Dr. Stephen Law is a philosopher and senior lecturer at Heythrop College

Heythrop College

Heythrop College is the specialist philosophy and theology constituent college of the University of London situated in Kensington Square, Kensington, London. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in philosophy, theology and psychology, as well as research in related fields.It was founded...

 in the University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. He also edits the philosophical journal Think, which is published by the Royal Institute of Philosophy

Royal Institute of Philosophy

The Royal Institute of Philosophy, founded in 1925, is a charity organisation based in London that offers lectures and conferences on philosophical topics. The Institute is not committed to any particular philosophical school, method or ideology...

 and aimed at the general public. Law currently lives in Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, with his wife and two daughters. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and Commerce, and in 2008 became the Provost of the Centre for Inquiry UK. Law has published both a variety of academic papers and more popular, introductory books (including three children's philosophy books).

Academic history

Stephen Law attended Long Road Sixth Form College

Long Road Sixth Form College

Long Road Sixth Form College is a state funded co-educational sixth form college in Cambridge, England. It is situated on Long Road, from which it draws its name, and is also located next to the Bio-Medical Campus which encompasses Addenbrooke's Hospital...

, in Cambridge, England. However, having been "asked to leave", he began his working life as a postman. At 24 he successfully managed to persuade City University

City University, London

City University London , is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and became a university in 1966, when it adopted its present name....

 in London to accept him for the BSc in Philosophy, despite his lack of A levels. There he managed to achieve a first class honours, allowing him to move on to Trinity College

Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...

, Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 to read for a B.Phil in Philosophy. He was also for three years a Junior Research Fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...

, where he obtained a doctorate

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in Philosophy.

Law has published academic papers on a variety of topics including Wittgenstein, modality, and philosophy of mind (for example, "Loar's Defence of Physicalism", Ratio 2004). His most recent focus is on philosophy of religion. Recent publications include:

• "The Evil God Challenge", Religious studies
  Religious Studies (journal)
  Religious Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. It addresses problems of the philosophy of religion in the context of a variety of religious traditions...
  
  2010,
• "Plantinga's Belief-Cum-Desire Argument Refuted", Religious studies
  Religious Studies (journal)
  Religious Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. It addresses problems of the philosophy of religion in the context of a variety of religious traditions...
  
  2011,
• "Evidence, Miracles and The Existence of Jesus", Faith and Philosophy 2011.
• "Naturalism, Evolution and True Belief", Analysis (forthcoming 2012)

The Great Philosophers

"The Great Philosophers: The Lives and Ideas of History's Greatest Thinkers" was published in 2008. It covers 50 "great thinkers" but very briefly with only a few pages for each. It is a brief introduction for readers with little previous knowledge of philosophy.

The Philosophy Gym

Law's book, The Philosophy Gym, is an introduction to philosophical thinking aimed at adults. It covers twenty-five philosophical questions, chosen for their relevance to today's society. The book aims for accessibility. This is often done, as in "What's wrong with gay sex?", by putting the question into a theatrical script.

The German version of The Philosophy Gym won the first Mindelheim Philosophy Prize. in 2009.

Chapter list

• 1. Where did the universe come from?
• 2. What is wrong with gay sex?
• 3. Brain - snatched (discussion of metaphysical issues of knowledge of the external world, and Déscartes' 'Cogito Ergo Sum
  Cogito ergo sum
  is a philosophical Latin statement proposed by . The simple meaning of the phrase is that someone wondering whether or not they exist is, in and of itself, proof that something, an "I", exists to do the thinking — However this "I" is not the more or less permanent person we call "I"...
  
  ' (I think therefore I am))
• 4. Is time travel
  Time travel
  Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
  
   possible?
• 5. Into the lair of the relativist
  Relativism
  Relativism is the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration....
  
   (a look at and analysis of relativist claims, mainly ethical relativity)
• 6. Could a machine think?
• 7. Does God exist?
• 8. The strange case of the rational dentist (a look at specific knowledge of other minds and the extent to which we may have knowledge of them)
• 9. But is it art
  Art
  Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
  
  ?
• 10. Can we have morality without god and religion?
• 11. Is creationism scientific?
• 12. Designer babies... (a look at the case for designer babies)
• 13. The consciousness
  Sentience
  Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
  
   conundrum (a look at the debated nature of consciousness)
• 14. Why expect the sun to rise tomorrow? (an examination of Hume's problem of induction)
• 15. Do we ever deserve to be punished
  Punishment
  Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
  
  ?
• 16. The meaning mystery (an examination of linguistics and the ways in which language may have meaning)
• 17. Killing Mary to save Jodie (a discussion of utilitarianism and the nature of ethics)
• 18. The strange realm of numbers (discussion of the nature of mathematics)
• 19. What is knowledge?
• 20. Is morality like a pair of spectacles (a look at subjectivism amongst other things)
• 21. Should you be eating that (a look at the case for vegetarianism)
• 22. Brain transplants, teleportation and the puzzle of personal identity
• 23. Miracles and the supernatural
• 24. How to spot eight everyday reasoning errors
• 25. Seven paradox
  Paradox
  Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
  
  es

The War For Children's Minds

Law's The War For Children's Minds discusses different approaches to moral and religious education. The book was written as a response to academic and more popular, tabloid calls for a return to more traditional, authority-based approaches, supposedly justified by the West's current "moral malaise" and the rise of moral and cultural relativism. Law tears apart the issues and arguments, concluding that there is, in fact, every reason to be very liberal indeed in our approach to moral and religious education, so long as "liberal" is properly understood. He aims to "nail" certain widespread anti-liberal myths, including the myth that the Enlightenment was responsible for the Holocaust, that liberals are moral relativists, and so on. While not opposing faith schools, Law nevertheless recommends certain basic minimum standards that all schools should be expected to meet, such as encouraging an open, questioning attitude in pupils regarding moral and religious issues. Phillip Pullman said about the book, "should be read by every teacher, every parent, and every politician." The book was widely featured in the media, including on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

Works

• The Philosophy Files 1 (2000) ISBN 1-84255-053-5
• The Philosophy Files 2 (2006) (formerly called The Outer Limits) ISBN 1-84255-525-1
• The Outer Limits: More Mysteries from the Philosophy Files (2003) ISBN 1-84255-062-4
• The Philosophy Gym (2003) ISBN 0-7472-3271-7
• The Xmas Files (2003) ISBN 0-297-84722-8
• The War For Children's Minds (2006) ISBN 0-415-37855-9
• Philosophy (Eyewitness Companion Guides) (2007) ISBN 1-40531-763-9
• The Great Philosophers (2008) ISBN 1-84724-398-3
• Israel, Palestine and Terror (2008) 0-82649-793-4
• Really, Really Big Questions (2009) 0-75341-781-2
• A Very Short Introduction to Humanism (2011) ISBN 0-19955-364-5
• Believing Bullshit (2011) ISBN 1-61614-411-4

External links

• Official Site
• "What is wrong with gay sex?" - a chapter from 'The Philosophy Gym'
• "Systems of Measurement" - an academic paper on Wittgenstein and Kripke on the standard metre.
• Centre for Inquiry UK Centre for Inquiry UK, of which Stephen Law is Provost.
• Premier Radio Stephen Law debates Denis Alexander on "God & Science" on Premier Christian Radio
• Law in discussion with Alvin Plantinga - Law and Plantinga discuss Plantinga's Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism
• "A Fair Way to Fight Religious Indoctrination of Children" - blog post relating to Law's childrens' book "Really, Really Big Questions"
• "Conversations from the Pale Blue Dot" - an interview with Professor Law by Common Sense Atheism blogger Luke Muehlhauser