Atheism
Information about Atheism
){kind=small}
“Atheist” redirects here. For the heavy metal band, see Atheist (band).
| Part of a on Atheism |
) Paul Heinrich Dietrich Baron d'Holbach |
|
Concepts ReligionNontheism AntireligionAntitheism AgnosticismHumanism Metaphysical naturalism Weak and strong atheism Implicit and explicit atheism History History of atheism EnlightenmentFreethought Arguments Against religionFor nontheism Against atheism Demographics AtheismIrreligion Famous atheistsState atheism DiscriminationPersectution |
Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism[5] and naturalism,[6] there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.[7]
The term atheism originated as a pejorative epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion.[8] With the spread of freethought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and was sometimes used as a self-description by atheists.
Etymology
)
The Greek word αθεοι (atheoi), as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians (2:12) on the early 3rd-century Papyrus 46. It is usually translated into English as "[those who are] without God".[9]
In early Ancient Greek, the adjective atheos (, from the privative ἀ- + "god") meant "godless". The word began to indicate more-intentional, active godlessness in the 5th century BCE, acquiring definitions of "severing relations with the gods" or "denying the gods, ungodly" instead of the earlier meaning of (asebēs) or "impious". Modern translations of classical texts sometimes render atheos as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also (atheotēs), "atheism". Cicero transliterated the Greek word into the Latin . The term found frequent use in the debate between early Christians and pagans, with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other.[8]
In English, the term atheism was derived from the French in about 1587.[10] The term atheist (from Fr. ), in the sense of "one who denies or disbelieves the existence of God",[11] predates atheism in English, being first attested in about 1571.[12] Atheist as a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577.[13] Related words emerged later: deist in 1621,[14] theist in 1662;[15] theism in 1678;[16] and deism in 1682.[17] Deism and theism changed meanings slightly around 1700, due to the influence of atheism; deism was originally used as a synonym for today's theism, but came to denote a separate philosophical doctrine.[18]
Karen Armstrong writes that "During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the word 'atheist' was still reserved exclusively for polemic … The term 'atheist' was an insult. Nobody would have dreamed of calling himself an atheist."[19] Atheism was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the monotheistic Judeo-Christian God.[20] In the 20th century, globalization contributed to the expansion of the term to refer to disbelief in all deities, though it remains common in Western society to describe atheism as simply "disbelief in God."[21] Most recently, there has been a push in certain philosophical circles to redefine atheism negatively, as the "absence of belief in deities," rather than as a belief in its own right; this definition has become popular in atheist communities, though its mainstream usage has been limited.[21][22][23]
Definitions and distinctions
)
A chart showing the relationship between the definitions of weak/strong and implicit/explicit atheism. An implicit atheist has not thought about belief in gods; such an individual would be described as implicitly without a belief in gods. An explicit atheist has made an assertion regarding belief in gods; such an individual may eschew belief in gods (weak atheism), or affirm that gods do not exist (strong atheism).
Range
Some of the ambiguity and controversy involved in defining atheism arises from difficulty in reaching a consensus for the definitions of words like deity and God. The plurality of wildly different conceptions of God and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. In contexts where theism is defined as the belief in a singular personal god, for example, people who believe in a variety of other deities may be classified as atheists, including deists and even polytheists. In the 20th century, this view has fallen into disfavor as theism has come to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity.[25]With respect to the range of phenomena being rejected, atheism may counter anything from the existence of a god, to the existence of any spiritual, supernatural, or transcendental concepts, such as those of Hinduism and Buddhism.[26]
Implicit vs. explicit
The view that children are born atheist is relatively recent. Prior to the 18th century, the existence of God was so universally accepted in the western world that even the possibility of true atheism was questioned. This is called theistic innatism—the notion that all people believe in God from birth; within this view was the connotation that atheists are simply in denial.[29] It is also asserted that atheists are quick to believe in God in times of crisis—that atheists make deathbed conversions, or that "there are no atheists in foxholes." Atheists dispute this claim by citing examples of "atheists in foxholes";[30] also, atheist organizations of military personnel have been created in response.[31]
Strong vs. weak
While agnosticism can be seen as a form of weak atheism,[35] most agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism, which they may consider no more justified than theism, or requires an equal conviction.[36] The supposed unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of God is sometimes seen as indication that atheism requires a leap of faith.[37] Common atheist responses to this argument include that unproven religious propositions deserve as much disbelief as all other unproven propositions,[38] and that the unprovability of God's existence does not imply equal probability of either possibility.[39] Scottish philosopher J. J. C. Smart even argues that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalised philosophical scepticism which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic."[40] Consequently, some popular atheist authors such as Richard Dawkins prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic and atheist positions by the probability assigned to the statement "God exists".[41]
Rationale
The broadest demarcation with respect to atheistic rationale is between practical and theoretical atheism. The different forms of theoretical atheism each derive from a particular rationale or philosophical argument. In contrast, practical atheism requires no specific argument, and can include indifference to and ignorance of the idea of gods.
Practical atheism
In practical, or pragmatic, atheism, also known as apatheism, individuals live as if there are no gods and explain natural phenomena without resorting to the divine. The existence of gods is not denied, but may be designated unnecessary or useless; gods neither provide purpose to life, nor influence everyday life, according to this view.[43] A form of practical atheism with implications for the scientific community is methodological naturalism—the "tacit adoption or assumption of philosophical naturalism within scientific method with or without fully accepting or believing it."[44]Practical atheism can take various forms:
- Absence of religious motivation—belief in gods does not motivate moral action, religious action, or any other form of action;
- Active exclusion of the problem of gods and religion from intellectual pursuit and practical action;
- Indifference—the absence of any interest in the problems of gods and religion; or
- Ignorance—lacking any idea of gods.[45]
Theoretical atheism
- Further information: Existence of God
Theoretical, or contemplative, atheism explicitly posits arguments against the existence of gods, responding to common theistic arguments such as the argument from design or Pascal's Wager. The theoretical reasons for rejecting gods assume various psychological, sociological, metaphysical, and epistemological forms.
