Atheism
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Atheism,in the broadest sense, is an absence ofbeliefin the existence ofdeities.Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that thereareno deities. Atheism is contrasted withtheism,which in its most general form is the belief thatat least one deity exists.
Historically, evidence of atheistic viewpoints can be traced back to classical antiquity and early Indian philosophy. In the Western world, atheism declined as Christianity gained prominence. The 16th century and theAge of Enlightenmentmarked the resurgence of atheistic thought in Europe. Atheism achieved a significant position in the 20th century with legislation protectingfreedom of thought.Broad estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a god range from 500 million to 1.1 billion people worldwide.[1][2]
Atheist organizations have defended the autonomy ofscience,secular ethicsandsecularism.Arguments for atheism range from philosophical to social and historical approaches. Rationales for not believing in deities include the lack ofevidence,[3][4]theproblem of evil,theargument from inconsistent revelations,the rejection of concepts that cannotbe falsified,and theargument from nonbelief.[3][5]
Nonbelievers contend that atheism is a moreparsimoniousposition than theism and that everyone is born without beliefs in deities;[6]therefore, they argue that theburden of prooflies not on the atheist to disprove the existence of gods but on the theist to provide a rationale for theism.[7]
Definition
Writers disagree on how best to define and classifyatheism,[8]contesting what supernatural entities are considered gods, whether atheism is a philosophical position or merely the absence of one, and whether it requires a conscious, explicit rejection; however, the norm is to define atheism in terms of an explicit stance against theism.[9][10][11]Atheism has been regarded as compatible withagnosticism,[12][13][14][15]but has also been contrasted with it.[16][17][18]
Implicit vs. explicit
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Explicit strong/positive atheists (inpurpleon theright) assert that"at least one deity exists"is a false statement.
Explicit weak/negative atheists (inblueon theright) reject or eschew belief that any deities exist without asserting that"at least one deity exists"is a false statement.
Implicit weak/negative atheists (inblueon theleft) would include people (such as young children and some agnostics) who do not believe in a deity but have not explicitly rejected such belief.
Some of the ambiguity involved in definingatheismarises from the definitions of words likedeityandgod.The variety of wildly differentconceptions of Godand deities lead to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. The ancient Romans accused Christians of being atheists for not worshiping thepagandeities. Gradually, this view fell into disfavor astheismcame to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity.[19]With respect to the range of phenomena being rejected, atheism may counter anything from the existence of a deity, to the existence of anyspiritual,supernatural,ortranscendentalconcepts.[20] Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist. Atheism has been defined as the absence of belief that any deities exist. This broad definition would include newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas. As far back as 1772,Baron d'Holbachsaid that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God."[21]Similarly,George H. Smithsuggested that: "The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would also include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved, but who is still unaware of those issues. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist."[22]
Implicit atheismis "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it" andexplicit atheismis the conscious rejection of belief. It is usual to define atheism in terms of an explicit stance against theism.[23][24][25]For the purposes of his paper on "philosophical atheism",Ernest Nagelcontested including the mere absence of theistic belief as a type of atheism.[26]Graham Oppyclassifies asinnocentsthose who never considered the question because they lack any understanding of what a god is, for example one-month-old babies.[27]
Positive vs. negative
Philosophers such asAntony Flew[28]andMichael Martin[19]have contrasted positive (strong/hard) atheism with negative (weak/soft) atheism. Positive atheism is the explicit affirmation that gods do not exist. Negative atheism includes all other forms of non-theism. According to this categorization, anyone who is not a theist is either a negative or a positive atheist. Michael Martin, for example, asserts that agnosticismentailsnegative atheism.[14][12]Agnostic atheismencompasses both atheism and agnosticism.[15]However, many agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism.[29][30]
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According to atheists' arguments, unprovenreligiouspropositions deserve as much disbelief as all other unproven propositions.[31]Atheist criticism of agnosticism says that the unprovability of a god's existence does not imply an equal probability of either possibility.[32]Australian philosopherJ.J.C. Smartargues that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalizedphilosophical skepticismwhich would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic. "[33]Consequently, some atheist authors, such asRichard Dawkins,prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic, and atheist positions along aspectrum of theistic probability—the likelihood that each assigns to the statement "God exists".[34]
Before the 18th century, the existence of God was so accepted in the Western world that even the possibility of true atheism was questioned. This is calledtheisticinnatism—the notion that all people believe in God from birth; within this view was the connotation that atheists are in denial.[35]Some atheists have challenged the need for the term "atheism". In his bookLetter to a Christian Nation,Sam Harriswrote:
In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer"or a" non-alchemist".We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.[36]
Etymology
In earlyancient Greek,the adjectiveátheos(ἄθεος,from theprivative ἀ-+θεός"god" ) meant "godless". It was first used as a term of censure roughly meaning "ungodly" or "impious". In the 5th century BCE, the word began to indicate more deliberate and active godlessness in the sense of "severing relations with the gods" or "denying the gods". The termἀσεβής(asebēs) then came to be applied against those who impiously denied or disrespected the local gods, even if they believed in other gods. Modern translations of classical texts sometimes renderátheosas "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was alsoἀθεότης(atheotēs), "atheism".Cicerotransliterated the Greek word into theLatinátheos.The term found frequent use in the debate betweenearly ChristiansandHellenists,with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other.[37]
The termatheist(from the Frenchathée), in the sense of "one who... denies the existence of God or gods",[38]predatesatheismin English, being first found as early as 1566,[39]and again in 1571.[40]Atheistas a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577.[41]The termatheismwas derived from theFrenchathéisme,[42]and appears in English about 1587.[43]
Atheismwas first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in themonotheisticAbrahamic god.[a]In the 20th century,globalizationcontributed to the expansion of the term to refer to disbelief in all deities, though it remains common in Western society to describe atheism as "disbelief in God".[19]
Arguments
Epistemological arguments
Skepticism,based on the ideas ofDavid Hume,asserts that certainty about anything is impossible, so one can never know for sure whether or not a god exists. Hume, however, held that such unobservable metaphysical concepts should be rejected as "sophistry and illusion".[44]
Michael Martin argues that atheism is a justified and rational true belief, but offers no extended epistemological justification because current theories are in a state of controversy. Martin instead argues for "mid-level principles of justification that are in accord with our ordinary and scientific rational practice."[45]
Other arguments for atheism that can be classified as epistemological orontological,assert the meaninglessness or unintelligibility of basic terms such as "God" and statements such as "God is all-powerful."Theological noncognitivismholds 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 can be classified into some form of atheism or agnosticism. PhilosophersA. J. AyerandTheodore M. Drangereject both categories, stating that both camps accept "God exists" as a proposition; they instead place noncognitivism in its own category.[46][47]
Ontological arguments
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Most atheists lean toward ontologicalmonism:the belief that there is only one kind of fundamental substance. The philosophicalmaterialismis a view that matter is the fundamental substance in nature. This omits the possibility of a non-material divine being.[48]According tophysicalism,only physical entities exist.[48][49]Philosophies opposed to the materialism or physicalism includeidealism,dualismand other forms of monism.[50][51][52]Naturalismis also used to describe the view that everything that exists is fundamentally natural, and that there are no supernatural phenomena.[48]According to naturalist view, science can explain the world with physical laws and through natural phenomena.[53]PhilosopherGraham Oppyreferences a PhilPapers survey that says 56.5% of philosophers in academics lean toward physicalism; 49.8% lean toward naturalism.[54]
According to Graham Oppy, direct arguments for atheism aim at showing theism fails on its own terms, while indirect arguments are those inferred from direct arguments in favor of something else that is inconsistent with theism. For example, Oppy says arguing for naturalism is an argument for atheism since naturalism and theism "cannot both be true".[55]: 53 Fiona Ellis describes the "expansive naturalism" ofJohn McDowell,James Griffin,andDavid Wigginswhile also asserting there are things in human experience which cannot be explained in such terms, such as the concept of value, leaving room for theism.[56]Christopher C. Knight asserts atheistic naturalism.[57]Nevertheless, Oppy argues that a strong naturalism favors atheism, though he finds the best direct arguments against theism to be the evidential problem of evil, and arguments concerning the contradictory nature of God were one to exist.[55]: 55–60
