Quentin Smith


Quentin Persifor Smith was an American philosopher. He was professor emeritus of philosophy at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He worked in the philosophy of time, philosophy of language, philosophy of physics and philosophy of religion.
Smith published over 140 articles. Of his published books, he authored three, co-authored two, and co-authored and edited seven. He was an editor for Prometheus Books and was the chief editor for Philo from 2001 to 2007. He debated William Lane Craig over the existence of God.

Early life and education

Quentin Smith was born in Rhinebeck, New York. His father was a psychology professor at Bennington College and he spent most of his early life in Canada.
He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Antioch College, advancing to receive a PhD in philosophy from Boston College.

Career

After college, he received a job as assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Kentucky. Smith found that he could not afford to lose the time he spent teaching, so he resigned from the university to become an independent scholar.
After accepting a position as a visiting professor at Antioch College, he took a position as professor of philosophy at Western Michigan University in 1993 and retired in 2015.

Philosophical Work

Smith's work was across a wide range of disciplines. In the philosophy of religion; he was considered a leading defender of Atheismand was responsible for pioneering many different arguments against the existence of God from Quantum Cosmology, General Relativity, Big Bang Cosmology, Evil Natural Laws, and Hartle-Hawking Cosmology. He engaged in many debates with leading theists such as William Lane Craig and Alvin Plantinga.

Death

Smith died on November 12, 2020.

Published works