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{{short description|Absence of belief in the existence of deities; the opposite of theism}} | |||
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] was one of the first self-described atheists. In '']'' (1770), he describes the universe in terms of philosophical materialism, strict determinism, and atheism. This and his ''Good Sense'' (1772) were condemned by the ], and copies of the books were publicly burned.]] | |||
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'''Atheism''', defined as a ] view, is the position that either affirms the ] of ]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=William L. |last=Rowe |authorlink=William L. Rowe |encyclopedia=] |title=Atheism |year=1998 |editor=Edward Craig |quote=Atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. It proposes positive disbelief rather than mere suspension of belief.}}</ref> or rejects ].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Kai |last=Nielsen |authorlink=Kai Nielsen |encyclopedia=] |title=Atheism |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109479/atheism |accessdate=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 on how God is being conceived."</ref> In its broadest definition, atheism is the absence of belief in ], sometimes called ].<ref>]'s short article on suggests that there is no consensus on the definition of the term. ] summarizes the situation in ]: "Atheism. Either the lack of belief in a god, or the belief that there is none." Most dictionaries (see the ] query for ) first list one of the more narrow definitions.</ref> Although atheists are commonly assumed to be ], some religions, such as ], have been characterized as atheistic.<ref name=cline-buddhism>{{cite web | last = Cline | first = Austin | title = Buddhism and Atheism | url = http://atheism.about.com/b/a/220595.htm | accessdate = 2006-10-21 | year = 2005 | publisher = ]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kedar |first=Nath Tiwari |year=1997 |title=Comparative Religion |publisher=] |id=ISBN 8120802934 |pages=p. 50}}</ref> | |||
Please note: | |||
The consensus since April 2007 has been to include all three of the definitions of atheism presented in the first paragraph below. They are the result of extensive debate and searches through existing sources – see, for example, the archived talk page threads ] and ] – and formed part of the article when it achieved "Featured Article" status. | |||
Please, therefore, do not change the contents of the first paragraph without prior discussion on the talk page (]), preferably after consulting at least these two threads. If you do make changes to the paragraph without prior discussion, be prepared to see them reverted as an invitation to a discussion on the talk page (see ]). | |||
Many ] ] share common skeptical concerns regarding ] claims, citing a lack of ] evidence for the existence of deities. Other arguments for atheism are philosophical, social or historical. Although many self-described atheists tend toward ] philosophies such as ],<ref>Honderich, Ted (Ed.) (1995). "Humanism". ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. Oxford University Press. p 376. ISBN 0198661320.</ref> ], and ],<ref>Fales, Evan. "Naturalism and Physicalism", in {{harvnb|Martin|2007|pp=122–131}}.</ref> there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|pp=3–4}}.</ref> | |||
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'''Atheism''', in the broadest sense, is an absence of ] in the ] of ]. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there {{em|are}} no deities. Atheism is contrasted with ], which is the belief that at 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 after Christianity gained prominence. The 16th century and the ] marked the resurgence of atheistic thought in Europe. Atheism achieved a significant position worldwide in the 20th century. Estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a god range from 500 million to 1.1 billion people.<ref name="CambridgeZuckerman"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQTdki1xyK0C&pg=PA122 |title=Secularization and the World Religions |year=2010 |editor1-first=Hans |editor1-last=Joas |editor2-first=Klaus |editor2-last=Wiegandt |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-1-84631-187-1 |ol=25285702M |page=122 (footnote 1) |access-date=April 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030194457/https://books.google.com/books?id=rQTdki1xyK0C&pg=PA122 |archive-date=October 30, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Atheist organizations have defended the autonomy of ], ], ] and ]. | |||
The term ''atheism'' originated as a ] ] applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of ], ], and ], the term began to gather a more specific meaning and was sometimes used as a self-description by atheists. | |||
Arguments for atheism range from philosophical to social approaches. Rationales for not believing in deities include the lack of ],<ref name="logical" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://shook.pragmatism.org/skepticismaboutthesupernatural.pdf |title=Skepticism about the Supernatural |last=Shook |first=John R. |access-date=October 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018210402/http://shook.pragmatism.org/skepticismaboutthesupernatural.pdf |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> the ], the ], the rejection of concepts that cannot ], and the ].<ref name="logical" /><ref name="Drange-1996" /> Nonbelievers contend that atheism is a more ] position than theism and that everyone is born without beliefs in deities;<ref name="encyc-unbelief-def-issues" /> therefore, they argue that the ] lies not on the atheist to disprove the existence of gods but on the theist to provide a rationale for theism.<ref>{{harvnb|Stenger|2007|pp=17–18}}, citing {{cite book |last=Parsons |first=Keith M. |title=God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytical Defense of Theism |year=1989 |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-0-87975-551-5}}</ref> | |||
==Etymology== | |||
] ({{bibleverse-nb||Ephesians|2:12}}) on the early 3rd-century ]. It is usually translated into English as " without God".<ref>The word {{lang|grc|αθεοι}}—in any of its forms—appears nowhere else in the ] or the ]. {{cite book |last=Robertson |first=A.T. |title=Word Pictures in the New Testament |origyear=1932 |accessdate=2007-04-12 |date=1960 |publisher=Broadman Press |chapter=Ephesians: Chapter 2 |chapterurl=http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/EPH2.RWP.html |quote=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.}}</ref>]] | |||
== Definition == | |||
In early ], the adjective ''{{transl|grc|atheos}}'' ({{lang|grc|]}}, from the ] + {{lang|grc|θεός}} "god") meant "godless". The word acquired an additional meaning in the ], "severing relations with the gods" or "denying the gods, ungodly", with more active connotations than ''{{transl|grc|asebēs}}'' or "impious". Modern translations of classical texts sometimes translate ''{{transl|grc|atheos}}'' as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also ''{{transl|grc|atheotēs}}'' ({{lang|grc|ἀθεότης}}), "atheism". ] transliterated the Greek word into the ] ''{{lang|la|atheos}}''. The term found frequent use in the debate between ] and pagans, with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other.<ref>{{cite book | last = Drachmann | first = A. B. | title = Atheism in Pagan Antiquity | publisher = Chicago: Ares Publishers | year = 1977 ("an unchanged reprint of the 1922 edition") | id = ISBN 0-89005-201-8 | quote = 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 ''{{transl|grc|atheos}}'' and ''{{transl|grc|atheotēs}}''; to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly, ''{{transl|grc|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. }}</ref> | |||
