Smart, JJ

J.J.C. Smart (1920-2012) was an influential British-Australian philosopher who made significant contributions to the philosophy of religion through his defense of atheism and physicalism. Educated at Oxford and holding positions at Adelaide and ANU, Smart became a leading figure in Australian philosophy. His work "Atheism and Theism" (1996), co-authored with John Haldane, exemplifies his rigorous analytical approach to religious questions. Smart argued for a naturalistic worldview, rejecting theistic explanations as unnecessary given scientific understanding. He defended a strong version of physicalism and maintained that religious belief was incompatible with a scientific worldview. His atheism was grounded in his commitment to Ockham's Razor and the principle that simpler naturalistic explanations should be preferred over supernatural ones. Smart's clear, systematic arguments helped establish atheism as a serious philosophical position in contemporary analytic philosophy.