Epistemological arguments
- Further information: Agnostic atheism, Theological noncognitivism
Other forms of atheistic argumentation that may qualify as epistemological, including logical positivism and ignosticism, assert the meaninglessness or unintelligibility of basic terms such as "God" and statements such as "God is all-powerful". Theological noncognitivism holds that the statement "God exists" does not express a proposition, but is nonsensical or cognitively meaningless. It has been argued both ways as to whether such individuals classify into some form of atheism or agnosticism. Philosophers A. J. Ayer and Theodore M. Drange reject both categories, stating that both camps accept "God exists" as a proposition; they instead place noncognitivism in its own category.[48][49]
Metaphysical arguments
- Further information: Monism, Physicalism
Psychological, sociological and economical arguments
- Further information: Psychology of religion, Neurotheology
Logical and evidential arguments
- Further information: Deductive arguments against the existence of God, Problem of evil, Divine hiddenness
Theodicean atheists believe that the world as they experience it cannot be reconciled with the qualities commonly ascribed to God and gods by theologians. They argue that an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent God is not compatible with a world where there is evil and suffering, and where divine love is hidden from many people.[54] A similar argument is attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.[55] Objectivist Atheology rejects all arguments in favor of god by making metaphysical and epistemological arguments that the existence of a supernatural entity is a metaphysical impossibility and a contradiction.
Anthropocentric arguments
- Further information: Philosophical anthropology, Humanism
One of the most common criticisms of atheism has been to the contrary—that denying the existence of a just God leads to moral relativism, leaving one with no moral or ethical foundation,[57] or renders life meaningless and miserable.[58] Blaise Pascal argued this view in 1669.[59]
History
Although the term atheism originated in 16th-century France, ideas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from classical antiquity and the Vedic period.
Early Indic religion
"Though materialism in some form or other has always been present in India, and occasional references are found in the Vedas, the Buddhistic literature, the Epics, as well as in the later philosophical works we do not find any systematic work on materialism, nor any organised school of followers as the other philosophical schools possess. But almost every work of the other schools states, for reputation, the materialistic views. Our knowledge of Indian materialism is chiefly based on these."[61]
Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include Classical Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa. The rejection of a personal creator God is also seen in Jainism and Buddhism in India.[62]
Classical antiquity
Western atheism has its roots in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy, but did not emerge as a distinct world-view until the late Enlightenment.[63] The 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher Diagoras is known as the "first atheist,"[64] and strongly criticized religion and mysticism. Critias viewed religion as a human invention used to frighten people into following moral order.[65] Atomists such as Democritus attempted to explain the world in a purely materialistic way, without reference to the spiritual or mystical. Other pre-Socratic philosophers who probably had atheistic views included Prodicus, Protagoras, and Theodorus.)
Socrates was accused of being an atheist for impiety (see Euthyphro dilemma) on the basis that he inspired questioning of the state gods.[66] Although he disputed the accusation that he was a "complete atheist,"[67] he was ultimately sentenced to death.
Another atomic materialist, Epicurus, disputed many religious doctrines, including the existence of an afterlife or a personal deity; he considered the soul purely material and mortal. While Epicureanism did not rule out the existence of gods, he believed that if they did exist, they were unconcerned with humanity.[68]
The Roman poet Lucretius agreed that, if there were gods, they were unconcerned with humanity and unable to affect the natural world. For this reason, he believed humanity should have no fear of the supernatural. In De rerum natura ("On the nature of things"), he expounds his Epicurean views of the cosmos, atoms, the soul, mortality, and religion.[69]
The Roman philosopher Sextus Empiricus held that one should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs—a form of skepticism known as Pyrrhonism—that nothing was inherently evil, and that ataraxia ("peace of mind") is attainable by withholding one's judgment. His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.[70]
The meaning of "atheist" changed over the course of classical antiquity. The early Christians were labeled atheists by non-Christians because of their disbelief in pagan gods.[71] During the Roman Empire, Christians were executed for their rejection of the Roman gods in general and Emperor-worship in particular. When Christianity became the state religion of Rome under Theodosius in 381, heresy became a punishable offense.[72]
Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance
The espousal of atheistic views was rare in Europe during the Early Middle Ages and Middle Ages (see Medieval Inquisition); metaphysics, religion and theology were the dominant interests.[73] There were, however, movements within this period that forwarded heterodox conceptions of the Christian God, including differing views of the nature, transcendence, and knowability of God. Individuals and groups such as Johannes Scotus Eriugena, David of Dinant, Amalric of Bena, and the Brethren of the Free Spirit maintained Christian viewpoints with pantheistic tendencies. Nicholas of Cusa held to a form of fideism he called docta ignorantia ("learned ignorance"), asserting that God is beyond human categorization, and our knowledge of God is limited to conjecture. William of Ockham inspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with his nominalistic limitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divine essence could not be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Followers of Ockham, such as John of Mirecourt and Nicholas of Autrecourt furthered this view. The resulting division between faith and reason influenced later theologians such as John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, and Martin Luther.[74]The Renaissance did much to expand the scope of freethought and skeptical inquiry. Individuals such as Leonardo da Vinci sought experimentation as a means of explanation, and opposed arguments from religious authority. Other critics of religion and the Church during this time included Niccolò Machiavelli, Bonaventure des Périers, and François Rabelais.[70]
Early Modern Period
The Renaissance and Reformation eras witnessed a resurgence in religious fervor, as evidenced by the proliferation of new religious orders, confraternities, and popular devotions in the Catholic world, and the appearance of increasingly austere Protestant sects such as the Calvinists. This era of interconfessional rivalry permitted an even wider scope of theological and philosophical speculation, much of which would later be used to advance a religiously skeptical world-view.Criticism of Christianity became increasingly frequent in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in France and England, where there appears to have been a religious malaise, according to contemporary sources. Some Protestant thinkers, such as Thomas Hobbes, espoused a materialist philosophy and skepticism toward supernatural occurrences. In the late 17th century, Deism came to be openly espoused by intellectuals such as John Toland, and practically all the philosophes of 18th-century France and England held to some form of Deism. Despite their ridicule of Christianity, many Deists held atheism in scorn. The first known atheist who threw off the mantle of deism, bluntly denying the existence of gods, was Jean Meslier, a French priest that lived in the early 18th century.[75] He was followed by other openly atheistic thinkers, such as Baron d'Holbach, who appeared in the late 18th century, when expressing disbelief in God became a less dangerous position.[76] David Hume was the most systematic exponent of Enlightenment thought, developing a skeptical epistemology grounded in empiricism, undermining the metaphysical basis of natural theology.