Writers disagree on how best to define and classify ''atheism'',<ref name="eb1911-atheism">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Atheism | quote = 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.}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |author=] |quote = 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 |title=Atheism and Agnosticism |publisher=] |access-date=October 24, 2021 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism |archive-date=October 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025062002/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Atheism">{{cite web |last1=McCormick |first1=Matt |title=Atheism |quote=It has come to be widely accepted that to be an atheist is to affirm the non-existence of God |publisher=] |access-date=October 24, 2021 |url=https://iep.utm.edu/atheism/#H1 |archive-date=February 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221061729/https://iep.utm.edu/atheism/#H1 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/Wheres_The_Evidence |publisher=] |title=Where's The Evidence |author=Michael Anthony |quote=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. |access-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926013024/https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/Wheres_The_Evidence |url-status=live}}</ref> Atheism has been regarded as compatible with ],<ref name="agnosticism-compatible" /><ref name="encyc-unbelief-compatible">{{cite book |last=Holland |first=Aaron |title=Agnosticism |date=April 1882 |publisher=The Journal of Speculative Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-25667906 |postscript=,}} in {{harvnb|Flynn|2007|p=}}: "It is important to note that this interpretation of agnosticism is compatible with theism or atheism, since it is only asserted that ''knowledge'' of God's existence is unattainable."</ref><ref name="martin-agnosticism-entails" /><ref name="barker-agnostic-atheism" /> but has also been contrasted with it.<ref name="eb2011-atheism-critique">{{harvnb|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."</ref><ref name="eb2011concise-atheism">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Atheism |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/atheism?show=0&t=1323944845 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Concise |publisher=Merriam Webster |access-date=December 15, 2011 |quote=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. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121050128/http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/atheism?show=0&t=1323944845 |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="eb1911-atheism-sceptical">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Atheism | quote = 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.}}</ref> | |||
=== Implicit vs. explicit === | |||
In ], the term ''atheism'' was derived from the ] ''{{lang|fr|athéisme}}'' in about 1587.<ref>Rendered as ''Athisme'': {{cite book | last = Golding | first = Arthur | coauthors = ] | authorlink = Arthur Golding | title = ] Woorke concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, written in French; Against Atheists, Epicures, Paynims, Iewes, Mahumetists, and other infidels | publisher = London | year = 1587 |pages= xx. 310 |quote= Athisme, that is to say, vtter godlesnes. }} Translation of ''De la verite de la religion chrestienne'' (1581). </ref> The term ''atheist'' (from Fr. ''{{lang|fr|athée}}''), in the sense of "one who denies or disbelieves the existence of God",<ref>{{OED|}}</ref> predates ''atheism'' in English, being first attested in about 1571.<ref>Rendered as ''Atheistes'': {{cite book | last = Golding | first = Arthur | authorlink = Arthur Golding | title = The Psalmes of David and others, with ]'s commentaries | year = 1571 |pages= Ep. Ded. 3 |quote= The Atheistes which say..there is no God. }} Translated from French.</ref> ''Atheist'' as a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hanmer | first = Meredith | title = The auncient ecclesiasticall histories of the first six hundred years after Christ, written by Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius | publisher = London | year = 1577 |pages= 63 |oclc= 55193813 |quote= The opinion which they conceaue of you, to be Atheists, or godlesse men. }}</ref> The words ''deist'' and ''theist'' entered English after ''atheism'', being first attested in 1621<ref>{{cite book | last = Burton | first = Robert | authorlink = Robert Burton (scholar) |title = ] | year = 1621 |pages= III. iv. II. i |quote= Cosen-germans to these men are many of our great Philosophers and Deists. }}</ref> and 1662,<ref>{{cite book | last = Martin | first = Edward | authorlink = |title = His opinion concerning the difference between the Church of England and Geneva |publisher = London | year = 1662 |chapter = Five Letters |pages= 45 |quote= To have said my office..twice a day..among Rebels, Theists, Atheists, Philologers, Wits, Masters of Reason, Puritanes . }}</ref> respectively, and followed by '']'' in 1678<ref>{{cite book | last = Cudworth | first = Ralph | authorlink = Ralph Cudworth |title = The true intellectual system of the universe |publisher = London | year = 1678 |pages= Preface |quote= Nor indeed out of a meer Partiall Regard to that Cause of Theism neither, which we were engaged in. }}</ref> and '']'' in 1682.<ref>{{cite book | last = Dryden | first = John | authorlink = John Dryden |title = Religio laici, or A laymans faith, a poem |publisher = London | year = 1682 |oclc = 11081103 |pages= Preface |quote=... 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... }}</ref> ''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.<ref>The '']'' 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. {{cite book | title = ] | edition = Second Edition | year = 1989 | publisher = Oxford University Press, USA | id = ISBN 0-19-861186-2}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|Implicit and explicit atheism}} | |||
] writes that "During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the word 'atheist' was still reserved exclusively for ].... The term 'atheist' was an insult. Nobody would have dreamed of calling ''himself'' an atheist."<ref>{{cite book | last = Armstrong | first = Karen | authorlink = Karen Armstrong | title = A History of God | year = 1999 | publisher = London: Vintage | id = ISBN 0-09-927367-5}}</ref> ''Atheism'' was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the ] ] ].<ref name="adevism">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 ] deities. It is on this basis that the obsolete term '']'' was coined in the late 19th century to describe an absence of belief in plural deities. {{cite journal | author = Britannica | title = Atheonism | journal = ] | edition = 11th Edition | year = 1911}}</ref> In the 20th century, ] 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".<ref name="martin">Martin, Michael. ''''. Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN 0521842700.</ref> 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.<ref name="martin"/><ref>{{cite web | last = Cline | first = Austin | title = What Is the Definition of Atheism? | url = http://atheism.about.com/od/definitionofatheism/a/definition.htm | accessdate = 2006-10-21 | year = 2006 | publisher = ]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Flew | first = Antony | authorlink = Antony Flew | title = God, Freedom, and Immortality: A Critical Analysis | publisher = Buffalo, NY: Prometheus | year = 1984 | id = ISBN 0-87975-127-4}}</ref> | |||
] and ] atheism (sizes in the diagram are not meant to indicate relative sizes within a population). | |||
==Definitions and distinctions== | |||
<br /> | |||
] | |||
Explicit strong/positive atheists (in {{Font color|purple|'''purple'''}} on the '''right''') assert that ''"at least one deity exists"'' is a false statement. | |||
Writers have disagreed on how best to define and classify ''atheism'',<ref>"Atheism", Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Edition, fetched April 2007.</ref> contesting what supernatural entities it applies to, whether it is an assertion in its own right or merely the absence of one, and whether it requires a conscious, explicit rejection. A variety of categories have been proposed to try to distinguish the different forms of atheism, most of which treat atheism as "absence of belief in deities" in order to explore the varieties of this nontheism. | |||
<br /> | |||
Explicit weak/negative atheists (in {{Font color|blue|'''blue'''}} on the '''right''') reject or eschew belief that any deities exist without asserting that ''"at least one deity exists"'' is a false statement. | |||
<br /> | |||
Implicit weak/negative atheists (in {{Font color|blue|'''blue'''}} on the '''left''') 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 defining ''atheism'' arises from the definitions of words like ''deity'' and ''god''. The variety of wildly different ] and deities lead to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. The ancient Romans accused Christians of being atheists for not worshiping the ] deities. Gradually, this view fell into disfavor as ''theism'' came to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity.{{sfn|Martin|2006}} With respect to the range of phenomena being rejected, atheism may counter anything from the existence of a deity, to the existence of any ], ], or ] concepts.<ref name="eb2011-Rejection-of-all-religious-beliefs" /> | |||
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, ] said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God."<ref>{{cite book |last=d'Holbach |first=P.H.T. |author-link=Baron d'Holbach |title=Good Sense |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7319 |year=1772 |access-date=April 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623131908/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7319 |archive-date=June 23, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, ] suggested 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."<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=14}}.</ref> | |||