Logical arguments
Some atheists hold the view that the various conceptions of gods, such as thepersonal godof Christianity, are ascribed logically inconsistent qualities. Such atheists presentdeductive argumentsagainst the existence of God, which assert the incompatibility between certain traits, such as perfection, creator-status,immutability,omniscience,omnipresence,omnipotence,omnibenevolence,transcendence,personhood (a personal being), non-physicality,justice,andmercy.[3]
Theodiceanatheists 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 anomniscient,omnipotent,andomnibenevolentGod is not compatible with a world where there isevilandsuffering,and where divine love ishiddenfrom many people.[5]
Epicurusis credited with first expounding the problem of evil.David Humein hisDialogues concerning Natural Religion(1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions:[58]"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" Similar arguments have been made inBuddhist philosophy.[59]Vasubandhu(4th/5th century) outlinednumerous Buddhist arguments against God.[60]
Reductionary accounts of religion
PhilosopherLudwig Feuerbach[61] and psychoanalystSigmund Freudhave argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs.[62]Karl MarxandFriedrich Engels,influenced by the work of Feuerbach, argued that belief in God and religion are social functions, used by those in power to oppress the working class. According toMikhail Bakunin,"the idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice; it is the most decisive negation of human liberty, and necessarily ends in the enslavement of mankind, in theory, and practice." He reversedVoltaire's aphorism that if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him, writing instead that "if God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him."[63]
Atheism and ethics
Secular ethics
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SociologistPhil Zuckermananalyzed previous social science research on secularity and non-belief and concluded that societal well-being is positively correlated with irreligion. He found that there are much lower concentrations of atheism and secularity in poorer, less developed nations (particularly in Africa and South America) than in the richer industrialized democracies.[64][65] His findings relating specifically to atheism in the US were that compared to religious people in the US, "atheists and secular people" are lessnationalistic,prejudiced,antisemitic,racist,dogmatic,ethnocentric,closed-minded, and authoritarian, and in US states with the highest percentages of atheists, the murder rate is lower than average. In the most religious states, the murder rate is higher than average.[66][67]
Joseph Baker and Buster Smith assert that one of the common themes of atheism is that most atheists "typically construe atheism as more moral than religion".[68]One of the most commoncriticisms of atheismhas been to the contrary: that denying the existence of a god either leads tomoral relativismand leaves one with no moral or ethical foundation,[69]or renders lifemeaninglessand miserable.[70]Blaise Pascalargued this view in hisPensées.[71]There is also a position claiming that atheists are quick to believe in God in times of crisis, that atheists makedeathbed conversions,or that "there are no atheists in foxholes".[72]There have, however, been examples to the contrary, among them examples of literal "atheists in foxholes".[73]There existnormative ethical systemsthat do not require principles and rules to be given by a deity.
According to Plato'sEuthyphro dilemma,the role of the gods in determining right from wrong is either unnecessary or arbitrary.The argument that morality must be derived from God,and cannot exist without a wise creator, has been a persistent feature of political if not so much philosophical debate.[74][75][76]Moral precepts such as "murder is wrong" are seen asdivine laws,requiring a divine lawmaker and judge. However, many atheists argue that treating morality legalistically involves afalse analogy,and that morality does not depend on a lawmaker in the same way that laws do.[77]
PhilosophersSusan Neiman[78]andJulian Baggini[79]among others assert that behaving ethically only because of a divine mandate is not true ethical behavior but merely blind obedience. Baggini 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.[80]
Criticism of religion
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Some prominent atheists—most recentlyChristopher Hitchens,Daniel Dennett,Sam Harris,andRichard Dawkins,and following such thinkers asBertrand Russell,Robert G. Ingersoll,Voltaire,and novelistJosé Saramago—have criticized religions, citing harmful aspects of religious practices and doctrines.[81]
The 19th-century German political theorist and sociologistKarl Marxcalled religion "the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is theopium of the people".He goes on to say," The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo. "[82]
Sam Harris criticizes Western religion's reliance on divine authority as lending itself toauthoritarianismanddogmatism.[83]Multiple studies have discovered there to be a correlation betweenreligious fundamentalismandextrinsic religion(when religion is held because it serves ulterior interests)[84]and authoritarianism, dogmatism, and prejudice.[85]
These arguments—combined with historical events that are argued to demonstrate the dangers of religion, such as theCrusades,inquisitions,witch trials,andterrorist attacks—have been used in response to claims of beneficial effects of belief in religion.[86] Believers counter-argue that someregimes that espouse atheism,such as theSoviet Union,have also been guilty of mass murder.[87][88]In response to those claims, atheists such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have stated that Stalin's atrocities were influenced not by atheism but by dogmatic ideology, and that while Stalin and Mao happened to be atheists, they did not do their deeds in the name of atheism.[89][90][91]
Atheism, religions, and spirituality
People who self-identify as atheists are often assumed to beirreligious,but some sects within major religions reject the existence of a personal,creator deity.[92]It has been said that atheism is not mutually exclusive with respect to some religious and spiritual belief systems, including modernNeopaganmovements.[93][94]In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such asatheisticorhumanistic Judaism[95][96]andChristian atheists.[97][98][99]Atheism is accepted as a valid philosophical position within some varieties ofHinduism,Jainism,andBuddhism.[100]
History
Early Indian religions
Ideas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from theVedic period[101]and theclassical antiquity.[102]Atheistic schools are found in early Indian thought and have existed from the times of thehistorical Vedic religion.[101]Among the sixorthodoxschools of Hindu philosophy,Samkhya,the oldest philosophical school of thought, does not accept God, and the earlyMimamsaalso rejected the notion of God.[103]
The thoroughly materialistic and anti-theistic philosophicalChārvāka(orLokāyata) school that originated inIndiaaround the 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of philosophy in India, similar to the GreekCyrenaic school.This branch of Indian philosophy is classified asheterodoxdue to its rejection of the authority ofVedasand hence is not considered part of the six orthodox schools ofIndian philosophy.It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement in ancient India.[104][105]
Satischandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta explain inAn Introduction to Indian Philosophythat our understanding of Chārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools:[106]"Thoughmaterialismin 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 organized school of followers as the other philosophical schools possess. But almost every work of the other schools states, for refutation, the materialistic views. Our knowledge of Indian materialism is chiefly based on these. "Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic includeClassical SamkhyaandPurva Mimamsa.The rejection of a personal creator "God" is also seen inJainismandBuddhismin India.[107]
Classical antiquity
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Western atheism has its roots inpre-SocraticGreek philosophy,[108][102]but atheism in the modern sense was extremely rare in ancient Greece.[109][102]Pre-SocraticAtomistssuch asDemocritusattempted to explain the world in a purelymaterialisticway and interpreted religion as a human reaction to natural phenomena,[110]but did not explicitly deny the gods' existence.[110][111]
Anaxagoras,whomIrenaeuscalls "the atheist",[112]was accused of impiety and condemned for stating that "the sun is a type of incandescent stone", an affirmation with which he tried to deny the divinity of the celestial bodies.[113]In the late fifth century BCE, the Greek lyric poetDiagoras of Meloswas sentenced to death inAthensunder the charge of being a "godless person" (ἄθεος) after he made fun of theEleusinian Mysteries,but he fled the city to escape punishment.[109][110]In post-classical antiquity, philosophers such asCiceroandSextus Empiricusdescribed Diagoras as an "atheist" who categorically denied the existence of the gods,[114][115]but in modern scholarship Marek Winiarczyk has defended the view that Diagoras was not an atheist in the modern sense, in a view that has proved influential.[109]On the other hand, the verdict has been challenged byTim Whitmarsh,who argues that Diagoras rejected the gods on the basis of theproblem of evil,and this argument was in turn alluded to in Euripides' fragmentary playBellerophon.[116]A fragmentfrom a lost Attic drama that featuredSisyphus,which has been attributed to bothCritiasandEuripides,claims that a clever man invented "the fear of the gods" in order to frighten people into behaving morally.[117][118][109]
Does then anyone say there are gods in heaven? There are not, there are not, if a man is willing not to give foolish credence to the ancient story. Consider for yourselves, don't form an opinion on the basis of my words!
