Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

I see that Mark Vernon is delighted by Antony Flew’s There Is A God. Probably because Flew aims a few verbal punches at Dawkins et al. Unfortunately, judging by the content of Flew’s arguments as described by Vernon, the punches seem to be very wide of the mark. The comments on Vernon’s piece point out many of the holes in Flew’s arguments, and the reasons why Flew in his "last will and testament" is a philosopher, but no scientist, and certainly no biologist or cosmologist.

 

I’m almost tempted to buy the book for its curiousity value, but I’ll wait for a few more dissections of its arguments before deciding whether that would be a waste of money or not.

 

Update 4 November 2007: Oh dear, Jean Kavez points out that the book may not be all that it appears to be. Flew apparently had ghostwriters. Not good; not good at all. If this is true, then that just about wraps it up for Flew… as Douglas Adams might have said.

 

Update 8 November 2007: Robert Carrier carries a devastating analysis of the background to the Flew book. It seems pretty conclusive that Flew had very little to do with it, he is an old man being exploited by a bunch of unpleasant people.