Michael Martin (philosopher)

Updated on Dec 11, 2023

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Nationality American Role Philosopher		Name Michael Martin Region Western Philosophy Influenced by J. L. Mackie

Born February 3, 1932 ( 1932-02-03 ) Era Contemporary philosophy Main interests Philosophy of social science, philosophy of law, philosophy of religion, weak atheism Notable ideas The transcendental argument for the nonexistence of God Died May 27, 2015, Boston, Massachusetts, United States Education Arizona State University, Harvard University, University of Arizona Books The case against Christianity, Atheism - morality - and mea, Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, The big domino in the sky, Concepts of science education Similar People Lee C McIntyre, J L Mackie, David Hume, John Anderson
Schools of thought Analytic philosophy

Michael L. Martin (February 3, 1932 – May 27, 2015) was an American philosopher and former professor at Boston University. Martin specialized in the philosophy of religion, although he also worked on the philosophies of science, law, and social science. He served with the US Marine Corps in Korea. Martin died unexpectedly on 27 May 2015, aged 83.

Academic career

Martin completed a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1956 at Arizona State University. He was awarded an MA in philosophy at the University of Arizona in 1958 and in 1962 he was awarded a PhD in philosophy from Harvard University. He was appointed Assistant Professor at University of Colorado in 1962 and in 1965 he moved to Boston University. He was appointed Professor of Philosophy Emeritus after a lifelong career at Boston University.

He is the author or editor of a number of books, including Atheism: A Philosophical Justification (1989), The Case Against Christianity (1991), Atheism, Morality, and Meaning (2002), The Impossibility of God (2003), The Improbability of God (2006), and The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (2006). He sat on the editorial board of the philosophy journal, Philo and wrote many reviews and articles for journals and magazines including Free Inquiry.

Atheism

In his Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, Martin cites a general absence of an atheistic response to contemporary work in philosophy of religion, and accepts the responsibility of a rigorous defense of non belief as 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 atheistic beliefs are not always based on reason. My claim is that they should be.

Martin used the concepts of negative and positive atheism as proposed by Antony Flew rather than the terms weak or soft atheism (negative) and strong or hard atheism (positive).

Debates

Martin took part in a number of written and internet debates with Christian philosophers.

In 1991 Martin and Keith Parsons (founder of Georgia Skeptics and teacher of philosophy at Berry College (Rome, Georgia)) provided atheistic critiques to Douglas Jones' propositions on The Futility of Non Christian Thought in a written debate, Is Non-Christian Thought Justifiable?, originally published in Antithesis magazine.

He conducted a debate with John M. Frame over the internet in a series of articles and responses around Martin's 1996 article, "The Transcendental Argument for the Nonexistence of God".

An internet debate with Christian philosopher Phil Fernandes in 1997 over the existence of god was published as a book in 2000 titled: Theism vs. Atheism: The Internet Debate.

Academic Books

Martin, M., & Augustine, K. (2015) The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death, Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8108-8677-3

Martin, M. (Ed) (2006) The Cambridge Companion to Atheism.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521603676 (Translated into Portuguese (2007), Finnish (2011), Croatian (2011))

Martin, M., & Monnier, R. (Eds.). (2006). The Improbability of God. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1591023814

Martin, M., & Monnier, R. (Eds.). (2003). The Impossibility of God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1591021209

Martin, M. (2002). Atheism, Morality and Meaning. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1573929875

Fernandes, P., & Martin, M. (2000) Theism vs. Atheism: The Internet Debate (Dr. Phil Fernandes vs. Dr. Michael Martin), Brenerton, WA: Ibd Press. ISBN 978-0965648622

Martin, M. (2000) Verstehen: The Uses of Understanding in the Social Sciences. New Jersey: Transaction Books. ISBN 978-0765800039

Martin, M. (1996) Legal Realism: American and Scandinavian. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0820434629

Martin, M., & McIntyre, L. (Eds) (1994) Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science. Cambridge: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262631518

Martin, M. (1991) The Case Against Christianity. Philadelphia: Temple University. ISBN 978-1566390811

Martin, M. (1989) Atheism: A Philosophical Justification. Philadelphia: Temple University. ISBN 978-0877229438

Martin, M. (1987) The Legal Philosophy of H. L. A. Hart: A Critical Appraisal. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-0877224716

Martin, M. (1978) Social Science and Philosophical Analysis: Essays on The Philosophy of The Social Sciences Washington, D.C.: University Press Of America. ISBN 978-0819104786

Martin, M. (1972) Concepts of Science Education: A Philosophical Analysis. Chicago: Scott-Foresman. ISBN 978-0819144799

Martin, M., & Foster, M. (Eds) (1966) Probability, Confirmation and Simplicity. New York: Odyssey Press. ASIN: B000H03Q86

Fiction and Plays

Martin published The Big Domino in the Sky: And Other Atheistic Tales in 1996. This is a collection of short stories in various styles presenting philosophical arguments. ISBN 978-1573921114.

In 2011 Martin self-published a fiction novel, Murder In Lecture Hall B, about a murder in the classroom of a philosophy professor whose interests are Religions and Atheism. ISBN 9781466310063

Martin also wrote 8 short plays with moral or philosophical themes that are available on his website.

References

Michael Martin (philosopher) Wikipedia

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