— Bellerophondenying the existence of the gods, fromEuripides'Bellerophonc.5th century BCE, fr. 286TrGF1-5[119]
Protagorashas sometimes been taken to be an atheist, but rather espoused agnostic views, commenting that "Concerning the gods I am unable to discover whether they exist or not, or what they are like in form; for there are many hindrances to knowledge, the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life."[120][121]The Athenian public associated Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE) with the trends in pre-Socratic philosophy towards naturalistic inquiry and the rejection of divine explanations for phenomena.[110][122]Aristophanes' comic playThe Clouds(performed 423 BCE) portrays Socrates as teaching his students that the traditional Greek deities do not exist.[110][122]Socrates was later tried and executed under the charge of not believing in the gods of the state and instead worshipping foreign gods.[110][122]Socrates himself vehemently denied the charges of atheism at his trial.[110][122][123]From a survey of these 5th-century BCE philosophers,David Sedleyhas concluded that none of them openly defended radical atheism, but since Classical sources clearly attest to radical atheist ideas Athens probably had an "atheist underground".[124]
Religious skepticism continued into theHellenistic period,and from this period the most important Greek thinker in the development of atheism was the philosopherEpicurus(c. 300 BCE).[102]Drawing on the ideas of Democritus and the Atomists, he espoused a materialistic philosophy according to which the universe was governed by the laws of chance without the need for divine intervention (seescientific determinism).[125]Although Epicurus still maintained that the gods existed,[126][102][125]he believed that they were uninterested in human affairs.[125]The aim of the Epicureans was to attainataraxia( "peace of mind" ) and one important way of doing this was by exposing fear of divine wrath as irrational. The Epicureans also denied the existence of an afterlife and the need to fear divine punishment after death.[125]
Euhemerus(c. 300 BCE) published his view that the gods were only the deified rulers and founders of the past.[127]Although not strictly an atheist, Euhemerus was later criticized byPlutarchfor having "spread atheism over the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods".[128]In the 3rd century BCE, theHellenisticphilosophersTheodorus Cyrenaicus[114][129]andStrato of Lampsacus[130]were also reputed to deny the existence of the gods. ThePyrrhonistphilosopherSextus Empiricus(c. 200 CE)[131]compiled a large number of ancient arguments against the existence of gods, recommending that one shouldsuspend judgmentregarding the matter.[132]His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.[133]
The meaning of "atheist" changed over the course of classical antiquity.[109]Early Christianswere widely reviled as "atheists" because they did not believe in the existence of the Graeco-Roman deities.[134][109][135][136]During theRoman Empire,Christians were executed for their rejection of theRoman godsin general and theImperial cult of ancient Romein particular.[136][137]There was, however, a heavy struggle between Christians and pagans, in which each group accused the other of atheism, for not practicing the religion which they considered correct.[138]When Christianity became the state religion of Rome underTheodosius Iin 381,heresybecame a punishable offense.[137]
Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance
During theEarly Middle Ages,theIslamic worldexperienced aGolden Age.Along with advances in science and philosophy, Arab and Persian lands produced rationalists who were skeptical about revealed religion, such asMuhammad al Warraq(fl. 9th century),Ibn al-Rawandi(827–911), andAbu Bakr al-Razi(c. 865–925),[139]as well as outspoken atheists such asal-Maʿarri(973–1058). Al-Ma'arri wrote and taught that religion itself was a "fable invented by the ancients"[140]and that humans were "of two sorts: those with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains".[141]Despite the fact that these authors were relatively prolific writers, little of their work survives, mainly being preserved through quotations and excerpts in later works by Muslimapologistsattempting to refute them.[142]
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In Europe, the espousal of atheistic views was rare during the Early Middle Ages andMiddle Ages(seeMedieval Inquisition).[143][144]There were, however, movements within this period that furthered heterodox conceptions of the Christian god, including differing views of the nature, transcendence, and knowability of God.William of Ockhaminspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with hisnominalistlimitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divineessencecould not be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Sects deemed heretical such as theWaldensianswere also accused of being atheistic.[145]The resulting division betweenfaith and reasoninfluenced later radical and reformist theologians.[143]
TheRenaissancedid much to expand the scope of free thought and skeptical inquiry. Individuals such asLeonardo da Vincisought experimentation as a means of explanation, and opposedarguments from religious authority.Other critics of religion and the Church during this time includedNiccolò Machiavelli,Bonaventure des Périers,Michel de Montaigne,andFrançois Rabelais.[133]
Early modern period
HistorianGeoffrey Blaineywrote that theReformationhad paved the way for atheists by attacking the authority of the Catholic Church, which in turn "quietly inspired other thinkers to attack the authority of the new Protestant churches".[146]Deismgained influence in France, Prussia, and England. In 1546, French scholarEtienne Doletwas executed upon accusation of being an atheist.[147]The philosopherBaruch Spinozawas "probably the first well known 'semi-atheist' to announce himself in a Christian land in the modern era", according to Blainey. Spinoza believed that natural laws explained the workings of the universe. In 1661, he published hisShort Treatise on God.[148]
Criticism of Christianitybecame increasingly frequent in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in France and England. Some Protestant thinkers, such asThomas Hobbes,espoused a materialist philosophy and skepticism toward supernatural occurrences. By the late 17th century, deism came to be openly espoused by intellectuals.[149]The first known explicit atheist was the German critic of religionMatthias Knutzenin his three writings of 1674.[150]He was followed by two other explicit atheist writers, the Polish ex-Jesuit philosopherKazimierz Łyszczyński(who most likely authored the world's first treatise on the non-existence of God[151]) and in the 1720s by the French priestJean Meslier.[152]
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In the course of the 18th century, other openly atheistic thinkers followed, such asBaron d'Holbach,Jacques-André Naigeon,and otherFrench materialists.[153]Baron d'Holbachwas a prominent figure in theFrench Enlightenmentwho is best known for his atheism and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them beingThe System of Nature(1770) but alsoChristianity Unveiled."The source of man's unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature. The pertinacity with which he clings to blind opinions imbibed in his infancy, which interweave themselves with his existence, the consequent prejudice that warps his mind, that prevents its expansion, that renders him the slave of fiction, appears to doom him to continual error."[154]In Great Britain, William Hammon and physician Mathew Turner authored a pamphlet in response toJoseph Priestley'sLetters to a Philosophical Unbeliever.Theirs was the first work in English to openly defend atheism, and implied that established sentiment of Christianity made speaking up in defense of atheism an act with a reasonable expectation of public punishment.[155]
AlthoughVoltaireis widely considered to have strongly contributed to atheistic thinking during the Revolution, he also considered fear of God to have discouraged further disorder, having said "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."[156]The philosopherDavid Humedeveloped a skeptical epistemology grounded inempiricism,andImmanuel Kant's philosophy has strongly questioned the very possibility of metaphysical knowledge. Both philosophers undermined the metaphysical basis of natural theology and criticized classicalarguments for the existence of God.[44][157]
One goal of theFrench Revolutionwas a restructuring and subordination of the clergy with respect to the state through theCivil Constitution of the Clergy.Attempts to enforce it led toanti-clericalviolence and the expulsion of many clerics from France, lasting until theThermidorian Reaction.The radicalJacobinsseized power in 1793. The Jacobins were deists and introduced theCult of the Supreme Beingas a new French state religion.
