Richard Carrier

Richard Carrier is an American historian, philosopher, author, and atheist. Carrier strongly advocates atheism, especially Atheism Plus,"Atheism… Plus What?" Talk @ AACON 2013 as well as metaphysical naturalism. Carrier openly doubts the historicity of Jesus. 
He has also written of his doubts on Hitler's Table Talk, a collection of private conversations between Adolf Hitler and his confidants which suggest that Hitler was an atheist (despite years of personal affirmations to Christianity in speeches and books), citing authors' bias, differing accounts, and problems with translations between German, French, and English.
In June 2014, Sheffield-Phoenix published Carrier's On the Historicity of Jesus, which he claimed to be "the first comprehensive pro-Jesus myth book ever published by a respected academic press and under formal peer review".Richard Carrier (July 17, 2013) Update on Historicity of Jesus
Carrier's reputation within the atheist community was largely brought to an end due to allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, over which he filed for defamation against seven defendants. The case was dismissed as it was wrongly filed in a court that had no jurisdiction to hear it. Carrier pursued three additional lawsuits against the defendants; these lawsuits were settled out of court. Very detailed information about the lawsuits can be found on Carrier's websitehttps://richardcarrier.info/casesummary.html and on a website maintained by the defendants.https://allegedlythewebsite.org/timeline
According to Carrier's 2020 CV, he does not appear to have taught in any post-secondary institution since 2000.Curriculum Vitae: Richard C. Carrier, Ph.D, richardcarrier.info, 20 July 2020. Carrier's 2000-2003 work was as a librarian's assistant, not as a teacher or instructor.
==Biography==
Carrier fluently speaks at least five languages, comes from a freethinking Methodist family, and was married to Jennifer Robin Paynter from 1995-2015 until they agreed to divorce after a series of affairs and an attempt at an open marriage.https://web.archive.org/web/20160813145155/https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/6737 In the post in which he announced his divorce Carrier came out as polyamorous. He served in the United States Coast Guard for two years (1990-1992). He has a Ph.D. in Ancient History from Columbia University (2008). Among other organizations, he's a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Carrier is a prolific writer. If there's an argument for the existence of God, or against atheism, he has probably thoroughly debunked it in his books, on blogs, or in public speaking events. He is known to give positive arguments for the conclusion that there is no god (strong atheism).
The importance of Philosophy itself is covered in the introduction to Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism, and in a Skepticon talk entitled "Is Philosophy Stupid?"Is Philosophy Stupid? - Richard Carrier - Skepticon 6, HamboneProductions on YouTube, 29 November 2013.
Carrier defines the supernatural as irreducible mind (spirit) or mental property, often with direct causal powers (magic), all without underlying physical causes.Defining the Supernatural, richardcarrier.blogspot.com, 18 January 2007. This is basically the mind stuff from dualism. He presents evidence that this is the definition most people actually use in practice.
==Jesus==
Carrier is an independent author and researcher not attached to any academic institution. His book On the Historicity of Jesus was published by an academic press, and as a response to claims that his book wasn't peer reviewed he stated this:
Later he clarified:
Carrier also included this reply from Sheffield Phoenix Press:
So the claim Carrier sent it to friends or there was something non-standard about the peer review appears to be nothing more than ad hominem FUD.
That said, the claim that it is the first peer-reviewed comprehensive mythicist work is incorrect, since Jean Magne's 1993 title From Christianity to Gnosis was published by Brown University through Scholars Press in the Brown Judaic Studies series, and argued that Christianity had a gnostic origin with no historical founder, a full twenty years before Carrier's case was made.Jean Magne, From Christianity to Gnosis and from Gnosis to Christianity, Brown Judaic Studies (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993) 
Carrier is a proponent of the idea that Jesus never existed as a historical figure in any meaningful way. He argues that since other religious figures with characteristics similar to Jesus did not exist, Bayesian statistics imply that Jesus also probably did not exist. The non-existence of Jesus is a respectable but minority position among scholars. Carrier's application of Bayes's Theorem to the question has not been widely accepted.
On the Historicity of Jesus got a book review in the December 2014 issue of Journal of Religious History.Lataster, R. (2014), Richard Carrier: On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2014; pp. xiv + 696.. J Relig Hist, 38: 614–616. doi:10.1111/1467-9809.12219 An earlier version of this review states:
To date, Lataster's review remains the only one to condone Carrier's methods and conclusions in academic literature.
==Publications==
*Sense and Goodness without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism, AuthorHouse, 2005 ISBN 1420802933
*The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave, edited by Robert Price & Jeffery Jay Lowder. Prometheus, 2005
*Not the Impossible Faith, Lulu, 2009 ISBN 0557044642
*Why I Am Not a Christian: Four Conclusive Reasons to Reject the Faith, Philosophy Press, 2011
*Proving History: Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus, Prometheus, 2012
*On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2014 ISBN 1909697494
*Science Education in the Early Roman Empire, Pitchstone, 2016 ISBN 9781634310901
==See also==
*Positive Christianity
==External links==
*Official website
*Richard Carrier on Infidels.org 
*Richard Carrier on blogspot.com
*Richard Carrier on Freethought Blogs (archive)
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Bloggers 
Category:Educators
Category:Living people
Category:Sexuality