''Implicit atheism'' is "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it" and ''explicit atheism'' is the conscious rejection of belief. It is usual to define atheism in terms of an explicit stance against theism.<ref>{{cite web |author=] |quote=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 |title=Atheism and Agnosticism |publisher=] |access-date=October 24, 2021 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism |archive-date=October 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025062002/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Atheism"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/Wheres_The_Evidence |publisher=] |title=Where's The Evidence |author=Michael Anthony |quote = 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. |access-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926013024/https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/Wheres_The_Evidence |url-status=live}}</ref> For the purposes of his paper on "philosophical atheism", ] contested including the mere absence of theistic belief as a type of atheism.<ref name= Nagel1959>{{cite book |title=Basic Beliefs: The Religious Philosophies of Mankind |chapter=Philosophical Concepts of Atheism |first=Ernest |last=Nagel |author-link=Ernest Nagel |year=1959 |publisher=Sheridan House |quote=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 some ''philosophic'' concepts of atheism}} | |||
===Range=== | |||
<br />reprinted in ''Critiques of God'', edited by Peter A. Angeles, Prometheus Books, 1997.</ref> ] classifies as ''innocents'' those who never considered the question because they lack any understanding of what a god is, for example one-month-old babies.{{sfn|Oppy|2018|p=4|ps=: 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}} | |||
Part of the ambiguity and controversy involved in defining ''atheism'' arises from the similar ambiguity and controversy in defining words like ''deity'' and ''God''. The plurality of wildly different ] and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. In contexts where '']'' is defined as the belief in a ] ], for example, people who believe in a variety of other deities may be classified as atheists, including ] and even ]. In the 20th century, this view has fallen into disfavor as ''theism'' has come to be understood as encompassing belief in all divinities.<ref name="mmartin">Martin, Michael. ''''. Cambridge University | |||
Press. 2006. ISBN 0521842700.</ref> | |||
=== Positive vs. negative === | |||
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, ], or ] concepts, such as those of Hinduism and Buddhism.<ref name="Britannica1992">{{cite journal | author = Britannica | title = Atheism as rejection of religious beliefs | url = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-38265/atheism | accessdate = 2006-10-27 | journal = ] | edition = 15th Edition | volume = 1 | pages = 666 | year = 1992 | id = 0852294735}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|Negative and positive atheism}} | |||
Philosophers such as ]<ref name="presumption">{{harvnb|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."</ref> and ]{{sfn|Martin|2006}} 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 agnosticism ] negative atheism.<ref name="martin-agnosticism-entails" /><ref name="agnosticism-compatible"/> ] encompasses both atheism and agnosticism.<ref name="barker-agnostic-atheism"/> However, many agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-baddar/why-im-not-an-atheist-the-case-for-agnosticism_b_3345544.html |title=Why I'm Not an Atheist: The Case for Agnosticism |date=May 28, 2013 |work=] |access-date=November 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209105433/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/omar-baddar/why-im-not-an-atheist-the-case-for-agnosticism_b_3345544.html |archive-date=December 9, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Kenny2006>{{cite book |first=Anthony |last=Kenny |author-link=Anthony Kenny |title=What I believe |chapter=Why I Am Not an Atheist |publisher=Continuum |isbn=978-0-8264-8971-5 |quote=The true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism ... a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed. |year=2006}}</ref> | |||
]]] | |||
===Implicit vs. explicit=== | |||
According to atheists' arguments, unproven ] propositions deserve as much disbelief as all other unproven propositions.<ref>{{harvnb|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."</ref> Atheist criticism of agnosticism says that the unprovability of a god's existence does not imply an equal probability of either possibility.<ref>{{harvnb|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."</ref> Australian philosopher ] argues that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalized ] which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic."<ref name="stanford">{{cite web |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ |title=Atheism and Agnosticism |first=J.C.C. |last=Smart |date=March 9, 2004 |publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205181908/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ |archive-date=February 5, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Consequently, some atheist authors, such as ], prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic, and atheist positions along a ]—the likelihood that each assigns to the statement "God exists".{{sfn|Dawkins|2006|p=50}} | |||
{{main|Implicit and explicit atheism}} | |||
There are multiple demarcations concerning the degree to which theism is not accepted. Minimally, atheism may be seen as the absence of belief in one or more gods. It has been contended that this broad definition includes newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas. As far back as 1772, ] said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God".<ref>{{cite book | last = d'Holbach | first = P. H. T. | authorlink = Baron d'Holbach | title = Good Sense | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7319 | accessdate = 2006-10-27 | year = 1772}}</ref> ] (1979) suggested 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 without 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."<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=14}}.</ref> Smith coined the term ''implicit atheism'' to refer to "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it" and ''explicit atheism'' to refer to the more common definition of conscious disbelief. | |||
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 called ''theistic ]''—the notion that all people believe in God from birth; within this view was the connotation that atheists are in denial.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cudworth |first=Ralph |author-link=Ralph Cudworth |title=The True Intellectual System of the Universe: the first part, wherein all the reason and philosophy of atheism is confuted and its impossibility demonstrated |year=1678}}</ref> Some atheists have challenged the need for the term "atheism". In his book '']'', ] wrote: | |||
<blockquote>In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-]" or a "non-]". 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.{{sfn|Harris|2006|p=51}}</blockquote> | |||
== |
== Etymology == | ||
{{main|Weak and strong atheism}} | |||
Philosophers such as ]<ref name="presumption">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.</ref> and ]<ref name="martin"/> have contrasted strong (positive) atheism with weak (negative) atheism. Strong atheism is the explicit affirmation that gods do not exist. Weak atheism includes all other forms of non-theism. According to this categorization, anyone who is not a theist is either a weak or a strong atheist.<ref>{{cite web | last = Cline | first = Austin | title = Strong Atheism vs. Weak Atheism: What's the Difference? | url = http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismquestions/a/strong_weak.htm | accessdate = 2006-10-21 | year = 2006 | publisher = ]}}</ref> The terms ''weak'' and ''strong'' are relatively recent; however, the equivalent terms ''negative'' and ''positive'' atheism have been used in the philosophical literature<ref name="presumption"/> and (in a slightly different sense) in Catholic apologetics.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/jm3303.htm |title=On the Meaning of Contemporary Atheism |journal=The Review of Politics |first=Jacques |last=Maritain |year=1949 |month=July |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=267–280}}</ref> Under this demarcation of atheism, most ] would qualify as weak atheists. | |||
without god") as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians 2:12, on the early 3rd-century Papyrus 46.]] | |||
