Editing Richard Swinburne

{{Short description|English philosopher and Christian apologist}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Richard Swinburne
| image = Swinburne.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Swinburne in 2009
| birth_name = Richard Granville Swinburne
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1934|12|26}}
| birth_place = [[Smethwick]], England
| death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = 
| spouse = 
| awards = <!--notable national-level awards only-->
| website = {{official URL}}
| alma_mater = [[Exeter College, Oxford]]
| thesis_title = 
| thesis_year = 
| school_tradition = [[Analytic philosophy]]
| doctoral_advisor = 
| academic_advisors = 
| influences = {{flatlist|
* [[Plato]]
* [[Aristotle]]
* [[René Descartes]]
* [[Thomas Aquinas]]
* [[Rudolf Carnap]]
* [[Carl Hempel]]
}}
| era = 
| discipline = {{hlist | [[Philosophy]] | [[theology]]}}
| sub_discipline = {{hlist | [[Philosophical theology]] | [[philosophy of religion]] | [[philosophy of science]]}}
| workplaces = {{ubl | [[University of Hull]] | [[University of Keele]] | [[Oriel College, Oxford]]}}
| doctoral_students = {{flatlist|
* Kai-man Kwan<ref>Kai-man (2011), p. ix</ref>
* [[J.&nbsp;L. Schellenberg]]<ref>Schellenberg (2016), p. 26</ref>
* [[Mark Wynn]]<!-- Wynn is notable as he holds a prestigious named chair at Oxford; see [[WP:NACADEMIC]] --><ref>{{cite web |title=Professor Mark Wynn |url=https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/prof-mark-wynn#/ |website=Faculty of Theology and Religion |location=Oxford |publisher=University of Oxford |access-date=23 July 2020}}</ref>
}}
| notable_students = <!--only those with WP articles-->
| main_interests = [[Christian apologetics]]
| notable_works = 
| notable_ideas = 
| influenced = {{flatlist|
* [[William Lane Craig]]
* [[Brian Davies (philosopher)|Brian Davies]]
* [[Antony Flew]]
* [[Keith Ward]]
* [[Dean Zimmerman (philosopher)|Dean Zimmerman]]
}}
| signature = 
| signature_alt = 
| image_size = 200
}}
{{Theodicy}}
'''Richard Granville Swinburne''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FBA}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|w|ɪ|n|b|ɜr|n}}; born 26 December 1934) is an English [[philosopher]]. He is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the [[University of Oxford]]. Over the last 50 years, Swinburne has been a proponent of philosophical [[Existence of God#Arguments for the existence of God|arguments for the existence of God]]. His [[philosophy|philosophical]] contributions are primarily in the [[philosophy of religion]] and [[philosophy of science]]. He aroused much discussion with his early work in the philosophy of religion, a trilogy of books consisting of ''The Coherence of Theism'', ''[[The Existence of God (book)|The Existence of God]]'', and ''Faith and Reason''. He has been influential in reviving [[substance dualism]] as an option in [[philosophy of mind]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Robinson, Howard|year=2021|title=The Revival of Substance Dualism|journal=Roczniki Filozoficzne|volume=69|issue=1|pages=33–44|doi=10.18290/rf21691-4 |jstor=27031914|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Swinburne was born in [[Smethwick]], [[Staffordshire]], England, on 26 December 1934.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Swinburne, Richard - Full record view - Libraries Australia Search |url=https://librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au/search/display?dbid=auth&id=35534874 |access-date=2025-04-15 |website=librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au}}</ref> His father was a school music teacher, who was himself the son of an off-licence owner in [[Shoreditch]]. His mother was a secretary, the daughter of an optician. He is an only child. Swinburne attended a preparatory school and then [[Charterhouse School]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baker-Hytch |first=Max |date=2024-10-31 |title=An interview with Richard Swinburne |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/an-interview-with-richard-swinburne/70F84E85E3C76860FF9297A8E7544931 |journal=Religious Studies |language=en |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1017/S0034412524000428 |issn=0034-4125}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=April 2025|reason=Info on birthplace and grandparents are not substantiated by the citations currently present in the early life section.}}

