On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 13:22:55 -0500 Jon Johanning <zenner41 at mac.com>
writes:
> Something seems to happen to these British no-nonsense philosophers
> as
> time passes. A. J. Ayer famously had a near-death experience which
> may
> or may not have led him to reconsider his anti-theology stance
> (accounts seem to differ).
Concerning that, I think that much of the controversy over Ayer stems from the accounts given by the attending physician, Dr. Jeremy George who claims that upon awakening, after his hear-stoppage, Ayer said, "I saw a Divine Being. I'm afraid I'm going to have to revise all my various books and opinions." He may well have said such a thing but it is apparent that upon reflection, he did not think that the experience that he had when he was clinically dead required any sort of a fundamental revision concerning his beliefs in the non-existence of a God and of an afterlife.
Ayer's account "What I saw when I was dead" can be dound online at:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n20_v40/ai_6701958
>
> At any rate, I would like to see if Flew has any corrections to make
> in
> his earlier arguments, which I have always thought were pretty
> trenchant. Exactly why does he think that the origin of life could
> only
> have been caused by an intelligent designer, given that contemporary
>
> science has come up with a number of quite plausible explanations
> (though of course we currently lack enough evidence to consider any
> of
> them well-grounded)?
>
>
> Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
> __________________________
> In my religion there would be no exclusive doctrine; all would be
> love,
> poetry and doubt. -- Cyril Connoll (The Unquiet Grave)
>
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