)
Ludwig Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity (1841) would greatly influence philosophers such as Engels, Marx, David Strauss, and Nietzsche. He considered God to be a human invention and religious activities to be wish-fulfillment.
The French Revolution took atheism outside the salons and into the public sphere. Attempts to enforce the Civil Constitution of the Clergy led to anti-clerical violence and the expulsion of many clergy from France. The chaotic political events in revolutionary Paris eventually enabled the more radical Jacobins to seize power in 1793, ushering in the Reign of Terror. At its climax, the more militant atheists attempted to forcibly de-Christianize France, replacing religion with a Cult of Reason. These persecutions ended with the Thermidorian Reaction, but some of the secularizing measures of this period remained a permanent legacy of French politics.
The Napoleonic era institutionalized the secularization of French society, and exported the revolution to northern Italy, in the hopes of creating pliable republics. In the nineteenth century, many atheists and other anti-religious thinkers devoted their efforts to political and social revolution, facilitating the upheavals of 1848, the Risorgimento in Italy, and the growth of an international socialist movement.
In the latter half of the 19th century, atheism rose to prominence under the influence of rationalistic and freethinking philosophers. Many prominent German philosophers of this era denied the existence of deities and were critical of religion, including Ludwig Feuerbach, Arthur Schopenhauer, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche.[77]
The 20th Century
Atheism in the 20th century, particularly in the form of practical atheism, advanced in many societies. Atheistic thought found recognition in a wide variety of other, broader philosophies, such as existentialism, Objectivism, secular humanism, nihilism, logical positivism, Marxism, feminism,[78] and the general scientific and rationalist movement.Logical positivism and scientism paved the way for neopositivism, analytical philosophy, structuralism, and naturalism. Neopositivism and analytical philosophy discarded classical rationalism and metaphysics in favor of strict empiricism and epistemological nominalism. Proponents such as Bertrand Russell emphatically rejected belief in God. In his early work, Ludwig Wittgenstein attempted to separate metaphysical and supernatural language from rational discourse. A. J. Ayer asserted the unverifiability and meaninglessness of religious statements, citing his adherence to the empirical sciences. Relatedly the applied structuralism of Lévi-Strauss sourced religious language to the human subconscious in denying its transcendental meaning. J. N. Findlay and J. J. C. Smart argued that the existence of God is not logically necessary. Naturalists and materialistic monists such as John Dewey considered the natural world to be the basis of everything, denying the existence of God or immortality.[79][40]
The 20th century also saw the political advancement of atheism, spurred on by interpretation of the works of Marx and Engels. After the 1917 revolution in Russia, increased religious freedom for minority religions lasted for a few years, before the policies of Stalinism turned towards repression of religion. The Soviet Union and other communist states promoted state atheism and opposed religion, often by violent means.[80] Other leaders like E. V. Ramasami Naicker (Periyar), a prominent atheist leader of India, fought against Hinduism and Brahmins for discriminating and dividing people in the name of caste and religion.[81] This was highlighted in 1956 when he made the Hindu god Rama wear a garland made of slippers and made antitheistic statements.[82]
In 1966, TIME magazine asked "Is God Dead?"[83] in response to the Death of God theological movement, citing the estimation that nearly one in two people in the world lived under an anti-religious power and millions more in Africa, Asia, and South America seemed to lack knowledge of the Christian God.[84] The following year, the Albanian government under Enver Hoxha announced the closure of all religious institutions in the country, declaring Albania the world's first atheist state.[85] These regimes enhanced the negative associations of atheism, especially where anti-communist sentiment was strong in the United States, despite the fact that some prominent atheists were anti-communist.[86] Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the number of actively anti-religious regimes has reduced considerably. In 2006, Timothy Shah of the Pew Forum noted "a worldwide trend across all major religious groups, in which God-based and faith-based movements in general are experiencing increasing confidence and influence vis-à-vis secular movements and ideologies."[87] Gregory S. Paul and Phil Zuckerman consider this a myth and suggest that the actual situation is more complex and nuanced.[88]
Demographics
It is difficult to quantify the number of atheists in the world. Respondents to religious-belief polls may define "atheism" differently or draw different distinctions between atheism, non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs. In addition, people in some regions of the world refrain from reporting themselves as atheists to avoid social stigma, discrimination, and persecution. A 2005 survey published in Encyclopædia Britannica found that the non-religious make up about 11.9% of the world's population, and atheists about 2.3%. This figure does not include those who follow atheistic religions, such as some Buddhists.[89] A November–December 2006 poll published in the Financial Times gives rates for the United States and five European countries. It found that Americans are more likely than Europeans to believe in any form of God or Supreme Being (73%). Of the European adults surveyed, Italians are the most likely to express this belief (62%) and the French the least likely (27%). In France, 32% declared themselves atheists, and an additional 32% declared themselves agnostic.[90] An official European Union survey provides corresponding figures: 18% of the EU population do not believe in a god; 27% accept the existence of some supernatural "spiritual life force", while 52% affirm belief in a specific god. The proportion of believers rises to 65% among those who had left school by the age of fifteen; survey respondents who considered themselves to be from a strict family background were more likely to believe in god than those who felt their upbringing lacked firm rules.[91]
A letter published in Nature in 1998 reported a survey suggesting that belief in a personal god or afterlife was at an all-time low among the members of the U.S. National Academy of Science, only 7.0% of whom believed in a personal god as compared to more than 85% of the general U.S. population.[92] In the same year Frank Sulloway of MIT and Michael Shermer of California State University conducted a study which found in their polling sample of "credentialed" U.S. adults (12% had Ph.Ds and 62% were college graduates) 64% believed in God, and there was a correlation indicating that religious conviction diminished with education level.[93] Such an inverse correlation between religiosity and intelligence has been found by 39 studies carried out between 1927 and 2002, according to an article in Mensa Magazine.[94] These findings broadly concur with a 1958 statistical meta-analysis from Professor Michael Argyle of Oxford University. He analyzed seven research studies that had investigated correlation between attitude to religion and measured intelligence among school and college students from the U.S. Although a clear negative correlation was found, the analysis did not identify causality but noted that factors such as authoritarian family background and social class may also have played a part.[95]
However, evidence on the relationship between religious belief and educational achievement is mixed. Some research in the United States has found that religious participation among religious people is correlated with greater educational attainment and scholastic performance. The effect of religion on education can differ depending on what type of religion a student professes. Fundamentalist Christians, especially women, tend to acquire fewer years of education than others do.[96][97]
Atheism, religion and morality
)
Although people who self-identify as atheists are usually assumed to be irreligious, some sects within major religions reject the existence of a personal, creator deity.[98] In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such as atheistic or humanistic Judaism[99][100] and Christian atheists.[101][102][103]
As the strictest sense of positive atheism does not entail any specific beliefs outside of disbelief in God, atheists can hold any number of spiritual beliefs. For the same reason, atheists can hold a wide variety of ethical beliefs, ranging from the moral universalism of humanism, which holds that a moral code should be applied consistently to all humans, to moral nihilism, which holds that morality is meaningless.[104] Objectivists, for instance, are atheists who subscribe to an established ethical system, rational egoism.