==Academic career==
Swinburne received an open scholarship to study [[classics]] at [[Exeter College, Oxford]], but in fact graduated with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|first-class]] [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in [[philosophy, politics, and economics]]. Swinburne has held various professorships throughout his career in academia. From 1972 to 1985, he taught at [[Keele University]]. During part of this time, he gave the [[Gifford lectures]] at [[University of Aberdeen|Aberdeen]] from 1982 to 1984, resulting in the book ''The Evolution of the Soul''. From 1985 until his retirement in 2002, he was [[Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion]] at the [[University of Oxford]] (his successor to this chair was [[Brian Leftow]]). He has continued to publish regularly since his retirement.<ref>[https://users.ox.ac.uk/~orie0087/    Richard Swinburne - short intellectual autobiography]</ref>

Swinburne has been an active author throughout his career, producing a major book every two to three years. He has played a role in the recent debate over the [[mind–body problem]], defending a [[substance dualism]] that recalls the work of [[René Descartes]] in important respects (see ''The Evolution of the Soul'', 1997).

His books are primarily very technical works of academic philosophy, but he has written at the popular level as well. Of the non-technical works, his ''[[Is There a God?]]'' (1996), summarising for a non-specialist audience many of his [[arguments for the existence of God]] and plausibility in the belief of that existence, is probably the most popular and is available in 22 languages.<ref>Ozioko, Johnson Uchenna (2019). Rationality of the Christian Faith in Richard Swinburne. Rome: Urbaniana University Press.</ref>

In 1992 he was elected a Fellow of the [[British Academy]].<ref>[https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/richard-swinburne-FBA/ The British Academy for Humanities and Social Sciences.]</ref> He is a recipient of [[James Joyce Award]] from the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin. Also, he was awarded honorary doctorates by the [[John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin|Catholic University of Lublin]] (2015),<ref>[https://www.kul.pl/professor-richard-swinburne-doctor-honoris-causa-kul,art_64147.html Professor Richard Swinburne - Doctor honoris causa KUL]</ref> [[Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University]] in Bucharest (2016), the International Academy of Philosophy in Liechtenstein (2017), and [[New Georgian University|New Georgian University in Poti]] (2023).<ref>[http://ngu.edu.ge/en/about-university/sapatio-doktorebi/profesori-richard-suinberni New Georgian University honors Professor Richard Swinburne]</ref>

==Christian apologetics==

A member of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]], Swinburne is noted as one of the foremost [[Christian apologist]]s, arguing in his many articles and books that faith in Christianity is rational and coherent in a rigorous philosophical sense. [[William Hasker]] writes that his "tetralogy on Christian doctrine, together with his earlier trilogy on the philosophy of theism, is one of the most important apologetic projects of recent times."<ref>Hasker, William (2002). "Is Christianity Probable? Swinburne's Apologetic Programme". Religious Studies. 38 (3): 253–264. doi:10.1017/S0034412502006078. ISSN 1469-901X. JSTOR 20008419. S2CID 170888913.</ref> While Swinburne presents many arguments to advance the belief that God exists, he argues that God is a being whose existence is not logically necessary (see [[modal logic]]) but [[metaphysic]]ally necessary in a way he defines in his ''The Christian God''. Other subjects on which Swinburne writes include [[personal identity]] (in which he espouses a view based on the concept of a [[Soul (spirit)|soul]]), and [[epistemic justification]]. He has written in defence of [[Dualism (philosophy of mind)|Cartesian dualism]] and [[Libertarianism (metaphysics)|libertarian free will]].<ref>Swinburne, Richard (2013). Mind, Brain, and Free Will.</ref>

Although he is best known for his vigorous defence of Christian intellectual commitments, he also has a theory of the nature of passionate faith which is developed in his book ''Faith and Reason''.

