Stephen Hawking
A theoretical physicist who sees the origin of the universe in the laws of physics rather than in a creator.
Life
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018), a British theoretical physicist, worked on black holes and the origin of the universe; he showed that black holes emit radiation (1974). Diagnosed with a motor neurone disease at 21, he popularised cosmology with A Brief History of Time (1988). In his later books he argues that the laws of physics suffice to explain the universe without a creator.
Main works
Introduces the general reader to the big bang, black holes and the search for a unified theory.
With Leonard Mlodinow: modern physics explains the universe without God.
Answers to questions such as God's existence, humanity's future and extraterrestrial life.
In his own words
« What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? »
« If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason — for then we would know the mind of God. »
« Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceThe laws of physics suffice to explain the universe: there is no creator, and he says he is an atheist.
Hawking & Mlodinow, The Grand Design (2010); Hawking, interview with El Mundo (2014); Brief Answers to the Big Questions (2018)
Our theories are models: none gives a picture of reality independent of the model (model-dependent realism).
Hawking & Mlodinow, The Grand Design (2010)
He sees the brain as a computer that stops working when its components fail; the afterlife is, for him, a fairy story.
Hawking, interview with The Guardian (2011)
Our actions follow physical law, and free will is probably an illusion; since we cannot predict ourselves, we speak of it as a convenient effective theory.
Hawking & Mlodinow, The Grand Design (2010), ch. 2