In the latter half of the 19th century, atheism rose to prominence under the influence ofrationalisticandfreethinkingphilosophers. German philosopherLudwig Feuerbachconsidered God to be a human invention and religious activities to be wish-fulfillment. He influenced philosophers such asKarl MarxandFriedrich Nietzsche,who denied the existence of deities and were critical of religion.[158]In 1842,George Holyoakewas the last person imprisoned in Great Britain due to atheist beliefs.Stephen Lawnotes that he may have also been the first imprisoned on such a charge. Law states that Holyoake "first coined the term 'secularism' ".[159][160]
20th century
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Atheism advanced in many societies in the 20th century. Atheistic thought found recognition in a wide variety of other, broader philosophies, such asMarxism,logical positivism,existentialism,humanismandfeminism,[161]and the general scientific movement.[162] Proponents ofnaturalismsuch asBertrand RussellandJohn Deweyemphatically rejected belief in God.Analytical philosopherssuch asJ.N. FindlayandJ.J.C. Smartargued against the existence of God.[33][163]
State atheism emerged in Eastern Europe and Asia, particularly in the Soviet Union underVladimir LeninandJoseph Stalin,[164]and inCommunist ChinaunderMao Zedong.Atheist and anti-religious policies in the Soviet Union includednumerous legislative acts,the outlawing of religious instruction in the schools, and the emergence of theLeague of Militant Atheists.[165][166]Stalin softened his opposition to the Orthodox church in order to improve public acceptance of his regime during the second world war.[167]
In 1966,Timemagazine asked "Is God Dead?"[168]in response to theDeath of God theological movement,citing the estimation that nearly half of all 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 view of theology.[169]
Leaders likePeriyar E.V. Ramasamy,a prominent atheist leader ofIndia,fought againstHinduismandBrahminsfor discriminating and dividing people in the name ofcasteand religion.[170][171]In the United States, atheistVashti McCollumwas the plaintiff in a 1948Supreme Courtcase that struck down religious education in US public schools.[172]Madalyn Murray O'Hairwas one of the most influential American atheists; she brought forth the 1963 Supreme Court caseMurray v. Curlettwhich banned compulsory prayer in public schools.[173]TheFreedom From Religion Foundationwas co-founded by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter,Annie Laurie Gaylor,in 1976 in the United States. It promotes theseparation of church and state.[174][175]
21st century
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"New Atheism" is a movement among some early-21st-century atheist writers who have advocated the view that "religion should not be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises."[176]The movement is commonly associated withSam Harris,Daniel Dennett,Richard Dawkins,Christopher Hitchens,andVictor J. Stenger.[177][178]The religiously-motivated terroristevents of 9/11and the partially successful attempts to change the American science curriculum to includecreationistideas, together with support for those ideas from thereligious right,have been cited by "new" atheists as evidence of a need to move toward a more secular society.[179]
Demographics
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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 betweenatheism,non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs.[181]A 2010 survey published inEncyclopædia Britannicafound that the non-religious made up about 9.6% of the world's population, and atheists about 2.0%. This figure did not include those who follow atheistic religions, such as some Buddhists.[182]The average annual change for atheism from 2000 to 2010 was −0.17%.[182]Scholars have indicated thatglobal atheism may be in declineas a percentage of the global population due to irreligious countries having the lowest birth rates in the world and religious countries generally having higher birth rates.[183][1][184]
According to globalWin-Gallup Internationalstudies, 13% of respondents were "convinced atheists" in 2012,[185]11% were "convinced atheists" in 2015,[186]and in 2017, 9% were "convinced atheists".[187]As of 2012[update],the top 10 surveyed countries with people who viewed themselves as "convinced atheists" wereChina(47%),Japan(31%), theCzech Republic(30%),France(29%),South Korea(15%),Germany(15%),Netherlands(14%),Austria(10%),Iceland(10%),Australia(10%), andIreland(10%).[188]A 2012 study by the NORC found that East Germany had the highest percentage of atheists while Czech Republic had the second highest amount.[189]The number of atheists per country is strongly correlated with the level of security for both the individual and society, with some exceptions.[190]
Europe
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According to the 2010 Eurobarometer Poll, the percentage of those polled who agreed with the statement "you don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force" varied from a high percentage in France (40%), Czech Republic (37%), Sweden (34%), Netherlands (30%), and Estonia (29%); medium-high percentage in Germany (27%), Belgium (27%), UK (25%); to very low in Poland (5%), Greece (4%), Cyprus (3%), Malta (2%), and Romania (1%), with the European Union as a whole at 20%.[192]In a 2012 Eurobarometer poll on discrimination in the European Union, 16% of those polled considered themselves non-believers/agnostics, and 7% considered themselves atheists.[193]
According to aPew Research Centersurvey in 2012, about 18% of Europeans arereligiously unaffiliated,including agnostics and atheists.[194]According to the same survey, the religiously unaffiliated are the majority of the population only in two European countries: Czech Republic (75%) and Estonia (60%).[194]
Asia
There are three countries andone special administrative region of Chinaor regions where the religiously unaffiliated make up a majority of the population:North Korea(71%),Japan(57%), Hong Kong (56%), and China (52%).[194]
Australasia
According to the2021 Australian Census,38% of Australians have "no religion", a category that includes atheists.[195]In a 2018 census, 48.2% ofNew Zealandersreported having no religion, up from 30% in 1991.[196]
United States
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According to theWorld Values Survey,4.4% of Americans self-identified as atheists in 2014.[199]However, the same survey showed that 11.1% of all respondents stated "no" when asked if they believed in God.[199]According to a 2014 report by the Pew Research Center, 3.1% of the US adult population identify as atheist, up from 1.6% in 2007; and within the religiously unaffiliated (or "no religion" ) demographic, atheists made up 13.6%.[200]According to the 2015 General Sociological Survey the number of atheists and agnostics in the US has remained relatively flat in the past 23 years since in 1991 only 2% identified as atheist and 4% identified as agnostic and in 2014 only 3% identified as atheists and 5% identified as agnostics.[201]
According to the American Family Survey, 34% were found to be religiously unaffiliated in 2017 (23% 'nothing in particular', 6% agnostic, 5% atheist).[202][203]According to the Pew Research Center, in 2014, 22.8% of the American population does not identify with a religion, including atheists (3.1%) and agnostics (4%).[204]According to a PRRI survey, 24% of the population is unaffiliated. Atheists and agnostics combined make up about a quarter of this unaffiliated demographic.[205]According to a 2023Pew Research Centerstudy, 28% of Americans are religiously unaffiliated.[206]
Arab world
In recent years, the profile of atheism has risen substantially in theArab world.[207]In major cities across the region, such asCairo,atheists have been organizing in cafés and social media, despite regular crackdowns from authoritarian governments.[207]A 2012 poll by Gallup International revealed that 5% of Saudis considered themselves to be "convinced atheists".[207]However, very few young people in the Arab world have atheists in their circle of friends or acquaintances. According to one study, less than 1% did in Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or Jordan; only 3% to 7% in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Palestine.[208]When asked whether they have "seen or heard traces of atheism in [their] locality, community, and society" only about 3% to 8% responded yes in all the countries surveyed. The only exception was the UAE, with a percentage of 51%.[208]