According to an interview Swinburne did with ''Foma'' magazine, he converted from [[Anglican Communion|Anglicanism]] ([[Church of England]]) to [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] around 1996:
<blockquote>I don't think I changed my beliefs in any significant way. I always believed in the [[Apostolic succession]]: that the Church has to have its authority dating back to the Apostles, and the general teaching of the Orthodox Church on the saints and the prayers for the departed and so on, these things I have always believed.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=БЕЗОТВЕТСТВЕННОЕ ПРИГЛАШЕНИЕ К СЕРЬЕЗНОМУ РАЗГОВОРУ |url=http://www.foma.ru/article/index.php?news=2368&sphrase_id=899158 |url-status=dead |magazine=Foma |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222214436/http://www.foma.ru/article/index.php?news=2368&sphrase_id=899158 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |access-date=2012-02-17}}</ref></blockquote>

Swinburne's philosophical method reflects the influence of [[Thomas Aquinas]]. He admits that he draws from Aquinas a systematic approach to philosophical theology. Swinburne, like Aquinas, moves from basic philosophical issues (for example, the question of the possibility that God may exist in Swinburne's ''The Coherence of Theism''), to more specific Christian beliefs (for example, the claim in Swinburne's ''Revelation'' that God has communicated to human beings propositionally in [[Jesus Christ]]).<ref>Chartier, Gary (2013). "Richard Swinburne". In Markham, Ian S. (ed.). The Student's Companion to the Theologians. Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 522–526. doi:10.1002/9781118427170.ch75. ISBN 978-1-118-42717-0.</ref>

In an interview with ''Veery'' journal, Swinburne summed up his place in philosophy: "I'm very much in the modern Anglo-American tradition of philosophy which I believe is basically the tradition of philosophy since Plato."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vita |first=Steven |date=December 26, 2020 |title=Richard Swinburne |url=https://veeryjournal.com/oxford-philosopher-richard-swinburne.html |website=Veery Journal, veeryjournal.com}}</ref>

Swinburne moves in his writing program from the philosophical to the theological, building his case and relying on his previous arguments as he defends particular Christian beliefs. He has attempted to reassert classical Christian beliefs with an apologetic method that he believes is compatible with contemporary science. That method relies heavily on [[inductive logic]], seeking to show that his Christian beliefs fit best with the evidence.<ref>Schellenberg, J. L. (2016). "Working with Swinburne: Belief, Value, and Religious Life". In Bergmann, Michael; Brower, Jeffrey E. (eds.). Reason and Faith: Themes from Richard Swinburne. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 26–45. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198732648.003.0002. ISBN 978-0-19-873264-8.</ref>

[[National Life Stories]] conducted an oral history interview (C1672/15) with Richard Swinburne in 2015–2016 for its Science and Religion collection held by the [[British Library]].

== Major books ==
* ''Space and Time'', 1968
* ''The Concept of Miracle'', 1970, 
* ''The Coherence of Theism'', 1977 (new edition 2016) (part 1 of his trilogy on Theism)
* [[The Existence of God (book)|''The Existence of God'']], 1979 (new edition 2004, {{ISBN|0-19-927167-4}}) (part 2 of his trilogy on Theism)
* ''Faith and Reason'', 1981 (new edition 2005). (part 3 of his trilogy on Theism)
* ''The Evolution of the Soul'', 1986, {{ISBN|0-19-823698-0}}. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20080621162631/http://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPMBAS&Cover=TRUE 1997 edition online])
* ''Miracles'', 1989
* ''Responsibility and Atonement'', 1989 (part 1 of his [[tetralogy]] on Christian Doctrines)
* ''Revelation'', 1991 (part 2 of his [[tetralogy]] on Christian Doctrines)
* ''The Christian God'', 1994 (part 3 of his [[tetralogy]] on Christian Doctrines)
* ''[[Is There a God?]]'', 1996, {{ISBN|0-19-823545-3}}; revised edition, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-19-958043-9}}
* ''Simplicity as Evidence of Truth'', The Aquinas Lecture, 1997
* ''Providence and the Problem of Evil'', 1998 (part 4 of his [[tetralogy]] on Christian Doctrines)
* ''Epistemic Justification'', 2001
* ''The Resurrection of God Incarnate'', 2003
* ''Was Jesus God?'', 2008
* ''Free Will and Modern Science'', Ed. 2011, {{ISBN|978-0197264898}}
* ''Mind, Brain, and Free Will'', 2013
* ''Are We Bodies or Souls?'', 2019, {{ISBN|978-0-19-883149-5}}

