Legal Realism: American and Scandinavian'' (New York: Peter Lang, 1997) ISBN 0-8204-3462-9

★ ''Atheism, Morality, and Meaning'' (Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2002) ISBN 1-57392-987-5

★ ''The Impossibility of God'' (Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2003) with R. Monnier; ISBN 1-59102-120-0

★ ''The Improbability of God'' (Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2006) with R. Monnier; ISBN 1-59102-381-5

References

1. Michael Martin
Michael Martin
2. http://www.infidels.org/infidels/feedback/1997/december.html
3. http://www.secularstudents.org/node/125
4. http://www.philoonline.org/about.htm

External links

★ Martin's page from infidels.org, which contains a number of his critiques of theism

★ Martin's homepage at Boston University

★ Philosophy of Religion biography

★ Responses to Atheist Philosopher, Michael Martin