Graham Robert Oppy is an Australian philosopher whose main area of research is the philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion

Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious language and texts, and the relationship of religion and science...

. He currently holds the posts of Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Research at Monash University

Monash University

Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....

 and serves as Associate Editor of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy

Australasian Journal of Philosophy

The Australasian Journal of Philosophy , founded in Sydney in 1923 as The Australasian Journal of Psychology and Philosophy, is Australasia's oldest and most respected philosophy journal. Sponsored by the Australasian Association of Philosophy, it aims to publish the best work in the analytic...

, and serves on the editorial boards of Philo

Philo (journal)

Philo is a peer-reviewed academic journal with a focus on the discussion of philosophical issues from an explicitly naturalist perspective. The journal publishes articles, critical discussions, review essays, and book reviews in all fields of philosophy, and welcomes work on the philosophical...

, Philosopher's Compass, Religious Studies

Religious studies

Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...

, and Sophia

Sophia (journal)

Sophia is an academic journal devoted to philosophy of religion and philosophical theology, founded in 1962. From 2001 Sophia was published by Ashgate Publishing in collaboration with the Australasian Society for Philosophy of Religion. The journal has now moved to Springer...

.

Biography

Graham Oppy was born in Benalla in 1960 to a Methodist family, but he ceased to be a religious believer

Religious belief

Religious belief is a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny. Such a state may relate to the existence, characteristics and worship of a deity or deities, divine intervention in the universe and human life, or values and practices centered on the teachings of a...

 as a young teenager. His family moved to Ballarat in 1965 and had his secondary schooling at Wesley College, Melbourne

Wesley College, Melbourne

Wesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...

. He attended Melbourne University from 1979, where he completed two degrees: a BS in philosophy and a B.Sc in mathematics. In 1987 he started graduate work at Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 under the supervision of Gilbert Harman

Gilbert Harman

Gilbert Harman is a contemporary American philosopher, teaching at Princeton University, who has published widely in linguistics, semantics, cognitive science, philosophy of mind, ethics, moral psychology, epistemology, statistical learning theory, and metaphysics. He and George Miller...

 on questions in the philosophy of language

Philosophy of language

Philosophy of language is the reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language. As a topic, the philosophy of language for analytic philosophers is concerned with four central problems: the nature of meaning, language use, language cognition, and the relationship between language...

.

He was a lecturer at the University of Wollongong

University of Wollongong

The University of Wollongong is a public university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney...

 from 1990–1992 and after doing a post-doc at the Australian National University

Australian National University

The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

, he came to Monash as a senior lecturer, and was promoted to Professor in 2005. He is currently Associate Dean of Research (since 2004) and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University.

Books

• Ontological Arguments and Belief in God, 1996. ISBN 0521481201.
• Philosophical Perspectives on Infinity, 2006. ISBN 0521860679.
• Arguing about Gods, 2006. ISBN 0521863864.
• "Evolution vs Creationism in Australian Schools" chapter in The Australian Book of Atheism, 2010. ISBN 9781921640766.

External links

• Personal Homepage at Monash University - Includes career summary and highlights and a link to a complete list of publications.
• Graham Oppy articles at Internet Infidels
• Ontological arguments and The Turing Test at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a freely-accessible online encyclopedia of philosophy maintained by Stanford University. Each entry is written and maintained by an expert in the field, including professors from over 65 academic institutions worldwide...
  
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• Interview on contemporary atheism