Attitudes toward atheism
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Statistically, atheists are held in poor regard across the globe. Non-atheists seem to implicitly view atheists as prone to exhibit immoral behaviors.[209]In addition, according to a 2016Pew Research Centerpublication, 15% of French people, 45% of Americans, and 99% of Indonesians explicitly believe that a person must believe in God to be moral. Pew furthermore noted that, in a U.S. poll, atheists and Muslims tied for the lowest rating among the major religious demographics on a "feeling thermometer".[210]Also, a study of religious college students found that they were more likely to perceive and interact with atheists negatively after considering their mortality, suggesting that these attitudes may be the result ofdeath anxiety.[211]
Wealth, education, and reasoning style
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Various studies have reported positive correlations between levels of education, wealth, andIQwith atheism.[212][213][214][66]According to 2024 data fromPew Research Center,atheists in the United States are more likely to be white compared to the general U.S. population (77% vs 62%).[215]In a 2008 study, researchers found intelligence to be negatively related to religious belief in Europe and the United States. In a sample of 137 countries, the correlation between national IQ and disbelief in God was found to be 0.60.[214]According to evolutionary psychologistNigel Barber,atheism blossoms in places where most people feel economically secure, particularly in thesocial democraciesof Europe, as there is less uncertainty about the future with extensive social safety nets and better health care resulting in a greater quality of life and higher life expectancy. By contrast, in underdeveloped countries, there are far fewer atheists.[216]
The relationship between atheism and IQ, while statistically significant, is not a large one, and the reason for the relationship is not well understood.[212]One hypothesis is that the negative relationship between IQ and religiosity is mediated by individual differences in nonconformity; in many countries, religious belief is a conformist choice, and there is evidence that more intelligent people are less likely to conform.[217]Another theory is that people of higher IQ are more likely to engage in analytical reasoning, and that disbelief in religion results from the application of higher-level analytical reasoning to the assessment of religious claims.[212]
In a 2017 study, it was shown that compared to religious individuals, atheists have higher reasoning capacities and this difference seemed to be unrelated to sociodemographic factors such as age, education and country of origin.[218]In a 2015 study, researchers found that atheists score higher on cognitive reflection tests than theists, the authors wrote that "The fact that atheists score higher agrees with the literature showing that belief is an automatic manifestation of the mind and its default mode. Disbelieving seems to require deliberative cognitive ability."[219]A 2016 study, in which 4 new studies were reported and a meta-analysis of all previous research on the topic was performed, found that self-identified atheists scored 18.7% higher than theists on the cognitive reflection test and there is a negative correlation between religiosity and analytical thinking. The authors note that recently "it has been argued that analytic thinkers are not actually less religious; rather, the putative association may be a result of religiosity typically being measured after analytic thinking (an order effect)," however, they state "Our results indicate that the association between analytical thinking and religious disbelief is not caused by a simple order effect. There is good evidence that atheists and agnostics are more reflective than religious believers."[220]This "analytic atheist" effect has also been found among academic philosophers, even when controlling for about a dozen potential confounds such as education.[221]
Some studies do not detect this correlation between atheism and analytic thinking in all of the countries that they study,[222]suggesting that the relationship between analytic thinking and atheism may depend on culture.[223]There is also evidence that gender may be involved in what has been termed the analytic atheist effect; because men have been found more likely to endorse atheism,[224]and men often perform slightly better on tests of analytic thinking,[225]when not controlling for variables such as math anxiety,[226]the correlation between atheism and analytic reasoning may be partly explained by whatever explains observed gender differences in analytic thinking.
See also
Notes
- ^In part because of its wide use in monotheistic Western society,atheismis 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 ofatheismencompassed only disbelief in the singular God, not inpolytheisticdeities. It is on this basis that the obsolete termadevismwas coined in the late 19th century to describe an absence of belief in plural deities.
References
Citations
- ^abZuckerman, Phil (2006). "Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Patterns".The Cambridge Companion to Atheism.pp. 47–66.doi:10.1017/CCOL0521842700.004.ISBN978-0-521-84270-9.
- ^Joas, Hans; Wiegandt, Klaus, eds. (2010).Secularization and the World Religions.Liverpool University Press. p. 122 (footnote 1).ISBN978-1-84631-187-1.OL25285702M.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2015.RetrievedApril 18,2012.
- ^abc"Logical Arguments for Atheism".The Secular Web Library.Internet Infidels.Archivedfrom the original on November 17, 2012.RetrievedOctober 2,2012.
- ^Shook, John R."Skepticism about the Supernatural"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on October 18, 2012.RetrievedOctober 2,2012.
- ^abDrange, Theodore M.(1996)."The Arguments From Evil and Nonbelief".Secular Web Library.Internet Infidels.Archivedfrom the original on January 10, 2007.RetrievedOctober 2,2012.
- ^Harvey, Van A.Agnosticism and Atheism,inFlynn 2007,p. 35: "The termsATHEISMandAGNOSTICISMlend themselves to two different definitions. The first takes the privativeaboth before the Greektheos(divinity) andgnosis(to know) to mean that atheism is the absence of belief in the gods and agnosticism is the lack of knowledge of some specified subject matter. The second definition takes atheism to mean the explicit denial of the existence of gods and agnosticism as the position of someone who, because the existence of gods is unknowable, suspends judgment regarding them... The first is the more inclusive and recognizes only two alternatives: Either one believes in the gods or one does not. Consequently, there is no third alternative, as those who call themselves agnostics sometimes claim. Insofar as they lack belief, they are really atheists. Moreover, since the absence of belief is the cognitive position in which everyone is born, the burden of proof falls on those who advocate religious belief. The proponents of the second definition, by contrast, regard the first definition as too broad because it includes uninformed children along with aggressive and explicit atheists. Consequently, it is unlikely that the public will adopt it. "
- ^Stenger 2007,pp. 17–18, citingParsons, Keith M. (1989).God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytical Defense of Theism.Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books.ISBN978-0-87975-551-5.
- ^Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). .Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
The term as generally used, however, is highly ambiguous. Its meaning varies (a) according to the various definitions of deity, and especially (b) according as it is (i.) deliberately adopted by a thinker as a description of his own theological standpoint, or (ii.) applied by one set of thinkers to their opponents. As to (a), it is obvious that atheism from the standpoint of the Christian is a very different conception as compared with atheism as understood by a Deist, a Positivist, a follower of Euhemerus or Herbert Spencer, or a Buddhist.