=== Spiritual autobiographies ===
* Richard Swinburne, "Natural Theology and Orthodoxy," in ''Turning East: Contemporary Philosophers and the Ancient Christian Faith'', Rico Vitz, ed. (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2012), pp.&nbsp;47–78.
* Richard Swinburne, "The Vocation of a Natural Theologian," in ''Philosophers Who Believe'', Kelly James Clark, ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), pp.&nbsp;179–202.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|50em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Colin |year=1984 |title=Miracles and the Critical Mind |location=Exeter, England |publisher=Paternoster |pages=180–184}}
* {{cite book |last=Hick |first=John |author-link=John Hick |year=1989 |chapter=The Religious Ambiguity of the Universe |title=An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the Transcendent |location=New Haven, Connecticut |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-230-37128-6}}<!-- This section offers a critique of Swinburne's probability theorem regarding the existence of God. -->
* {{cite book |last=Hick |first=John |author-link=John Hick |author-mask={{long dash}} |year=1993 |chapter=Salvation Through the Blood of Jesus |title=The Metaphor of God Incarnate |location=London |publisher=SCM Press}}<!-- This chapter includes a revised version of an academic article response to and critique of Swinburne's defence of the atonement in his book of that name. -->
* {{cite book |last=Ozioko |first=Johnson Uchenna |year=2019 |title=Rationality of the Christian Faith in Richard Swinburne |location=Rome |publisher=Urbaniana University Press}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Parks |first=D. Mark |year=1995 |title=Expecting the Christian Revelation: An Analysis and Critique of Richard Swinburne's Philosophical Defense of Propositional Revelation |type=PhD dissertation |location=Fort Worth, Texas |publisher=Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary}}
* {{cite book |last=Parsons |first=Keith M. |year=1989 |title=God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytic Defense of Theism |location=Buffalo, New York |publisher=Prometheus}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Philipse |first1=Herman |author1-link=Herman Philipse |title=Swinburne's apologetic strategy for theism evaluated |journal=Religious Studies |date=2017 |volume=53 |issue=Special Issue 3: In Honour of Richard Swinburne |pages=307–320 |doi=10.1017/S0034412517000245|hdl=1874/359877 |hdl-access=free }}<!-- This paper revises  Swinburne's apologetics and criticizes his claims -->
* {{cite book |last=Wolterstorff |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Wolterstorff |year=1995 |title=Divine Discourse: Philosophical Reflections on the Claim that God Speaks |location=Cambridge, England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511598074 |isbn=978-0-511-59807-4}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
*{{official website}} – Includes a curriculum vitae and more complete list of publications
*[http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=263 Presentation at Gifford lectures]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120317063457/http://www.orthotes.com/diap/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53:richard-swinburne-faith-and-reason&catid=25:recensioni&Itemid=29 Richard Swinburne, Faith and Reason] review from [https://web.archive.org/web/20110715022415/http://www.orthotes.com/diap/ Diapsalmata]
*[http://hardproblem.ru/interview/richardgswinburne/lang-pref/en/''The Moscow Center for Consciousness Studies'' video interview with Richard Swinburne] 31 May 2010.

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Basil Mitchell (academic)|Basil Mitchell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion|Nolloth Professor of the<br />Philosophy of the Christian Religion]]|years=1985–2003}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Brian Leftow]]}}
{{s-bef|before= }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Gifford Lectures|Gifford Lecturer]] at the<br />[[University of Aberdeen]]|years=1982–1984}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Freeman Dyson]]}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef|before= }}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[British Society for the Philosophy of Religion|British Society<br />for the Philosophy of Religion]]|years= }}
{{s-aft|after= }}
{{s-end}}

{{Analytic philosophy}}
{{Mind–body dualism}}
{{Philosophy of religion}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinburne, Richard}}
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century English philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century English theologians]]
[[Category:21st-century English philosophers]]
[[Category:21st-century English theologians]]
[[Category:Academics of Keele University]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Hull]]
[[Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Analytic philosophers]]
[[Category:Analytic theologians]]
[[Category:Christian apologists]]
[[Category:Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Anglicanism]]
[[Category:British critics of atheism]]
[[Category:Dualists]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox philosophers]]
[[Category:English Eastern Orthodox Christians]]
[[Category:Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]]
[[Category:Nolloth Professors of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion]]
[[Category:English philosophers of religion]]
[[Category:English philosophers of science]]
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]]
[[Category:British philosophers of mind]]
[[Category:Writers about religion and science]]