Many philosophers, however, have equated atheism with immorality, arguing that morality must be derived from God and cannot exist without a wise creator.[105][106][107] Moral precepts such as "murder is wrong" are seen as divine laws, requiring a divine lawmaker and judge. However, many atheists argue that treating morality legalistically involves a false analogy, and that morality does not depend upon a lawmaker in the same way that laws do,[108] based on the Euthyphro dilemma, which either renders God unnecessary or morality arbitrary.[109]
Philosophers Susan Neiman[110] and Julian Baggini[111] (among others) assert that behaving ethically only because of divine mandate is not true ethical behavior but merely blind obedience. He argues that atheism is a superior basis for ethics, claiming that a moral basis external to religious imperatives is necessary to evaluate the morality of the imperatives themselves—to be able to discern, for example, that "thou shalt steal" is immoral even if one's religion instructs it—and that atheists, therefore, have the advantage of being more inclined to make such evaluations.[112]
Atheists such as Sam Harris have argued that Western religions' reliance on divine authority lends itself to authoritarianism and dogmatism.[113] Indeed, religious fundamentalism and extrinsic religion (when religion is held because it serves other, more ultimate interests[114]) have been correlated with authoritarianism, dogmatism, and prejudice.[115] This argument, combined with historical events that are argued to demonstrate the dangers of religion, such as the Crusades, inquisitions, and witch trials, are often used by antireligious atheists to justify their views.[116] Theists have made very similar arguments, however, against atheists based on the state atheism of communist states.[117]
See also
- List of atheists
- List of atheist organizations
- Atheism in Hinduism
- Atheists in foxholes
- Criticism of atheism
- History of atheism
- Discrimination against atheists
- Persecution of atheists
- State atheism
- Nontheism
Further reading
- Berman, David (1990). A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-04727-7.
- Buckley, M. J. (1990). At the Origins of Modern Atheism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300048971.
- Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. Bantam Press. ISBN 0593055489.
- Flew, Antony (2005). God and Philosophy. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1591023300.
- Flynn, Tom, ed. (2007). The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1591023912.
-
id="CITEREFGaskin, J.C.A.1989">Gaskin, J.C.A., ed. (1989), Varieties of Unbelief: From Epicurus to Sartre, New York: Macmillan, ISBN 0-02-340681-X
- Harbour, Daniel. An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-3229-9.
- Harris, Sam. Letter to a Christian Nation. Knopf (September 19, 2006). ISBN 978-0307265777.
- Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Twelve (May 1, 2007). ISBN 978-0446579803.
- Jacoby, Susan (2004). Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. Metropolitan Books. ISBN 978-0805074420.
- Krueger, D. E. (1998). What is Atheism?: A Short Introduction. New York: Prometheus. ISBN 1-57392-214-5.
- Le Poidevin, R. (1996). Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-09338-4.
- Mackie, J. L. (1982). The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God. Oxford: Oxford UP. ISBN 019824682X
- Maritain, Jacques (1953). The Range of Reason. London: Geoffrey Bles. ISBN B0007DKP00. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
- Martin, Michael (1990). Atheism: A Philosophical Justification. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. ISBN 0-87722-943-0.
- Martin, Michael, ed. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521603676
- Martin, Michael & Monnier, R., eds. (2003). The Impossibility of God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus. ISBN 1591021200
- Martin, Michael & Monnier, R., eds. (2006). The Improbability of God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus. ISBN 1591023815
- McTaggart, John & McTaggart, Ellis (1930). Some Dogmas of Religion. London: Edward Arnold & Co., new edition. [First published 1906]
- Nielsen, Kai (1985). Philosophy and Atheism. New York: Prometheus. ISBN ISBN 0-87975-289-0.
- Nielsen, Kai (2001). Naturalism and Religion. New York: Prometheus. ISBN 1573928534.
- Oppy, Graham (2006). Arguing about Gods. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521863864.
- Robinson, Richard (1964). An Atheist's Values. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0198241917.
- Sharpe, R.A. (1997). The Moral Case Against Religious Belief. London: SCM Press. ISBN 0-334-02680-6.
- Smith, George Atheism: The Case Against God, (1974).
- Stenger, Victor J. (2007). God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist. Amherst, NY: Prometheus. ISBN 1591024811
- Thrower, James (1971). A Short History of Western Atheism. London: Pemberton. ISBN 0-301-71101-1.
