# Quentin Smith

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{{Short description|American philosopher (1952–2020)}}
{{for|the American airman|Quentin P. Smith}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}

'''Quentin Persifor Smith''' (August 27, 1952, [Rhinebeck, New York](/source/Rhinebeck%2C_New_York) – November 12, 2020, [Kalamazoo, Michigan](/source/Kalamazoo%2C_Michigan)) was an American philosopher. He was [professor emeritus](/source/professor_emeritus) of philosophy at [Western Michigan University](/source/Western_Michigan_University) in [Kalamazoo, Michigan](/source/Kalamazoo%2C_Michigan). He worked in the [philosophy of time](/source/philosophy_of_time), [philosophy of language](/source/philosophy_of_language), [philosophy of physics](/source/philosophy_of_physics) and [philosophy of religion](/source/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](/source/Prometheus_Books) and was the chief editor for ''[Philo](/source/Philo_(journal))'' from 2001 to 2007. He debated [William Lane Craig](/source/William_Lane_Craig) over the existence of God.<ref>[http://leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/craig-smith0.html "Transcript of Debate with William Lane Craig"]. March 22, 1996.</ref><ref>[http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/craig-smith_harvard00.html "Second Debate With William Lane Craig"]. Harvard University. April 2003.</ref>

==Early life and education==
Quentin Smith was born in Rhinebeck, New York. His father was a psychology professor at [Bennington College](/source/Bennington_College) and he spent most of his early life in Canada.

He received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from [Antioch College](/source/Antioch_College), advancing to receive a PhD in philosophy from [Boston College](/source/Boston_College). 

==Career==
After college, he received a job as assistant professor of philosophy at the [University of Kentucky](/source/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 Atheism<ref>{{Cite news |last=Burgis |first=Ben |date=2021-01-03 |title=There Will Be Time |url=https://medium.com/arc-digital/there-will-be-time-9545ec4d36d8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007171940/https://medium.com/arc-digital/there-will-be-time-9545ec4d36d8 |archive-date=October 7, 2024 |access-date=2024-12-15 |work=Medium |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> and was responsible for pioneering many different arguments against the existence of God from Quantum Cosmology,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Quentin |date=1997 |title=Quantum Cosmology's Implication of Atheism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3328092 |journal=Analysis |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=295–304 |doi=10.1093/analys/57.4.295 |jstor=3328092 |issn=0003-2638}}</ref> General Relativity,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Quentin |date=2000-01-01 |title=Problems With John Earman's Attempt To Reconcile Theism With General Relativity |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1005547412396 |journal=Erkenntnis |language=en |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=1–27 |doi=10.1023/A:1005547412396 |issn=1572-8420|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Big Bang Cosmology,<ref>{{Cite web |date=1969-12-31 |title=Quentin Smith Cosmology » Internet Infidels |url=https://infidels.org/library/modern/quentin-smith-cosmology/ |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=Internet Infidels |language=en-US}}</ref> Evil Natural Laws,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Quentin |date=1991 |title=An Atheological Argument From Evil Natural Laws |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/SMIAAA-3 |journal=International Journal for Philosophy of Religion |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=159–174 |doi=10.1007/bf00141329|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and [Hartle-Hawking](/source/Hartle%E2%80%93Hawking_state) Cosmology. He engaged in many debates with leading theists such as William Lane Craig and Alvin Plantinga.

==Death==
Smith died on November 12, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://joldersma-klein.com/obituaries-archive/quentin-p-smith/1296/|title = Remembering Quentin P. Smith}}</ref>

==Published works==
*''Epistemology: New Essays'' (Editor) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. {{ISBN|0-19-926494-5}}
*''Einstein, Relativity and Absolute Simultaneity.'' (co-edited with [William Lane Craig](/source/William_Lane_Craig)). New York: Routledge, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-415-70174-7}}
*''Time, Tense and Reference'' (co-edited with A. Jokic, and contributing author). Cambridge MA: MIT Press, October 2003. {{ISBN|0-262-10098-3}}
*''Consciousness: New Philosophical Perspectives'' (co-edited with A. Jokic, and contributing author). Oxford: Oxford University Press, January 2003. {{ISBN|0-19-924129-5}}
*''Ethical and Religious Thought in Analytic Philosophy of Language''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. Pp.&nbsp;264. {{ISBN|0-300-06212-5}}
*''Time, Change and Freedom''. (co-authored with L. Nathan Oaklander). New York: Routledge, 1995, pp.&nbsp;218. {{ISBN|0-415-10249-9}}
*''The New Theory of Time''. (co-authored and co-edited with L. Nathan Oaklander). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994. Pp.&nbsp;378. {{ISBN|0-300-05796-2}}
*''Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology''. (co-authored with William Lane Craig). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Pp.&nbsp;357. {{ISBN|0-19-826383-X}}
*''Language and Time''. First Edition. New York. Oxford University Press. 1993. pp.&nbsp;259. {{ISBN|0-19-515594-7}}
*''The Felt Meanings of the World: A Metaphysics of Feeling''. Purdue University Press :West Lafayette, 1986 (Paperback 2010). {{ISBN|0-911198-76-8}}

==See also==
*[American philosophy](/source/American_philosophy)
*[List of American philosophers](/source/List_of_American_philosophers)
*[List of nontheists (philosophy)](/source/List_of_nontheists_(philosophy))

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100128052051/http://qsmithwmu.com/ Official website]
*Quentin Smith's "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvkghIrF7XY Real Atheology]" interview on Natural Evils and Immaterial Minds (2017).
*Quentin Smith's [https://web.archive.org/web/20150228105545/http://wmich.edu/philosophy/directory/smith faculty page] for Western Michigan University.
* Quentin Smith's "[Closer To Truth](/source/Closer_To_Truth)" (PBS) [http://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/quentin-smith/profile interviews] with Robert Lawrence Kuhn (2008).
* Quentin Smith's [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/quentin_smith/ collection of essays] at Infidels.org.
* The Sci Phi Show: "Outcast (#26)": [https://archive.org/download/tspsoc26-a/tspsoc26-a.mp3 "Interview with Dr. Quentin Smith"] (00:37:09 minutes long) (2006).
* {{YouTube|dXWTr0QjCoM|Video of Veritas Forum-sponsored discussion on "Science and Religion"}} featuring Quentin Smith, [William Lane Craig](/source/William_Lane_Craig), [Alvin Plantinga](/source/Alvin_Plantinga), and Richard Gale at California Polytechnic State University (2004).
* [http://neale.commons.gc.cuny.edu/files/2014/09/Neale_Kripke.pdf Stephen Neale] and [http://linguafranca.mirror.theinfo.org/Archive/whose.html Jim Holt] on the [Saul Kripke](/source/Saul_Kripke) plagiarism controversy.

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Quentin}}
Category:1952 births
Category:2020 deaths
Category:20th-century American philosophers
Category:21st-century American philosophers
Category:American atheists
Category:American book editors
Category:Antioch College alumni
Category:Atheist philosophers
Category:American philosophy academics
Category:Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni
Category:People from Rhinebeck, New York
Category:Philosophers from Michigan
Category:Philosophers from New York (state)
Category:American philosophers of language
Category:American philosophers of religion
Category:Philosophy journal editors
Category:Prometheus Books
Category:University of Kentucky faculty
Category:Western Michigan University faculty

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