While agnosticism can be seen as a form of weak atheism,<ref>{{cite journal |first=Anthony |last=Kenny |authorlink=Anthony Kenny |year=2006 |title=Worshipping an Unknown God |url=http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9329.2006.00339.x |journal=Ratio |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=442 |quote=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.}}</ref> most agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism, which they may consider no more justified than theism, or requires an equal conviction.<ref>{{cite book |first=Anthony |last=Kenny |authorlink=Anthony Kenny |title=What I believe |chapter=Why I Am Not an Atheist |publisher=Continuum |id=ISBN 0-8264-8971-0 |quote=The true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism ... a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed.}}</ref> The supposed unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of God is sometimes seen as indication that atheism requires a ].<ref>{{cite news |title=Atheists take bigger leap of faith than ‘believers’ |first=Ken |last=Freking |url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Jan/20050123Comm008.asp |accessdate=2007-05-30 |date=] |work=Columbia Daily Tribune}}</ref> Common atheist responses to this argument include that it is ] to conflate ] with all unproven propositions,<ref>{{harvnb|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."</ref> and that the unprovability of God's existence does not imply equal probability of either possibility.<ref>{{harvnb|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."</ref> Scottish philosopher ] 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."<ref name="stanford">{{cite web |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/ |title=Atheism and Agnosticism |first=J.C.C. |last=Smart |date=2004-03-09 |publisher=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |accessdate=2007-04-12}}</ref> Consequently, some popular atheist authors such as ] prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic and atheist positions by the ] assigned to the statement "God exists".<ref>{{Cite book |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |authorlink=Richard Dawkins |title=The God Delusion |id=ISBN 0-618-68000-4 |publisher=Bantam Books |year=2006 |pages=p. 50}}</ref> | |||
In early ], the adjective {{transliteration|grc|átheos}} ({{lang|grc|]}}, from the ] + {{lang|grc|]}} "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 term {{lang|grc|]}} ({{transliteration|grc|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 render {{transliteration|grc|átheos}} as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also {{lang|grc|]}} ({{transliteration|grc|atheotēs}}), "atheism". ] transliterated the Greek word into the ] {{lang|la|]}}. The term found frequent use in the debate between ] and ], with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other.<ref name=drachmann>{{cite book |last=Drachmann |first=A.B. |title=Atheism in Pagan Antiquity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cguq-yNii_QC&q=Atheism+in+Pagan+Antiquity |publisher=Chicago: Ares Publishers |year=1977 |orig-year=1922 |isbn=978-0-89005-201-3 |quote=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 and ''atheotēs''; to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly, ''átheos'' 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.}}</ref> | |||
The term ''atheist'' (from the French {{lang|fr|]}}), in the sense of "one who ... denies the existence of God or gods",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/atheist |title=atheist |publisher=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |year=2009 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127232035/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/atheist |archive-date=November 27, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> predates ''atheism'' in English, being first found as early as 1566,<ref>{{cite book |series=English recusant literature, 1558–1640 |volume=203 |title=A Replie to Mr Calfhills Blasphemous Answer Made Against the Treatise of the Cross |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20snAQAAIAAJ |first=John |last=Martiall |author-link=John Marshall (priest) |location=Louvain |year=1566 |page= |access-date=April 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423154826/https://books.google.com/books?id=20snAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=April 23, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> and again in 1571.<ref>Rendered as ''Atheistes'': {{cite book |last=Golding |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Golding |title=The Psalmes of David and others, with J. Calvin's commentaries |year=1571 |pages=Ep. Ded. 3 |quote=The Atheistes which say ... there is no God.|title-link=John Calvin}} Translated from Latin.</ref> ''Atheist'' as a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hanmer |first=Meredith |author-link=Meredith Hanmer |title=The auncient ecclesiasticall histories of the first six hundred years after Christ, written by Eusebius, Socrates, and Evagrius |publisher=London |year=1577 |page=63 |oclc=55193813 |quote=The opinion which they conceaue of you, to be Atheists, or godlesse men.}}</ref> The term ''atheism'' was derived from the ] {{lang|fr|]}},<ref name="mw-online">{{citation |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism |title=Merriam-Webster Online:Atheism |quote=First Known Use: 1546 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131121224609/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism |archive-date=November 21, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> and appears in English about 1587.<ref name=Golding>Rendered as ''Athisme'': {{cite book |others=Translated from French to English by Arthur Golding & Philip Sidney and published in London, 1587 |author-link=Philippe de Mornay |first=Philippe |last=de Mornay |title=A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion: Against Atheists, Epicures, Paynims, Iewes, Mahumetists, and other infidels |year=1581 |trans-title=De la vérite de la religion chréstienne (1581, Paris) |quote=Athisme, that is to say, vtter godlesnes.}}</ref> | |||
==Rationale== | |||
" (1552), ''Picta poesis'', by ]. Glasgow University Emblem Website. Retrieved on ].</ref><br/><br/>] illustrating practical atheism and its historical association with immorality, titled "Supreme Impiety: Atheist and Charlatan", from ''Picta poesis'', by ], 1552.]] | |||
''Atheism'' was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the ] ].{{efn|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 ] deities. It is on this basis that the obsolete term '']'' was coined in the late 19th century to describe an absence of belief in plural deities.}} In the 20th century, ] 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 "disbelief in God".{{sfn|Martin|2006}} | |||
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. | |||
== Arguments == | |||
===Practical atheism=== | |||
In ''practical'', or '']'', atheism, also known as ], 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=20}}.</ref> A form of practical atheism with implications for the ] is ]—the "tacit adoption or assumption of philosophical naturalism within ] with or without fully accepting or believing it."<ref name="neps">Schafersman, Steven D. "". Conference on Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise. Department of Philosophy, The University of Texas. February 1997. Revised May 2007. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
=== Epistemological arguments === | |||
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—the complete absence of the idea of gods from one's life.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=21}}.</ref> | |||
], based on the ideas of ], 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".<ref name="hume-metaphysics" /> | |||
Historically, ] has been associated with moral failure, willful ignorance and impiety. Those considered practical atheists were said to behave as though God, ethics and social responsibility did not exist; they abandoned duty and embraced ]. According to the French Catholic philosopher Étienne Borne, "Practical atheism is not the denial of the existence of God, but complete godlessness of action; it is a moral evil, implying not the denial of the absolute validity of the moral law but simply rebellion against that law."<ref>{{cite book | last = Borne | first = Étienne | |||
| title = Atheism | year = 1961 | publisher = New York: Hawthorn Books | id = ISBN 0-415-04727-7}}</ref> | |||
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."<ref name="Michael Martin">{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Michael |title=Atheism: A Philosophical Justification |date=1992 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=9780877229438 |page=26}}</ref> | |||
===Theoretical atheism=== | |||
{{Further|]}} | |||