Notes and references
1. ^ Rowe, William L. (1998). "Atheism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward Craig. “Atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. It proposes positive disbelief rather than mere suspension of belief.
2. ^ Nielsen, Kai "Atheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. "…a more adequate characterization of atheism consists in the more complex claim that to be an atheist is to be someone who rejects belief in God for [reasons that depend] on how God is being conceived."
3. ^ Eller, David (2004). Natural Atheism, p. 12.
4. ^ religioustolerance.org's short article on Definitions of the term "Atheism" suggests that there is no consensus on the definition of the term. Simon Blackburn summarizes the situation in The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: "Atheism. Either the lack of belief in a god, or the belief that there is none." Most dictionaries (see the OneLook query for "atheism") first list one of the more narrow definitions.
5. ^ Honderich, Ted (Ed.) (1995). "Humanism". The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford University Press. p 376. ISBN 0198661320.
6. ^ Fales, Evan. "Naturalism and Physicalism", in .
7. ^ .
8. ^ Drachmann, A. B. (1977 ("an unchanged reprint of the 1922 edition")). Atheism in Pagan Antiquity. Chicago: Ares Publishers. ISBN 0-89005-201-8. “Atheism and atheist are words formed from Greek roots and with Greek derivative endings. Nevertheless they are not Greek; their formation is not consonant with Greek usage. In Greek they said atheos and atheotēs; to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly, atheos was used as an expression of severe censure and moral condemnation; this use is an old one, and the oldest that can be traced. Not till later do we find it employed to denote a certain philosophical creed.
9. ^ The word αθεοι—in any of its forms—appears nowhere else in the Septuagint or the New Testament. Robertson, A.T. [1932] (1960). "Ephesians: Chapter 2", Word Pictures in the New Testament. Broadman Press. “Old Greek word, not in LXX, only here in N.T. Atheists in the original sense of being without God and also in the sense of hostility to God from failure to worship him. See Paul's words in Ro 1:18–32.
10. ^ Rendered as Athisme: Golding, Arthur; Philip Sidney (1587). Mornay's Woorke concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, written in French; Against Atheists, Epicures, Paynims, Iewes, Mahumetists, and other infidels. London, xx. 310. “Athisme, that is to say, vtter godlesnes. Translation of De la verite de la religion chrestienne (1581).
11. ^ "atheist". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.
12. ^ Rendered as Atheistes: Golding, Arthur (1571). The Psalmes of David and others, with J. Calvin's commentaries, Ep. Ded. 3. “The Atheistes which say..there is no God. Translated from French.
13. ^ Hanmer, Meredith (1577). The auncient ecclesiasticall histories of the first six hundred years after Christ, written by Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius. London, 63. OCLC 55193813. “The opinion which they conceaue of you, to be Atheists, or godlesse men.
14. ^ Burton, Robert (1621). The Anatomy of Melancholy, III. iv. II. i. “Cosen-germans to these men are many of our great Philosophers and Deists.
15. ^ Martin, Edward (1662). "Five Letters", His opinion concerning the difference between the Church of England and Geneva [etc.]. London, 45. “To have said my office..twice a day..among Rebels, Theists, Atheists, Philologers, Wits, Masters of Reason, Puritanes [etc.].
16. ^ Cudworth, Ralph (1678). The true intellectual system of the universe. London, Preface. “Nor indeed out of a meer Partiall Regard to that Cause of Theism neither, which we were engaged in.
17. ^ Dryden, John (1682). Religio laici, or A laymans faith, a poem. London, Preface. OCLC 11081103. “…namely, that Deism, or the principles of natural worship, are only the faint remnants or dying flames of revealed religion in the posterity of Noah…
18. ^ The Oxford English Dictionary also records an earlier, irregular formation, atheonism, dated from about 1534. The later and now obsolete words athean and atheal are dated to 1611 and 1612 respectively. (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
19. ^ Armstrong, Karen (1999). A History of God. London: Vintage. ISBN 0-09-927367-5.
20. ^ In part because of its wide use in monotheistic Western society, atheism is usually described as "disbelief in God," rather than more generally as "disbelief in deities." A clear distinction is rarely drawn in modern writings between these two definitions, but some archaic uses of atheism encompassed only disbelief in the singular God, not in polytheistic deities. It is on this basis that the obsolete term adevism was coined in the late 19th century to describe an absence of belief in plural deities. Britannica (1911). "Atheonism". Encyclopædia Britannica.
21. ^ Martin, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN 0521842700.
22. ^ Cline, Austin (2006). What Is the Definition of Atheism?. about.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.
23. ^ Flew, Antony (1984). God, Freedom, and Immortality: A Critical Analysis. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus. ISBN 0-87975-127-4.
24. ^ "Atheism". Encyclopedia Britannica (1911). Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
25. ^ Martin, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN 0521842700.
26. ^ Britannica (1992). "Atheism as rejection of religious beliefs". Encyclopædia Britannica 1: 666. 0852294735. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
27. ^ d'Holbach, P. H. T. (1772). Good Sense. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
28. ^ .
29. ^ Cudworth, Ralph (1678). The True Intellectual System of the Universe: the first part, wherein all the reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted and its impossibility demonstrated.
30. ^ Lowder, Jeffery Jay (1997). Atheism and Society. Retrieved on 2007-01-10.
31. ^ Two such organizations are Atheists in Foxholes and the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers.
32. ^ Flew, Antony. "The Presumption of Atheism". The Presumption of Atheism and other Philosophical Essays on God, Freedom, and Immortality. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1976. pp 14ff.
33. ^ Cline, Austin (2006). Strong Atheism vs. Weak Atheism: What's the Difference?. about.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.
34. ^ Maritain, Jacques (July 1949). "On the Meaning of Contemporary Atheism". The Review of Politics 11 (3): 267–280.
35. ^ Kenny, Anthony (2006). "Worshipping an Unknown God". Ratio 19 (4): 442. “Those who fail to believe in God because they think that the truth-value of ‘God exists’ is uncertain may be called agnostic negative atheists, or agnostics for short.
