b. 1941
Michael Tooley (born 1941) is an Australian-American analytic philosopher at the University of Colorado Boulder, known for foundational contributions to metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and ethics. He is best recognized for his influential work on causation, the metaphysics of time, and his sustained philosophical case against theism. His 1972 paper on abortion and infanticide remains one of the most cited and contested works in applied ethics.
Authored 'Abortion and Infanticide' (1972), a landmark argument distinguishing personhood from biological humanity
Developed a realist, singularist account of causation in 'Causation: A Realist Approach' (1987)
Advanced the B-theory of time and causation in 'Time, Tense, and Causation' (1997)
Constructed detailed probabilistic arguments against the existence of God, particularly regarding the problem of evil
Contributed to the metaphysics of properties, defending a realist account of universals and tropes