Biography:Stephen Law

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Short description: British philosopher

Stephen Law

FRSA
Law in 2014 at the Forschungsinstitut für Philosophie Hannover
Born (1960-12-12) 12 December 1960 (age 65)
Cambridge, England
Alma mater
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolAnalytic philosophy
ThesisReference, essence and natural kinds (1995)

Stephen Law FRSA (born 1960) is an English philosopher. He is currently Director of the Certificate of Higher Education and Director of Philosophy at The Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford. Law was previously Reader in Philosophy and Head of Department of Philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London, until its closure in June 2018. He also edits the philosophical journal Think (since 2002),[1][2] which is sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy[3] and published by the Cambridge University Press. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and Commerce and in 2008 became the provost of the Centre for Inquiry UK.[4] In 2023 he became a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[5]

Life

Law was born 12 December 1960 in Cambridge, England, and attended Long Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. However, having been "asked to leave",[6][7] he began his working life as a postman. At 24 he successfully managed to persuade City University 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, Oxford, to read for a BPhil in philosophy. He was also for three years a junior research fellow at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he obtained a doctorate in philosophy. Law lives in Oxford, England, with his wife and two daughters. Law plays the drums, and is enthusiastic about mountaineering.[8]

Philosophy

Law has published both a variety of academic papers and popular, introductory books.[9][10] He conducts research in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and religion.[10] Law has debated theists, including various Christian apologists.[11][12][13] He developed the Evil God challenge,[14] which he has employed in debates, as he did in his debate against William Lane Craig,[11] and he's a critic of Young Earth creationism.[15]

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 1-4053-1763-9 translated also into Hungarian (Filozófia, 2008)
  • The Great Philosophers (2008) ISBN 1-84724-398-3
  • Israel, Palestine and Terror (2008) ISBN 0-82649-793-4
  • Really, Really Big Questions (2009) ISBN 0-75341-781-2
  • A Very Short Introduction to Humanism (2011) ISBN 0-19-955364-5
  • Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole (2011) Prometheus Books: New York. ISBN 1-61614-411-4

References

  1. ↑ "Royal Institute Philosophy". 4 September 2025. http://www.royalinstitutephilosophy.org/page/34. 
  2. ↑ "Our history" (in en-US). https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/news/our-history/. 
  3. ↑ "Royal Institute Philosophy". http://www.royalinstitutephilosophy.org/. 
  4. ↑ "上質な風俗に蜂蜜をぶち撒けるが如き思想". http://www.cfiuk.org. 
  5. ↑ "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Elects Twelve New CSI Fellows". Center for Inquiry. 18 December 2023. https://centerforinquiry.org/news/committee-for-skeptical-inquiry-elects-twelve-new-csi-fellows/. 
  6. ↑ Underhill, William (4 September 2011). "Stephen Law: Philosopher of 'Believing Bullshit'". http://europe.newsweek.com/stephen-law-philosopher-believing-bullshit-67377. Retrieved 31 January 2016. 
  7. ↑ Steel, Mel. "Asking all the right questions". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jul/22/booksforchildrenandteenagers.society. Retrieved 31 January 2016. 
  8. ↑ "Stephen Law Ph.D. | Psychology Today Canada" (in en-CA). https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/contributors/stephen-law-phd. 
  9. ↑ "Stephen Law - PhilPeople" (in en). https://philpeople.org/profiles/stephen-law. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Dr Stephen Law | Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford". https://lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/profiles/stephen-law. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 ReasonableFaithOrg (2013-05-07). William Lane Craig vs Stephen Law | "Does God Exist?"| Westminster Central Hall, London. Retrieved 2026-05-18 – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Premier Unbelievable? (2025-08-28). Why does a 'Good God' allow Suffering and Evil?... Retrieved 2026-05-18 – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ The Falling Messiah (2021-09-10). Is the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism (EAAN) Successful? // Alvin Plantinga + Stephen Law. Retrieved 2026-05-18 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ Law, Stephen (2010-02-11). "The evil-god challenge" (in en). Religious Studies 46 (3): 353–373. doi:10.1017/S0034412509990369. ISSN 1469-901X. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/abs/evilgod-challenge/E925DF20AF17F3C87B9449B25F649F27. 
  15. ↑ Humanists UK (2014-03-05). CFI UK: Dr Stephen Law on Young Earth Creationism. Retrieved 2026-05-18 – via YouTube.



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