36. ^ Kenny, Anthony. "Why I Am Not an Atheist", What I believe. Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-8971-0. “The true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism … a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed.
37. ^ Freking, Ken. "Atheists take bigger leap of faith than ‘believers’", Columbia Daily Tribune, 2005-01-23. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
38. ^ . "Who seriously claims we should say 'I neither believe nor disbelieve that the Pope is a robot', or 'As to whether or not eating this piece of chocolate will turn me into an elephant I am completely agnostic'. In the absence of any good reasons to believe these outlandish claims, we rightly disbelieve them, we don't just suspend judgement."
39. ^ . "A lack of proof is no grounds for the suspension of belief. This is because when we have a lack of absolute proof we can still have overwhelming evidence or one explanation which is far superior to the alternatives."
40. ^ Smart, J.C.C. (2004-03-09). Atheism and Agnosticism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
41. ^ Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. Bantam Books, p. 50. ISBN 0-618-68000-4.
42. ^ Translation of Latin text from "Summa impietas" (1552), Picta poesis, by Barthélemy Aneau. Glasgow University Emblem Website. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
43. ^ .
44. ^ Schafersman, Steven D. "Naturalism is an Essential Part of Science and Critical Inquiry". Conference on Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise. Department of Philosophy, The University of Texas. February 1997. Revised May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
45. ^ .
46. ^ Borne, Étienne (1961). Atheism. New York: Hawthorn Books. ISBN 0-415-04727-7.
47. ^ .
48. ^ Drange, Theodore M. (1998). "Atheism, Agnosticism, Noncognitivism". Internet Infidels, Secular Web Library. Retrieved on 2007-04-07.
49. ^ Ayer, A. J. (1946). Language, Truth and Logic. Dover. pp. 115–116. In a footnote, Ayer attributes this view to "Professor H. H. Price".
50. ^ .
51. ^ Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught. Grove Press, 1974. Pages 51–52.
52. ^ Bakunin, Michael (1916). God and the State. New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
53. ^ Various authors. "Logical Arguments for Atheism". Internet Infidels, The Secular Web Library. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
54. ^ Drange, Theodore M. (1996). "The Arguments From Evil and Nonbelief". Internet Infidels, Secular Web Library. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
55. ^ V.A. Gunasekara, The Buddhist Attitude to God. In the Bhuridatta Jataka, "The Buddha argues that the three most commonly given attributes of God, viz. omnipotence, omniscience and benevolence towards humanity cannot all be mutually compatible with the existential fact of dukkha."
56. ^ .
57. ^ Gleeson, David (2006). Common Misconceptions About Atheists and Atheism. American Chronicle. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.
58. ^ . "Perhaps the most common criticism of atheism is the claim that it leads inevitably to moral bankruptcy."
59. ^ Pascal, Blaise (1669). Pensées, II: "The Misery of Man Without God".
60. ^ Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore. A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. (Princeton University Press: 1957, Twelfth Princeton Paperback printing 1989) pp. 227–249. ISBN 0-691-01958-4.
61. ^ Satischandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta. An Introduction to Indian Philosophy. Eighth Reprint Edition. (University of Calcutta: 1984). p. 55.
62. ^ Joshi, L.R. (1966). "A New Interpretation of Indian Atheism". Philosophy East and West 16 (3/4): 189–206.
63. ^ . "Atheism had its origins in Ancient Greece but did not emerge as an overt and avowed belief system until late in the Enlightenment."
64. ^ Solmsen, Friedrich (1942). Plato's Theology. Cornell University Press. p 25.
65. ^ "religion, study of". (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.
66. ^ Atheism. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press (2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
67. ^ Brickhouse, Thomas C.; Nicholas D. Smith (2004). Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Trial of Socrates. Routledge, p. 112. ISBN 0415156815. In particular, he argues that the claim he is a complete atheist contradicts the other part of the indictment, that he introduced "new divinities".
68. ^ BBC. Ethics and Religion—Atheism. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
69. ^ On the Nature of Things by Lucretius, available at Project Gutenberg. Book I, "Substance is Eternal". Translated by W.E. Leonard. 1997. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
70. ^ Stein, Gordon (Ed.) (1980). "The History of Freethought and Atheism". An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism. New York: Prometheus. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
71. ^ Aveling, Francis (1907). "Atheism". Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II. NewAdvent.org. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
72. ^ Maycock, A. L. and Ronald Knox (2003). Inquisition from Its Establishment to the Great Schism: An Introductory Study. ISBN 0766172902.
73. ^
74. ^ .
75. ^ Michel Onfray on Jean Meslier:[1]
76. ^ d'Holbach, P. H. T. (1770). The system of nature. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
77. ^ Ray, Matthew Alun (2003). Subjectivity and Irreligion: Atheism and Agnosticism in Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
78. ^ Overall, Christine. "Feminism and Atheism," in .
79. ^ .
80. ^ Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I.. The Gulag Archipelago. Harper Perennial Modern Classics. ISBN 0-06-000776-1.
81. ^ Michael, S. M. (1999). "Dalit Visions of a Just Society", in S. M. Michael (ed.): Untouchable: Dalits in Modern India. Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp. 31–33. ISBN 1555876978.
82. ^ "He who created god was a fool, he who spreads his name is a scoundrel, and he who worships him is a barbarian." Hiorth, Finngeir (1996). "Atheism in South India". International Humanist and Ethical Union, International Humanist News. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
83. ^ TIME Magazine cover online. 8 Apr 1966. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
84. ^ "Toward a Hidden God". TIME Magazine online. 8 Apr 1966. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
85. ^ Majeska, George P. (1976). "Religion and Atheism in the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe, Review". The Slavic and East European Journal. 20(2). pp. 204–206.
86. ^ Rafford, R.L. (1987). "Atheophobia—an introduction". Religious Humanism 21 (1): 32–37.