Other arguments for atheism that can be classified as epistemological or ], assert the meaninglessness or unintelligibility of basic terms such as "God" and statements such as "God is all-powerful." ] 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 can be classified into some form of atheism or agnosticism. Philosophers ] and ] reject both categories, stating that both camps accept "God exists" as a proposition; they instead place noncognitivism in its own category.<ref>] (1998). " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723234754/http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/definition.html |date=July 23, 2013}}". ], ''Secular Web Library''. Retrieved 2007-APR-07.</ref><ref>] (1946). ''Language, Truth and Logic''. Dover. pp. 115–116. In a footnote, Ayer attributes this view to "Professor H.H. Price".</ref> | |||
Theoretical, or contemplative, atheism explicitly posits arguments against the existence of gods, responding to common ] such as the ] or ]. The theoretical reasons for rejecting gods assume various psychological, sociological, metaphysical, and epistemological forms. | |||
=== |
=== Ontological arguments === | ||
{{Further|], ]}} | |||
Epistemological atheism argues that people cannot know God or determine the existence of God. The foundation of epistemological atheism is ], which takes a variety of forms. In the agnosticism of ], the ] is considered an absolute, and all human thought is locked within the ], precluding the inference from a person's belief in a god to assertions about its existence. The ] agnosticism of ] and the ] only accepts knowledge deduced with human rationality; this form of atheism holds that gods are not discernible as a matter of principle, and therefore cannot be known to exist. ], based on the ideas of ], asserts that certainty about anything is impossible, so one can never know the existence of God. The allocation of agnosticism to atheism is disputed; it can also be regarded as an independent, basic world-view.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=20}}.</ref> | |||
], ] is all-encompassing.]] | |||
Other forms of atheistic argumentation that may qualify as epistemological, including ] and ], assert the meaninglessness or unintelligibility of basic terms such as "God" and statements such as "God is all-powerful". ] 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 ] and ] reject both categories, stating that both camps accept "God exists" as a proposition; they instead place noncognitivism in its own category.<ref>] (1998). "". ], ''Secular Web Library''. Retrieved on ].</ref><ref>] (1946). ''Language, Truth and Logic''. Dover. pp. 115–16. In a footnote, Ayer attributes this view to "Professor H. H. Price".</ref> | |||
Most atheists lean toward ontological ]: the belief that there is only one kind of fundamental substance. The philosophical ] is a view that matter is the fundamental substance in nature. This omits the possibility of a non-material divine being.<ref name="Graham Oppy">{{cite book |last1=Oppy |first1=Graham |title=Atheism: The Basics |year=2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1138506916 |edition=First|pages=14, 15}}</ref> According to ], only physical entities exist.<ref name="Graham Oppy"/><ref name="Daniel Stoljar">{{cite web |last1=Stoljar |first1=Daniel |title=Physicalism |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/physicalism/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-date=November 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103205051/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/physicalism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Philosophies opposed to the materialism or physicalism include ], ] and other forms of monism.<ref name="Leopold Stubenberg">{{cite web |last1=Stubenberg |first1=Stubenberg |title=Neutral Monism |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neutral-monism/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-date=December 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211135615/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neutral-monism/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Zdybicka 2005 19">{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=19}}.</ref><ref name="D. Gene Witmer">{{cite web |last1=Witmer |first1=D. Gene |title=Physicalism and Metaphysical Naturalism |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396577/obo-9780195396577-0258.xml |website=Oxford Bibliographies |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413141153/https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396577/obo-9780195396577-0258.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> ] is also used to describe the view that everything that exists is fundamentally natural, and that there are no supernatural phenomena.<ref name="Graham Oppy"/> According to naturalist view, science can explain the world with physical laws and through natural phenomena.<ref name="David Papineau">{{cite web |last1=Papineau |first1=David |title=Naturalism |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Stanford University |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/naturalism/ |access-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426123419/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/naturalism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Philosopher ] references a PhilPapers survey that says 56.5% of philosophers in academics lean toward physicalism; 49.8% lean toward naturalism.<ref name="Bourget and Chalmers">{{cite web |last1=Bourget |first1=David |last2=Chalmers |first2=David |title=The PhilPapers Surveys |url=https://philpapers.org/surveys/index.html |website=PhilPapers |publisher=The PhilPapers Foundation |access-date=April 13, 2021 |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723035239/https://philpapers.org/surveys/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
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".<ref name="Ruse and Bullivant">{{cite book |last1=Oppy |first1=Graham |editor1-last=Bullivant |editor1-first=Stephen |editor2-last=Ruse |editor2-first=Michael |title=The Oxford Handbook of Atheism |date=2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199644650 |edition=illustrated |chapter=chapter 4}}</ref>{{rp|53}} Fiona Ellis describes the "expansive naturalism" of ], ], and ] while 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.<ref name="Fiona Ellis">{{cite journal |last1=Ellis |first1=Fiona |title=Theistic naturalism |journal=] |date=2016 |volume=1st Quarter |issue=72 |page=45 |doi=10.5840/tpm20167224 |url=https://www.pdcnet.org/tpm/content/tpm_2016_0072_0045_0046 |access-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430232953/https://www.pdcnet.org/tpm/content/tpm_2016_0072_0045_0046 |url-status=live |issn = 1354-814X}}</ref> Christopher C. Knight asserts a ].<ref name="Christopher C. Knight">{{cite journal |last1=Knight |first1=Christopher C. |title=Theistic Naturalism and "Special" Divine Providence |journal=Journal of Religion and Science |date=2009 |volume=44 |issue=3 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9744.2009.01014.x |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2009.01014.x |publisher=Wylie online library |page=abstract |access-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430090059/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2009.01014.x |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Ruse and Bullivant"/>{{rp|55–60}} | |||
====Metaphysical arguments==== | |||
{{Further|], ]}} | |||
Metaphysical atheism is based on metaphysical ]—the "homogeneity of reality". Absolute metaphysical atheists, arguing for materialistic monism, cite the trend toward philosophical ] as rationale for explicitly denying the existence of God. Relative metaphysical atheists maintain an implicit denial of God based on the incongruity between their individual philosophies and attributes commonly applied to God, such as ], a ], or unity. Examples of relative metaphysical atheism include ], ], and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=19}}.</ref> | |||
=== Logical arguments === | |||
] is credited with first expounding the ]. ] in his '']'' (1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions:<br/><br/>"Is willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. 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?"]] | |||
{{further|Existence of God#Arguments against the existence of God|l1=Arguments against the existence of God|Problem of evil|Argument from nonbelief|l3=Divine hiddenness}} | |||
====Psychological, sociological and economical arguments==== | |||
Some atheists hold the view that the various conceptions of gods, such as the ] of Christianity, are ascribed logically inconsistent qualities. Such atheists present ] against the existence of God, which assert the incompatibility between certain traits, such as perfection, creator-status, ], ], ], ], ], ], personhood (a personal being), non-physicality, ], and ].<ref name=logical>{{cite web |url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/nontheism/atheism/logical.html |title=Logical Arguments for Atheism |publisher=] |website=The Secular Web Library |access-date=October 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117012714/http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/nontheism/atheism/logical.html |archive-date=November 17, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
