Richard Swinburne

Professor Richard Swinburne, a leading philosopher of religion, was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa by the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (KUL) on November 17, 2015. His work focuses on natural theology, the justification of Christian doctrines, and the philosophical plausibility of theism using inductive criteria from science, history, and detective reasoning.

In his KUL lecture, he argued that theism—a hypothesis positing an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfectly good God—satisfies three criteria: explaining general features of the universe (consistent physical laws, consciousness), the low probability of these features arising without divine action, and the simplicity of the theistic hypothesis. His methodology emphasizes aligning theological arguments with scientific standards of evidence.

• Honorary Doctorate: John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (2015), proposed by the Faculty of Philosophy Council.
• Key Themes: Natural theology, problem of evil, consciousness as a theological argument, simplicity in hypothesis testing.