Quentin Smith
Quentin Persifor Smith (August 27, 1952, Rhinebeck, New York – November 12, 2020, Kalamazoo, Michigan) 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.
Also recorded as Quentin Persifor Smith
Quentin Smith
- Born
- 1952.
- Died
- 2020.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- writer, philosopher and university teacher.
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Quentin Persifor Smith (August 27, 1952, Rhinebeck, New York – November 12, 2020, Kalamazoo, Michigan) 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.
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Quentin Smith (1952–2020) was an American philosopher, university teacher and writer. The philosopher was born in Rhinebeck. Quentin Smith worked for Western Michigan University. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Early life and education
Early life and education
Smith published over 140 articles. 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.
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
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.
Death
Death
Smith died on November 12, 2020.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1952
Quentin Smith born at Rhinebeck.
2020
Quentin Smith died.
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 and 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.
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). 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. 264. ISBN 0-300-06212-5 Time, Change and Freedom. (co-authored with L. Nathan Oaklander). New York: Routledge, 1995, pp. 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. 378. ISBN 0-300-05796-2 Theism, Atheism and Big Bang Cosmology. (co-authored with William Lane Craig). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Pp. 357. ISBN 0-19-826383-X Language and Time. First Edition. New York. Oxford University Press. 1993. pp. 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
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q23446: Quentin Smith
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
authority file
reference work
- “Quentin Smith”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Transcript of Debate with William Lane Craig". March 22, 1996.
- 2."Second Debate With William Lane Craig". Harvard University. April 2003.
- 3.Burgis, Ben. There Will Be Time. Medium. 2021-01-03.
- 4.Smith, Quentin. Quantum Cosmology's Implication of Atheism. Analysis. 57. 4. 295–304. 1997. 0003-2638.
- 5.Smith, Quentin. Problems With John Earman's Attempt To Reconcile Theism With General Relativity. Erkenntnis. 52. 1. 1–27. 2000-01-01. 1572-8420.
- 6.Quentin Smith Cosmology » Internet Infidels. Internet Infidels. 1969-12-31.
- 7.Smith, Quentin. An Atheological Argument From Evil Natural Laws. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 29. 3. 159–174. 1991. 10.1007/bf00141329.
- 8.Remembering Quentin P. Smith.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q23446: Quentin SmithWikimedia Foundation
Verifiedauthority file
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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