{{Further|], ]}} | |||
Philosophers such as ] and ] argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs. ] and ], 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 to ], "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 reversed ]'s famous 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."<ref>] (1916). ''''. New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association. Retrieved on ].</ref> The view of theism as a political fiction dates at least as far back as ], who wrote in 1st-century Rome that "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful". | |||
] 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 ], ], and ] God is not compatible with a world where there is ] and ], and where divine love is ] from many people.<ref name="Drange-1996">{{cite web |first=Theodore M. |last=Drange |author-link=Theodore Drange |year=1996 |url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/aeanb.html |title=The Arguments From Evil and Nonbelief |publisher=] |website=Secular Web Library |access-date=October 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110135633/http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/aeanb.html |archive-date=January 10, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
====Logical and evidential arguments==== | |||
{{further|], ], ]}} | |||
Logical atheism holds that the various ], such as the ] of Christianity, are ascribed logically inconsistent qualities. Such atheists present ] against the existence of God, which assert the incompatibility between certain traits, such as perfection, creator-status, ], ], ], ], ], personhood (a personal being), nonphysicality, ] and ].<ref>Various authors. "Logical Arguments for Atheism". ], ''The Secular Web Library''. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
] is credited with first expounding the problem of evil. ] in his '']'' (1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions:{{sfn|Hume|1779}} "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 in ].<ref>V.A. Gunasekara, {{cite web |url=http://www.buddhistinformation.com/buddhist_attitude_to_god.htm |title=The Buddhist Attitude to God |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102053643/http://www.buddhistinformation.com/buddhist_attitude_to_god.htm |archive-date=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."</ref> ] (4th/5th century) outlined ].<ref>Vasubandhu wrote in his ''Sheath of ]'' (]): "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</ref> | |||
] 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 ], ], and ] God is not compatible with a world where there is ] and ], and where divine love is ] from many people.<ref>] (1996). "". ], ''Secular Web Library''. Retrieved 2007-04-18.</ref> | |||
=== Reductionary accounts of religion === | |||
====Anthropocentric arguments==== | |||
{{Further|], ]}} | |||
], or constructive, atheism rejects the existence of gods in favor of a "higher absolute", such as ]. This form of atheism favors humanity as the absolute source of ethics and values, and permits individuals to resolve moral problems without resorting to God. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, and Sartre all used this argument to convey messages of liberation, ], and unfettered happiness.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=20}}.</ref> | |||
{{Further|Evolutionary origin of religions|Evolutionary psychology of religion|Psychology of religion}} | |||
One of the most common ] has been to the contrary—that denying the existence of a just God leads to ], leaving one with no moral or ethical foundation,<ref name="misconceptions">{{cite web |url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=12346 |title=Common Misconceptions About Atheists and Atheism |accessdate=2006-10-21 |last=Gleeson |first=David |year=2006 |publisher=''American Chronicle''}}</ref> or renders life ] and miserable.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=275}}. "Perhaps the most common criticism of atheism is the claim that it leads inevitably to moral bankruptcy."</ref> ] argued this view in 1669.<ref>] (1669). '']'', II: "The Misery of Man Without God".</ref> | |||
Philosopher ]<ref>Feuerbach, Ludwig (1841) '']''</ref> | |||
==History== | |||
and psychoanalyst ] have argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs.<ref>Walpola Rahula, ''What the Buddha Taught''. Grove Press, 1974. pp. 51–52.</ref> ] and ], 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 to ], "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 reversed ]'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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/bakunin/godandstate/godandstate_ch1.html |title=God and the State |last=Bakunin |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Bakunin |year=1916 |publisher=New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521195435/http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bakunin/godandstate/godandstate_ch1.html |archive-date=May 21, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
{{main|History of atheism}} | |||
== Atheism and ethics == | |||
Although the term ''atheism'' originated in 16th-century ], ideas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from ] and the ]. | |||
=== |
=== Secular ethics === | ||
{{See also|Secular ethics|Secular morality}} | |||
] are found in ], which is otherwise a very theistic religion. The thoroughly materialistic and anti-religious philosophical ] School that originated in ] around ] is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of philosophy in India. This branch of Indian philosophy is classified as a ] system and is not considered part of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism, but it is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement within Hinduism.<ref>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.</ref> Chatterjee and Datta explain that our understanding of Carvaka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools, and that it is not a living tradition: | |||
] | |||
<blockquote> | |||
Sociologist ] analyzed 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Norris |first1=Pippa |first2=Ronald |last2=Inglehart |year=2004 |title=Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bruce |first=Steve |year=2003 |title=Religion and Politics |location=Cambridge}}</ref> | |||
"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."<ref>Satischandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta. ''An Introduction to Indian Philosophy''. Eighth Reprint Edition. (University of Calcutta: 1984). p. 55.</ref> | |||
His findings relating specifically to atheism in the US were that compared to religious people in the US, "atheists and secular people" are less ], ]d, ], ], ]tic, ], 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.<ref name="Zuckerman">{{cite journal |first1=Phil |last1=Zuckerman |year=2009 |title=Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions |url=http://pitweb.pitzer.edu/academics/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2014/12/FAC-Zuckerman-Sociology-Compass.pdf |journal=Sociology Compass |volume=3 |issue=6 |pages=949–971 |doi=10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608173754/http://pitweb.pitzer.edu/academics/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2014/12/FAC-Zuckerman-Sociology-Compass.pdf |archive-date=June 8, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Guardian>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/12/pope-benedict-atheism-secularism |title=Societies without God are more benevolent |work=] |date=September 2, 2010 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225221202/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/12/pope-benedict-atheism-secularism |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