87. ^ "Timothy Samuel Shah Explains 'Why God is Winning'". 2006-07-18. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
88. ^ Paul, Gregory; Phil Zuckerman (2007). "Why the Gods Are Not Winning". Edge 209. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
89. ^ Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-2005. Encyclopædia Britannica (2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-15.- 2.3% Atheists: Persons professing atheism, skepticism, disbelief, or irreligion, including the militantly antireligious (opposed to all religion).
- 11.9% Nonreligious: Persons professing no religion, nonbelievers, agnostics, freethinkers, uninterested, or dereligionized secularists indifferent to all religion but not militantly so.
90. ^ Religious Views and Beliefs Vary Greatly by Country, According to the Latest Financial Times/Harris Poll. Financial Times/Harris Interactive (2006-12-20). Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
91. ^ (2005) Social values, Science and Technology. Directorate General Research, European Union, pp 7–11.
92. ^ Larson, Edward J.; Larry Witham (1998). "Correspondence: Leading scientists still reject God". Nature 394 (6691): 313. Available at StephenJayGould.org, Stephen Jay Gould archive. Retrieved on 2006-12-17
93. ^ Shermer, Michael (1999). How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God. New York: William H Freeman, pp76–79. ISBN 071673561X.
94. ^ According to Dawkins (2006), p. 103. Dawkins cites Bell, Paul. "Would you believe it?" Mensa Magazine, UK Edition, Feb. 2002, pp. 12–13. Analyzing 43 studies carried out since 1927, Bell found that all but four reported such a connection, and he concluded that "the higher one's intelligence or education level, the less one is likely to be religious or hold 'beliefs' of any kind."
95. ^ Argyle, Michael (1958). Religious Behaviour. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp 93–96. ISBN 0-415-17589-5.
96. ^ Lehrer, E.L. (2004). "Religiosity as a Determinant of Educational Attainment." Review of Economics of the Household 2:205.
97. ^ Sherkat, D.E. Religion and Higher Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Social Science Research Council: 6 Feb. 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2007.
98. ^ Winston, Robert (Ed.) (2004). Human. New York: DK Publishing, Inc, p. 299. ISBN 0-7566-1901-7. “Nonbelief has existed for centuries. For example, Buddhism and Jainism have been called atheistic religions because they do not advocate belief in gods.
99. ^ Humanistic Judaism. BBC (2006-07-20). Retrieved on 2006-10-25.
100. ^ Levin, S. (May 1995). "Jewish Atheism". New Humanist 110 (2): 13–15.
101. ^ Christian Atheism. BBC (2006-05-17). Retrieved on 2006-10-25.
102. ^ Altizer, Thomas J. J. (1967). The Gospel of Christian Atheism. London: Collins, 102–103. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
103. ^ Lyas, Colin (January 1970). "On the Coherence of Christian Atheism". Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy 45 (171): 1–19.
104. ^ .
105. ^ . "Among the many myths associated with religion, none is more widespread—or more disastrous in its effects—than the myth that moral values cannot be divorced from the belief in a god."
106. ^ In Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (Book Eleven: Brother Ivan Fyodorovich, Chapter 4) there is the famous argument that If there is no God, all things are permitted.: "'But what will become of men then?' I asked him, 'without God and immortal life? All things are lawful then, they can do what they like?'"
107. ^ For Kant, the presupposition of God, soul, and freedom was a practical concern, for "Morality, by itself, constitutes a system, but happiness does not, unless it is distributed in exact proportion to morality. This, however, is possible in an intelligible world only under a wise author and ruler. Reason compels us to admit such a ruler, together with life in such a world, which we must consider as future life, or else all moral laws are to be considered as idle dreams… ." (Critique of Pure Reason, A811).
108. ^ .
109. ^ .
110. ^ Susan Neiman. Beyond Belief Session 6 [Conference]. Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA: The Science Network.
111. ^
112. ^ .
113. ^ Harris, Sam (2006a). The Myth of Secular Moral Chaos. Free Inquiry. Retrieved on 2006-10-29.
114. ^ Moreira-almeida, A.; Lotufo Neto, F.; Koenig, H.G. (2006). "Religiousness and mental health: a review". Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 28: 242–250. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
115. ^ See for example: Kahoe, R.D. (June 1977). "Intrinsic Religion and Authoritarianism: A Differentiated Relationship". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 16(2). pp. 179–182. Also see: Altemeyer, Bob and Bruce Hunsberger (1992). "Authoritarianism, Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Prejudice". International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 2(2). pp. 113–133.
116. ^ Harris, Sam (2005). An Atheist Manifesto. Truthdig. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. “In a world riven by ignorance, only the atheist refuses to deny the obvious: Religious faith promotes human violence to an astonishing degree.
117. ^ McGrath, Alister (2005). The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World. ISBN 0-385-50062-9. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
-
id="CITEREFBaggini2003">Baggini, Julian (2003), Atheism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-280424-3
-
id="CITEREFMartin2007">Martin, Michael, ed. (2007), The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-60367-6
-
id="CITEREFSmith1979">Smith, George H. (1979), Atheism: The Case Against God, Buffalo, New York: Prometheus, ISBN 0-87975-124-X
-
id="CITEREFZdybicka2005">Zdybicka, Zofia J. (2005), "Atheism", in Maryniarczyk, Andrzej, Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 1, Polish Thomas Aquinas Association
External links
- Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy at the Open Directory Project - Includes links to organizations and websites.
- Freedom From Religion Foundation - Foundation dedicated to protecting the separation of church and state.
- Positive atheism: Great Historical Writings - Historical writing sorted by authors, contains a few items not in the Secular web library.
- Religion & Ethics—Atheism at bbc.co.uk.
- Secular Web library - Library of both historical and modern writings, a comprehensive online resource for freely available material on atheism.
- The Demand for Religion - A study on the demographics of Atheism by Wolfgang Jagodzinski (University of Cologne) and Andrew Greeley (University of Chicago and University of Arizona).
- The Necessity of Atheism - Complete work by Dr. D.M. Brooks.