- ^Paul Draper."Atheism and Agnosticism".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Archivedfrom the original on October 25, 2021.RetrievedOctober 24,2021.
Departing even more radically from the norm in philosophy, a few philosophers and quite a few non-philosophers claim that "atheism" shouldn't be defined as a proposition at all, even if theism is a proposition. Instead, "atheism" should be defined as a psychological state: the state of not believing in the existence of God
- ^McCormick, Matt."Atheism".Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Archivedfrom the original on February 21, 2010.RetrievedOctober 24,2021.
It has come to be widely accepted that to be an atheist is to affirm the non-existence of God
- ^Michael Anthony."Where's The Evidence".Philosophy Now.Archivedfrom the original on September 26, 2019.RetrievedOctober 24,2021.
While the word 'atheism' has been used in something like this sense (see for example Antony Flew's article 'The Presumption of Atheism'), it is a highly non-standard use.
- ^abMartin 1990,pp.467–468:"In the popular sense an agnostic neither believes nor disbelieves that God exists, while an atheist disbelieves that God exists. However, this common contrast of agnosticism with atheism will hold only if one assumes that atheism means positive atheism. In the popular sense, agnosticism is compatible with negative atheism. Since negative atheism by definition simply means not holding any concept of God, it is compatible with neither believing nor disbelieving in God."
- ^Holland, Aaron (April 1882).Agnosticism.The Journal of Speculative Philosophy,inFlynn 2007,p.34:"It is important to note that this interpretation of agnosticism is compatible with theism or atheism, since it is only asserted thatknowledgeof God's existence is unattainable. "
- ^abMartin 2006,p. 2: "But agnosticism is compatible with negative atheism in that agnosticismentailsnegative atheism. Since agnostics do not believe in God, they are by definition negative atheists. This is not to say that negative atheism entails agnosticism. A negative atheistmightdisbelieve in God but need not. "
- ^abBarker 2008,p.96:"People are invariably surprised to hear me say I am both an atheist and an agnostic, as if this somehow weakens my certainty. I usually reply with a question like," Well, are you a Republican or an American? "The two words serve different concepts and are not mutually exclusive. Agnosticism addresses knowledge; atheism addresses belief. The agnostic says," I don't have a knowledge that God exists. "The atheist says," I don't have a belief that God exists. "You can say both things at the same time. Some agnostics are atheistic and some are theistic."
- ^Nielsen 2013:"atheism, in general, the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or spiritual beings. As such, it is usually distinguished from theism, which affirms the reality of the divine and often seeks to demonstrate its existence. Atheism is also distinguished from agnosticism, which leaves open the question whether there is a god or not, professing to find the questions unanswered or unanswerable."
- ^"Atheism".Encyclopædia Britannica Concise.Merriam Webster.Archivedfrom the original on January 21, 2012.RetrievedDecember 15,2011.
Critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs in God or divine beings. Unlike agnosticism, which leaves open the question of whether there is a God, atheism is a positive denial. It is rooted in an array of philosophical systems.
- ^Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). .Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
But dogmatic atheism is rare compared with the sceptical type, which is identical with agnosticism in so far as it denies the capacity of the mind of man to form any conception of God, but is different from it in so far as the agnostic merely holds his judgment in suspense, though, in practice, agnosticism is apt to result in an attitude towards religion which is hardly distinguishable from a passive and unaggressive atheism.
- ^abcMartin 2006.
- ^"Atheism as rejection of religious beliefs".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 1 (15th ed.). 2011. p. 666. 0852294735.Archivedfrom the original on May 12, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- ^d'Holbach, P.H.T.(1772).Good Sense.Archivedfrom the original on June 23, 2011.RetrievedApril 7,2011.
- ^Smith 1979,p. 14.
- ^Paul Draper."Atheism and Agnosticism".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Archivedfrom the original on October 25, 2021.RetrievedOctober 24,2021.
Departing even more radically from the norm in philosophy, a few philosophers and quite a few non-philosophers claim that "atheism" shouldn't be defined as a proposition at all, even if theism is a proposition. Instead, "atheism" should be defined as a psychological state: the state of not believing in the existence of God
- ^McCormick, Matt."Atheism".Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Archivedfrom the original on February 21, 2010.RetrievedOctober 24,2021.
It has come to be widely accepted that to be an atheist is to affirm the non-existence of God
- ^Michael Anthony."Where's The Evidence".Philosophy Now.Archivedfrom the original on September 26, 2019.RetrievedOctober 24,2021.
While the word 'atheism' has been used in something like this sense (see for example Antony Flew's article 'The Presumption of Atheism'), it is a highly non-standard use.
- ^Nagel, Ernest(1959). "Philosophical Concepts of Atheism".Basic Beliefs: The Religious Philosophies of Mankind.Sheridan House.
I must begin by stating what sense I am attaching to the word 'atheism,' and how I am construing the theme of this paper. I shall understand by 'atheism' a critique and a denial of the major claims of all varieties of theism.... atheism is not to be identified with sheer unbelief, or with disbelief in some particular creed of a religious group. Thus, a child who has received no religious instruction and has never heard about God is not an atheist – for he is not denying any theistic claims. Similarly in the case of an adult who, if he has withdrawn from the faith of his father without reflection or because of frank indifference to any theological issue, is also not an atheist – for such an adult is not challenging theism and not professing any views on the subject.... I propose to examine somephilosophicconcepts of atheism
reprinted inCritiques of God,edited by Peter A. Angeles, Prometheus Books, 1997. - ^Oppy 2018,p. 4: Agnostics are distinguished from innocents, who also neither believe that there are gods nor believe that there are no gods, by the fact that they have given consideration to the question of whether there are gods. Innocents are those who have never considered the question of whether there are gods. Typically, innocents have never considered the question of whether there are gods because they are not able to consider that question. How could that be? Well, in order to consider the question of whether there are gods, one must understand what it would mean for something to be a god. That is, one needs to have the concept of a god. Those who lack the concept of a god are not able to entertain the thought that there are gods. Consider, for example, one-month-old babies. It is very plausible that one-month-old babies lack the concept of a god. So it is very plausible that one-month-old babies are innocents. Other plausible cases of innocents include chimpanzees, human beings who have suffered severe traumatic brain injuries, and human beings with advanced dementia
- ^Flew 1976,pp. 14ff: "In this interpretation, an atheist becomes: not someone who positively asserts the non-existence of God; but someone who is simply not a theist. Let us, for future-ready reference, introduce the labels 'positive atheist' for the former and 'negative atheist' for the latter."
- ^"Why I'm Not an Atheist: The Case for Agnosticism".Huffington Post.May 28, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on December 9, 2013.RetrievedNovember 26,2013.
- ^Kenny, Anthony(2006). "Why I Am Not an Atheist".What I believe.Continuum.ISBN978-0-8264-8971-5.
The true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism... a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed.
- ^Baggini 2003,pp. 30–34. "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."
- ^Baggini 2003,p. 22. "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."
- ^abSmart, J.C.C. (March 9, 2004)."Atheism and Agnosticism".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Archivedfrom the original on February 5, 2012.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- ^Dawkins 2006,p. 50.
- ^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.
- ^Harris 2006,p. 51.
- ^Drachmann, A.B. (1977) [1922].Atheism in Pagan Antiquity.Chicago: Ares Publishers.ISBN978-0-89005-201-3.