..... Click the link for more information.God
General approaches
Agnosticism Atheism
Deism Dystheism
Henotheism Ignosticism
Monism Monotheism
Natural theology Nontheism
Pandeism Panentheism
Pantheism Polytheism
Theism Theology
Transtheism
Specific conceptions
..... Click the link for more information.Antireligion is opposition to some or all religions in some or all contexts. People who are antireligious may see religions as dangerous, destructive, divisive, foolish, or absurd.
..... Click the link for more information.Antitheism (sometimes anti-theism) is active opposition to theism. The etymology of the word comes from the Greek 'anti-' and 'theismos'. The term has had a range of applications; in secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to belief in any deity, while in
..... Click the link for more information.Agnostic atheism is a philosophical doctrine that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. While the concepts of atheism and agnosticism occasionally overlap, they are distinct: atheism is generally defined as "a condition of being without theistic beliefs"
..... Click the link for more information.
Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and the spiritual as warrants of moral reflection and decision-making.
..... Click the link for more information.Metaphysical naturalism is any worldview in which the world is amenable to a unified study that includes the natural sciences and in this sense the world is a unity. According to such a view, nature is all there is, and all things supernatural (which stipulatively includes spirits
..... Click the link for more information.Strong atheism is a term generally used to describe atheists who accept as true the proposition, "gods do not exist". Weak atheism refers to any type of non-theism which falls short of this standard.
..... Click the link for more information.Implicit atheism and explicit atheism are subcategories of atheism coined by George H. Smith (1979, p.13-18). Implicit atheism is defined by Smith as "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it".
..... Click the link for more information.Although the term atheism originated in the 16th century, based on Ancient Greek "godless, denying the gods, ungodly"[1] and open admission to positive atheism in modern times was not made earlier than in the late 18th century, atheistic ideas and beliefs, as well as
..... Click the link for more information.The Enlightenment (French: Siècle des Lumières; German: Aufklärung; Italian: Illuminismo; Portuguese:
..... Click the link for more information.Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logic and not be compromised by emotion, authority, tradition, or any dogma.
..... Click the link for more information.The criticism of religion includes criticism of the concept of religion, the validity of religion, the practice of religion, and the consequences of religion for humanity. The singular word religion is not meant to represent a particular religion or any group of religions.
..... Click the link for more information.Atheism
Concepts
ReligionNontheism
AntireligionAntitheism
AgnosticismHumanism
Metaphysical naturalism
Weak and strong atheism
Implicit and explicit atheism
History
History of atheism
EnlightenmentFreethought
..... Click the link for more information.Atheism
Concepts
ReligionNontheism
AntireligionAntitheism
AgnosticismHumanism
Metaphysical naturalism
Weak and strong atheism
Implicit and explicit atheism
History
History of atheism
EnlightenmentFreethought
..... Click the link for more information.Irreligion, irreligiousness, or nonreligion is an umbrella term which, depending on context, may be understood as referring to atheism, agnosticism, deism, skepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general secularism.
..... Click the link for more information.atheists by reliable sources.
An atheist is one who disbelieves[1] in the existence of a deity or deities. Different definitions identify various levels of disbelief that an atheist may have.
..... Click the link for more information.Atheism
Concepts
ReligionNontheism
AntireligionAntitheism
AgnosticismHumanism
Metaphysical naturalism
Weak and strong atheism
Implicit and explicit atheism
History
History of atheism
EnlightenmentFreethought
..... Click the link for more information.Discrimination
Major forms
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Ageism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
Ableism
Manifestations
Slavery · Racial profiling
Hate speech · Hate crime
Genocide · Ethnocide · Holocaust
..... Click the link for more information.Atheism topics
..... Click the link for more information.God
General approaches
Agnosticism Atheism
Deism Dystheism
Henotheism Ignosticism
Monism Monotheism
Natural theology Nontheism
Pandeism Panentheism
Pantheism Polytheism
Theism Theology
Transtheism
Specific conceptions
..... Click the link for more information.deity or god is a postulated preternatural or supernatural being, who is always of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings.
..... Click the link for more information.God
General approaches
Agnosticism Atheism
Deism Dystheism
Henotheism Ignosticism
Monism Monotheism
Natural theology Nontheism
Pandeism Panentheism
Pantheism Polytheism
Theism Theology
Transtheism
Specific conceptions
..... Click the link for more information.deity or god is a postulated preternatural or supernatural being, who is always of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings.
..... Click the link for more information.God
General approaches
Agnosticism Atheism
Deism Dystheism
Henotheism Ignosticism
Monism Monotheism
Natural theology Nontheism
Pandeism Panentheism
Pantheism Polytheism
Theism Theology
Transtheism
Specific conceptions
..... Click the link for more information.Irreligion, irreligiousness, or nonreligion is an umbrella term which, depending on context, may be understood as referring to atheism, agnosticism, deism, skepticism, freethought, secular humanism or general secularism.
..... Click the link for more information.religion is a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience.
..... Click the link for more information.The field of secular theology, a subfield of liberal theology advocated by Anglican bishop John A. T. Robinson somewhat paradoxically combines secularism and theology. Recognized in the 1960s, it was influenced both by neo-orthodoxy, and the existentialism of Paul Tillich.
..... Click the link for more information.Theravada (Pāli: theravāda; Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda; literally, "the Way of the Elders") is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, and for many centuries has been the predominant
..... Click the link for more information.God
General approaches
Agnosticism Atheism
Deism Dystheism
Henotheism Ignosticism
Monism Monotheism
Natural theology Nontheism
Pandeism Panentheism
Pantheism Polytheism
Theism Theology
Transtheism
Specific conceptions
..... Click the link for more information.
-
id="CITEREFZdybicka2005">Zdybicka, Zofia J. (2005), "Atheism", in Maryniarczyk, Andrzej, Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 1, Polish Thomas Aquinas Association
-
id="CITEREFSmith1979">Smith, George H. (1979), Atheism: The Case Against God, Buffalo, New York: Prometheus, ISBN 0-87975-124-X
-
id="CITEREFMartin2007">Martin, Michael, ed. (2007), The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-60367-6
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.