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 átheos andatheotēs;to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly,átheoswas 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.
- ^"atheist".American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 2009.Archivedfrom the original on November 27, 2013.RetrievedNovember 21,2013.
- ^Martiall, John(1566).A Replie to Mr Calfhills Blasphemous Answer Made Against the Treatise of the Cross.English recusant literature, 1558–1640. Vol. 203. Louvain. p.49.Archivedfrom the original on April 23, 2017.RetrievedApril 23,2017.
- ^Rendered asAtheistes:Golding, Arthur(1571).The Psalmes of David and others, with J. Calvin's commentaries.pp. Ep. Ded. 3.
The Atheistes which say... there is no God.
Translated from Latin. - ^Hanmer, Meredith(1577).The auncient ecclesiasticall histories of the first six hundred years after Christ, written by Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius.London. p. 63.OCLC55193813.
The opinion which they conceaue of you, to be Atheists, or godlesse men.
- ^Merriam-Webster Online:Atheism,archivedfrom the original on November 21, 2013,retrievedNovember 21,2013,
First Known Use: 1546
- ^Rendered asAthisme:de Mornay, Philippe(1581).A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion: Against Atheists, Epicures, Paynims, Iewes, Mahumetists, and other infidels[De la vérite de la religion chréstienne (1581, Paris)]. Translated from French to English by Arthur Golding & Philip Sidney and published in London, 1587.
Athisme, that is to say, vtter godlesnes.
- ^abHume 1748,Part III: "If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion."
- ^Martin, Michael (1992).Atheism: A Philosophical Justification.Temple University Press. p. 26.ISBN9780877229438.
- ^Drange, Theodore M.(1998). "Atheism, Agnosticism, NoncognitivismArchivedJuly 23, 2013, at theWayback Machine".Internet Infidels,Secular Web Library.Retrieved 2007-APR-07.
- ^Ayer, A. J.(1946).Language, Truth and Logic.Dover. pp. 115–116. In a footnote, Ayer attributes this view to "Professor H.H. Price".
- ^abcOppy, Graham (2019).Atheism: The Basics(First ed.). Routledge. pp. 14, 15.ISBN978-1138506916.
- ^Stoljar, Daniel."Physicalism".The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Stanford University.Archivedfrom the original on November 3, 2019.RetrievedApril 14,2021.
- ^Stubenberg, Stubenberg."Neutral Monism".The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Stanford University.Archivedfrom the original on December 11, 2017.RetrievedApril 14,2021.
- ^Zdybicka 2005,p. 19.
- ^Witmer, D. Gene."Physicalism and Metaphysical Naturalism".Oxford Bibliographies.Oxford University Press.Archivedfrom the original on April 13, 2021.RetrievedApril 13,2021.
- ^Papineau, David."Naturalism".The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Stanford University.Archivedfrom the original on April 26, 2018.RetrievedApril 14,2021.
- ^Bourget, David; Chalmers, David."The PhilPapers Surveys".PhilPapers.The PhilPapers Foundation.Archivedfrom the original on July 23, 2019.RetrievedApril 13,2021.
- ^abOppy, Graham (2013). "chapter 4". In Bullivant, Stephen; Ruse, Michael (eds.).The Oxford Handbook of Atheism(illustrated ed.). OUP Oxford.ISBN9780199644650.
- ^Ellis, Fiona (2016)."Theistic naturalism".The Philosophers' Magazine.1st Quarter (72): 45.doi:10.5840/tpm20167224.ISSN1354-814X.Archivedfrom the original on April 30, 2021.RetrievedMay 1,2021.
- ^Knight, Christopher C. (2009)."Theistic Naturalism and" Special "Divine Providence".Journal of Religion and Science.44(3). Wylie online library: abstract.doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.2009.01014.x.Archivedfrom the original on April 30, 2021.RetrievedMay 1,2021.
- ^Hume 1779.
- ^V.A. Gunasekara,"The Buddhist Attitude to God".Archived fromthe originalon January 2, 2008.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."
- ^Vasubandhu wrote in hisSheath ofAbhidharma(Abhidharmakosha): "Besides, do you say that God finds joy in seeing the creatures which he has created in the prey of all the distress of existence, including the tortures of the hells? Homage to this kind of God! The profane stanza expresses it well:" One calls him Rudra because he burns, because he is sharp, fierce, redoubtable, an eater of flesh, blood and marrow. "de La Vallee Poussin, Louis (fr. trans.); Sangpo, Gelong Lodro (eng. trans.) (2012)Abhidharmakośa-Bhāṣya of Vasubandhu Volume I,p. 677. Motilal Banarsidass Pubs. ISBN 978-81-208-3608-2
- ^Feuerbach, Ludwig (1841)The Essence of Christianity
- ^Walpola Rahula,What the Buddha Taught.Grove Press, 1974. pp. 51–52.
- ^Bakunin, Michael(1916)."God and the State".New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association.Archivedfrom the original on May 21, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- ^Norris, Pippa; Inglehart, Ronald (2004).Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide.Cambridge University Press.
- ^Bruce, Steve (2003).Religion and Politics.Cambridge.
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- ^"Societies without God are more benevolent".The Guardian.September 2, 2010.Archivedfrom the original on February 25, 2017.RetrievedNovember 21,2013.
- ^Baker, Joseph O.; Smith, Buster G. (2015).American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems.NYU Press. p. 100.ISBN9781479896875.
- ^Gleeson, David (August 10, 2006)."Common Misconceptions About Atheists and Atheism".Archivedfrom the original on December 31, 2013.RetrievedNovember 21,2013.
- ^Smith 1979,p. 275. "Perhaps the most common criticism of atheism is the claim that it leads inevitably tomoral bankruptcy."
- ^Pascal, Blaise(1669).Pensées,II: "The Misery of Man Without God".
- ^See, for example:Pressley, Sue Anne (September 8, 1996)."Atheist Group Moves Ahead Without O'Hair".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on October 8, 2017.RetrievedOctober 22,2014.
- ^Lowder, Jeffery Jay (1997)."Atheism and Society".Archivedfrom the original on May 22, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- ^Smith 1979,p. 275. "Among the many myths associated with religion, none is more widespread [sic] – or more disastrous in its effects — than the myth that moral values cannot be divorced from the belief in a god. "
- ^InDostoevsky'sThe 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?'"
- ^ForKant,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).
- ^Baggini 2003,p. 38
- ^Susan Neiman(November 6, 2006).Beyond Belief Session 6(Conference).Salk Institute,La Jolla, California: The Science Network.
- ^Baggini 2003,p. 40
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- ^See for example:Kahoe, R.D. (June 1977). "Intrinsic Religion and Authoritarianism: A Differentiated Relationship".Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.16(2): 179–182.doi:10.2307/1385749.JSTOR1385749.Also see:Altemeyer, Bob; Hunsberger, Bruce (1992). "Authoritarianism, Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Prejudice".International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.2(2): 113–133.doi:10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5.
- ^Harris, Sam(2005)."An Atheist Manifesto".Truthdig.Archived fromthe originalon May 16, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
In a world riven by ignorance, only the atheist refuses to deny the obvious: Religious faith promotes human violence to an astonishing degree.
- ^Feinberg, John S.;Feinberg, Paul D.(2010).Ethics for a Brave New World.Stand To Reason.ISBN978-1-58134-712-8.RetrievedOctober 18,2007.
Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: 'Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.' Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: 'Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.'
- ^D'Souza, Dinesh."Answering Atheist's Arguments".Catholic Education Resource Center.Archivedfrom the original on October 28, 2016.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- ^Dawkins 2006,p. 291.
- ^10 myths and 10 truths about AtheismArchivedMay 25, 2013, at theWayback MachineSam Harris
- ^"That does not, however, show that the atrocities committed by these totalitarian dictatorships were the result of atheist beliefs, carried out in the name of atheism, or caused primarily by the atheistic aspects of the relevant forms of communism."Blackford, R.; Schüklenk, U. (2013)."Myth 27 Many Atrocities Have Been Committed in the Name of Atheism".50 great myths about atheism.John Wiley & Sons. p. 88.ISBN978-0-470-67404-8.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2015.RetrievedAugust 13,2015.
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Nonbelief has existed for centuries. For example, Buddhism and Jainism have been called atheistic religions because they do not advocate belief in gods.
- ^Johnson, Philip; et al. (2005). Claydon, David; et al. (eds.).Religious and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World ( "New Age" ) A New Vision, A New Heart, A Renewed Call.Vol. 2. William Carey Library. p. 194.ISBN978-0-87808-364-0.
Although Neo-Pagans share common commitments to nature and spirit there is a diversity of beliefs and practices... Some are atheists, others are polytheists (several gods exist), some are pantheists (all is God) and others are panentheists (all is in God).
- ^Matthews, Carol S. (2009).New Religions.Chelsea House Publishers. p.115.ISBN978-0-7910-8096-2.
There is no universal worldview that all Neo-Pagans/Wiccans hold. One online information source indicates that depending on how the termGodis defined, Neo-Pagans might be classified as monotheists, duotheists (two gods), polytheists, pantheists, or atheists.
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According to Hinduism, the path of the atheist is very difficult to follow in matters of spirituality, though it is a valid one.
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- ^Fragments of Euhemerus' work in Ennius' Latin translation have been preserved inPatristicwritings (e.g. byLactantiusandEusebius of Caesarea), which all rely on earlier fragments inDiodorus5,41–46 & 6.1. Testimonies, especially in the context of polemical criticism, are found e.g. inCallimachus,Hymn to Zeus8.
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Further reading
- Berman, David (1990).A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell.London: Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-04727-2.Archivedfrom the original on June 11, 2024.RetrievedOctober 30,2020.
- Bradlaugh, Charles,Annie Besantand others. (1884)The Atheistic Platform: 12 Lectures.London: Freethought Publishing.The atheistic platform, 12 lectures by C. Bradlaugh [and others].ArchivedJune 11, 2024, at theWayback Machine
- Buckley, M.J. (1990).At the Origins of Modern Atheism.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-04897-1.
- Bullivant, Stephen; Ruse, Michael, eds. (2013).The Oxford Handbook of Atheism.Oxford UP.ISBN978-0-19-964465-0.
- Duran, Martin (2019).Wondering About God: Impiety, Agnosticism, and Atheism in Ancient Greece.Barcelona: Independently Published.ISBN978-1-08-061240-6.
- Flew, Antony(2005).God and Philosophy.Prometheus Books.ISBN978-1-59102-330-2.
- Tom Flynn, ed. (2007).The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief.Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books.ISBN978-1-59102-391-3.
- Gaskin, J. C. A., ed. (1989).Varieties of Unbelief: From Epicurus to Sartre.New York: Macmillan.ISBN978-0-02-340681-2.
- Germani, Alan (September 15, 2008)."The Mystical Ethics of the New Atheists".The Objective Standard.3(3). Archived fromthe originalon April 28, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- Gray, John (2018).Seven Types of Atheism.Harmondsworth: Penguin.ISBN978-0-241-19941-1.
- Harbour, Daniel (2003).An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism.London: Duckworth.ISBN978-0-7156-3229-1.
- Harris, Sam (October 2, 2007)."The Problem with Atheism".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon May 24, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- Howson, Colin (2011).Objecting to God.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-18665-0
- Inglehart, Ronald F.,"Giving Up on God: The Global Decline of Religion",Foreign Affairs,vol. 99, no. 5 (September / October 2020), pp. 110–118.
- Jacoby, Susan(2004).Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism.Metropolitan Books.ISBN978-0-8050-7442-0.
- Krueger, D.E. (1998).What is Atheism?: A Short Introduction.New York: Prometheus.ISBN978-1-57392-214-2.
- Ledrew, S. (2012). "The evolution of atheism: Scientific and humanistic approaches".History of the Human Sciences.25(3): 70–87.doi:10.1177/0952695112441301.S2CID145640287.
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- Mackie, J.L.(1982).The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-824682-4.
- Maritain, Jacques (1952).The Range of Reason.London: Geoffrey Bles. Archived fromthe originalon April 7, 2013.RetrievedApril 15,2013.
- Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier, ed. (2003).The Impossibility of God.Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books.ISBN978-1-59102-120-9.
- Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier, ed. (2006).The Improbability of God.Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books.ISBN978-1-59102-381-4.
- McGinn, Colin(2010)."Why I am an Atheist"ArchivedAugust 30, 2023, at theWayback Machine
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- Nielsen, Kai(1985).Philosophy and Atheism.New York: Prometheus.ISBN978-0-87975-289-7.
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- Onfray, Michel (2007).Atheist Manifesto.New York: Arcade Publishing.ISBN978-1-55970-820-3.Archivedfrom the original on October 30, 2015.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- Oppy, Graham(2006).Arguing about Gods.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-86386-5.Archivedfrom the original on June 11, 2024.RetrievedAugust 13,2015.
- Rafford, R.L. (1987). "Atheophobia—an introduction".Religious Humanism.21(1): 32–37.
- Robinson, Richard (1964).An Atheist's Values.Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN978-0-19-824191-1.Archived fromthe originalon April 25, 2011.RetrievedApril 9,2011.
- Rosenberg, Alex (2011).The Atheist's Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions.New York: W.W. Norton & Co.ISBN978-0-393-08023-0
- Russell, Paul (2013)."Hume on Religion".In Edward N. Zalta (ed.).Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Metaphysics Research Lab.Archivedfrom the original on September 15, 2018.RetrievedNovember 24,2013.
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- Shermer, Michael(1999).How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God.New York: William H Freeman.ISBN978-0-7167-3561-8.
- Smolkin, Victoria.A Sacred Space is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism(Princeton UP, 2018)online reviewsArchivedApril 24, 2022, at theWayback Machine
- Thrower, James (1971).A Short History of Western Atheism.London: Pemberton.ISBN978-0-301-71101-0.
- Walters, Kerry (2010).Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed.New York: Continuum.ISBN978-0-8264-2493-8
- Whitmarsh, Tim. (2015),Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World
- Zuckerman, Phil, ed. (2010).Atheism and secularity.Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.ISBN978-0-313-35183-9.
- Zuckerman, Phil (2010).Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment.NYU Press.ISBN978-0-8147-9723-5.
External links
- AtheismatPhilPapers
- Atheismat theIndiana Philosophy Ontology Project
- Zalta, Edward N.(ed.)."Atheism and Agnosticism".Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- "Atheism".Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- The New Atheists.Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- AtheismatCurlie.Includes links to organizations and websites.
- Religion & Ethics—Atheismat bbc.co.uk
- Secular Web library.Library of both historical and modern writings, a comprehensive online resource for freely available material on atheism.
- McGinn, Colin,"Why I am an Atheist"