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".<ref name="Baker and Smith 2015">{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Joseph O. |last2=Smith |first2=Buster G. |title=American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems |date=2015 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9781479896875 |page=100}}</ref> One of the most common ] has been to the contrary: that denying the existence of a god either leads to ] and leaves one with no moral or ethical foundation,<ref name="misconceptions">{{cite web |url=http://articles.exchristian.net/2006/12/common-misconceptions-about-atheists.html |title=Common Misconceptions About Atheists and Atheism |last=Gleeson |first=David |date=August 10, 2006 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001241/http://articles.exchristian.net/2006/12/common-misconceptions-about-atheists.html |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> or renders life ] and miserable.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=275}}. "Perhaps the most common criticism of atheism is the claim that it leads inevitably to ]."</ref> ] argued this view in his '']''.<ref>] (1669). '']'', II: "The Misery of Man Without God".</ref> There is also a position claiming that atheists are quick to believe in God in times of crisis, that atheists make ]s, or that "]".<ref>See, for example: {{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/ohair090896.htm |title=Atheist Group Moves Ahead Without O'Hair |first=Sue Anne |last=Pressley |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 8, 1996 |access-date=October 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008044601/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/ohair090896.htm |archive-date=October 8, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> There have, however, been examples to the contrary, among them examples of literal "atheists in foxholes".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lowder |first=Jeffery Jay |year=1997 |title=Atheism and Society |url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/society.html |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522025011/http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/society.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> There exist ] that do not require principles and rules to be given by a deity. | |||
Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include ] and ]. The rejection of a personal creator God is also seen in ] and ] in India.<ref name="Joshi">{{cite journal |last=Joshi |first=L.R. |year=1966 |title= A New Interpretation of Indian Atheism |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=16 |issue=3/4 |pages=189–206 |url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0031-8221(196607%2F10)16%3A3%2F4%3C189%3AANIOIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S }}</ref> | |||
According to Plato's ], the role of the gods in determining right from wrong is either unnecessary or arbitrary. ], and cannot exist without a wise creator, has been a persistent feature of political if not so much philosophical debate.<ref>{{harvnb|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."</ref><ref>In ]'s '']'' (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?{{'"}}</ref><ref name="Kant CPR A811">For ], 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).</ref> Moral precepts such as "murder is wrong" are seen as ]s, requiring a divine lawmaker and judge. However, many atheists argue that treating morality legalistically involves a ], and that morality does not depend on a lawmaker in the same way that laws do.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=38}}</ref> | |||
===Classical antiquity=== | |||
] '']'', ] was accused by ] of not believing in gods at all.]] | |||
Western atheism has its roots in ] ], but did not emerge as a distinct world-view until the late ].<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|pp=73–74}}. "Atheism had its origins in Ancient Greece but did not emerge as an overt and avowed belief system until late in the Enlightenment."</ref> The 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher ] is known as the "first atheist",<ref>Solmsen, Friedrich (1942). ''''. Cornell University Press. p 25.</ref> and strongly criticized religion and mysticism. ] viewed religion as a human invention used to frighten people into following moral order.<ref>"". (2007). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved on ].</ref> ] such ] attempted to explain the world in a purely ] way, without reference to the spiritual or mystical. Other pre-Socratic philosophers who probably had atheistic views included ], ], and ]. | |||
Philosophers ]<ref>{{cite video |people=] |title=Beyond Belief Session 6 |medium=Conference |publisher=The Science Network |location=], La Jolla, California |date=November 6, 2006}}</ref> and ]<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=40}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=43}}</ref> | |||
] was accused of being an atheist for ] (see ]) on the basis that he inspired questioning of the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/at/atheism.html |title=Atheism |accessdate=2007-04-12 |year=2005 |work=The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition |publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref> Although he disputed the accusation that he was a "complete atheist",<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas C. |last=Brickhouse |coauthors=Nicholas D. Smith |title=Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Trial of Socrates |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |id=ISBN 0415156815 |pages=p. 112}} In particular, he argues that the claim he is a complete atheist contradicts the other part of the indictment, that he introduced "new divinities".</ref> he was ultimately ]. | |||
=== Criticism of religion === | |||
Another atomic materialist, ], disputed many religious doctrines, including the existence of an ] or a ]; he considered the ] purely material and mortal. While ] did not rule out the existence of gods, he believed that if they did exist, they were unconcerned with humanity.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web | author=BBC |authorlink = BBC |title = Ethics and Religion—Atheism | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/ | accessdate = 2007-04-12 | publisher = ]}}</ref> | |||
{{See also|Criticism of religion}} | |||
] criticizes religion.]] | |||
Some prominent atheists—most recently ], ], ], and ], and following such thinkers as ], ], ], and novelist ]—have criticized religions, citing harmful aspects of religious practices and doctrines.<ref>{{harvnb|Harris|2005}}, {{harvnb|Harris|2006}}, {{harvnb|Dawkins|2006}}, {{harvnb|Hitchens|2007}}, {{harvnb|Russell|1957}}</ref> | |||
The Roman poet ] 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 '']'' ("On the nature of things"), he expounds his Epicurean views of the cosmos, atoms, the soul, mortality, and religion.<ref>{{gutenberg|no=785|name=On the Nature of Things by Lucretius}} Book I, "Substance is Eternal". Translated by W.E. Leonard. 1997. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
The 19th-century German political theorist and sociologist ] called religion "the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the ]". 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."<ref>Marx, K. 1976. Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Collected Works, v. 3. New York.</ref> | |||
The Roman philosopher ] held that one should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs — a form of skepticism known as ] — that nothing was inherently evil, and that ] ("peace of mind") is attainable by withholding one's judgment. His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.<ref name="gordonstein">Stein, Gordon (Ed.) (1980). "". ''An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism''. New York: Prometheus. Retrieved on ].</ref> | |||
Sam Harris criticizes Western religion's reliance on divine authority as lending itself to ] and ]tism.{{sfn|Harris|2006a}} Multiple studies have discovered there to be a correlation between ] and ] (when religion is held because it serves ulterior interests)<ref name="Moreira-almeida2006">{{cite journal |doi=10.1590/S1516-44462006005000006 |last1=Moreira-almeida |first1=A. |last2=Neto |first2=F. |last3=Koenig |first3=H.G. |year=2006 |title=Religiousness and mental health: a review |journal=Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria |volume=28 |pages=242–250 |pmid=16924349 |issue=3|doi-access=free }}</ref> and authoritarianism, dogmatism, and prejudice.<ref>See for example: {{cite journal |last1=Kahoe |first1=R.D. |date=June 1977 |title=Intrinsic Religion and Authoritarianism: A Differentiated Relationship |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=179–182 |jstor=1385749 |doi=10.2307/1385749}} Also see: {{cite journal |last1=Altemeyer |first1=Bob |first2=Bruce |last2=Hunsberger |year=1992 |title=Authoritarianism, Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Prejudice |journal=] |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=113–133 |doi=10.1207/s15327582ijpr0202_5}}</ref> | |||
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.<ref>"Atheism", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907, fetched April 2007.</ref> During the ], Christians were executed for their rejection of the ] in general and Emperor-worship in particular. When Christianity became the state religion of Rome under Theodosius in 381, ] became a punishable offense.<ref>Maycock, A. L. and Ronald Knox (2003). ''''. ISBN 0766172902.</ref> | |||
These arguments—combined with historical events that are argued to demonstrate the dangers of religion, such as the ], ]s, ], and ]—have been used in response to claims of beneficial effects of belief in religion.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Sam |author-link=Sam Harris (author) |title=An Atheist Manifesto |url=http://www.truthdig.com/dig/print/200512_an_atheist_manifesto |access-date=April 9, 2011 |publisher=] |year=2005 |quote=In a world riven by ignorance, only the atheist refuses to deny the obvious: Religious faith promotes human violence to an astonishing degree. |ref=none |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516191405/http://www.truthdig.com/dig/print/200512_an_atheist_manifesto |archive-date=May 16, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
===Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance=== | |||
Believers counter-argue that some ], such as the ], have also been guilty of mass murder.<ref name="John S. Feinberg, Paul D. Feinberg">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nl-f5SKq9mgC&pg=PA697 |last1=Feinberg |first1=John S. |author-link1=John S. Feinberg |last2=Feinberg |first2=Paul D. |author-link2=Paul D. Feinberg |title=Ethics for a Brave New World |publisher=] |quote=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.' |access-date=October 18, 2007 |isbn=978-1-58134-712-8 |year=2010}}</ref><ref name="Totalitarianism and Atheism">{{cite web |url=http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/answering-atheists/answering-atheists-arguments.html |title=Answering Atheist's Arguments |publisher=Catholic Education Resource Center |last=D'Souza |first=Dinesh |author-link=Dinesh D'Souza |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028215055/http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/answering-atheists/answering-atheists-arguments.html |archive-date=October 28, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Dawkins|2006|p=291}}<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525005256/http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/harris06/harris06_index.html |date=May 25, 2013 }} Sam Harris</ref><ref>"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." {{cite book |last1=Blackford |first1=R. |last2=Schüklenk |first2=U. |title=50 great myths about atheism |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-470-67404-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fR1rAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fR1rAAAAQBAJ |chapter=Myth 27 Many Atrocities Have Been Committed in the Name of Atheism |page=88 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030203821/https://books.google.com/books?id=fR1rAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=October 30, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Atheism, religions, and spirituality === | |||
]'s principle of ], ], is used in debates about God to this day.<ref>Mathew (1997). "". ], ''Secular Web Library''. Retrieved on ].</ref>]] | |||
{{further|Atheism and religion||Nontheistic religions}} | |||
The espousal of atheistic views was rare in Europe during the ] and ]; metaphysics, religion and theology were the dominant interests.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=4}}</ref> 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 ], ], ], and the ] maintained Christian viewpoints with ] tendencies. ] held to a form of ] he called '']'' ("learned ignorance"), asserting that God is beyond human categorization, and our knowledge of God is limited to conjecture. ] inspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with his ] limitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divine ] could not be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Followers of Ockham, such as ] and ] furthered this view. The resulting division between faith and reason influenced later theologians such as ], ], and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=4}}.</ref> | |||
People who self-identify as atheists are often assumed to be ], but some sects within major religions reject the existence of a personal, ].<ref name="winston2">{{cite book |editor-last=Winston |editor-first=Robert |title=Human |publisher=New York: DK Publishing, Inc |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7566-1901-5 |page=299 |quote=Nonbelief has existed for centuries. For example, Buddhism and Jainism have been called atheistic religions because they do not advocate belief in gods.}}</ref> It has been said that atheism is not mutually exclusive with respect to some religious and spiritual belief systems, including modern ] movements.<ref name="Neopaganism">{{cite book |editor1-last=Claydon |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Harper |editor2-first=Anne C. |editor3-last=Morehead |editor3-first=John W. |display-editors=1 |last1=Johnson |first1=Philip |last2=Clifford |first2=Ross |last3=Lewis |first3=Mark |last4=Madsen |first4=Ole Skjerbaek |last5=Morehead |first5=John W. |last6=Mulholland |first6=Ken |last7=Payne |first7=Simeon |last8=Riecke |first8=Christina |last9=Smulo |first9=John |display-authors=1 |date=2005 |title=Religious and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World ("New Age") A New Vision, A New Heart, A Renewed Call |volume=2 |publisher=William Carey Library |isbn=978-0-87808-364-0 |page=194 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfGhUW8RdUIC&q=neopaganism+atheism&pg=PA194 |quote=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).}}</ref><ref name="Wicca">{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Carol S. |url=https://archive.org/details/newreligions0000matt |url-access=registration |page= |title=New Religions |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |quote=There is no universal worldview that all Neo-Pagans/Wiccans hold. One online information source indicates that depending on how the term ''God'' is defined, Neo-Pagans might be classified as monotheists, duotheists (two gods), polytheists, pantheists, or atheists. |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7910-8096-2}}</ref> In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such as ] or ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/subdivisions/humanistic.shtml |title=Humanistic Judaism |date=July 20, 2006 |publisher=BBC |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416143510/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/subdivisions/humanistic.shtml |archive-date=April 16, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Levin |first=S. |date=May 1995 |title=Jewish Atheism |journal=New Humanist |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=13–15|title-link=Jewish atheism}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/christianatheism.shtml |title=Christian Atheism |date=May 17, 2006 |publisher=BBC |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302051910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/christianatheism.shtml |archive-date=March 2, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Altizer |first=Thomas J.J. |author-link=Thomas J. J. Altizer |title=The Gospel of Christian Atheism |url=http://www.religion-online.org/showbook.asp?title=523 |year=1967 |publisher=London: Collins |pages=102–103 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929171840/http://www.religion-online.org/showbook.asp?title=523 |archive-date=September 29, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Lyas |first=Colin |date=January 1970 |title=On the Coherence of Christian Atheism |journal=Philosophy |volume=45 |issue=171 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1017/S0031819100009578|s2cid=170899306 }}</ref> Atheism is accepted as a valid philosophical position within some varieties of ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chakravarti |first=Sitansu |title=Hinduism, a way of life |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |year=1991 |page=71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_-rASTgw8wC&pg=PA71 |isbn=978-81-208-0899-7 |quote=According to Hinduism, the path of the atheist is very difficult to follow in matters of spirituality, though it is a valid one. |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-date=October 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010005133/https://books.google.com/books?id=J_-rASTgw8wC&pg=PA71#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
The ] did much to expand the scope of freethought and skeptical inquiry. Individuals such as ] sought experimentation as a means of explanation, and opposed ]. Other critics of religion and the Church during this time included ], ], and ].<ref name="gordonstein"/> | |||
== |
== History == | ||
The ] and ] era 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 ]. 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 worldview. | |||
{{Main|History of atheism}} | |||
] 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 ], espoused a materialist philosophy and skepticism toward supernatural occurrences. In the late 17th century, ] came to be openly espoused by English intellectuals such as ], and practically all of the '']s'' of eighteenth century France or England held some form of deism. Despite their ridicule of Christianity, many deists held atheism in scorn. The first openly atheistic thinkers, such as ], appeared in the late 18th century, when expressing disbelief in God became a less dangerous position.<ref>{{cite book | last = d'Holbach | first = P. H. T. | authorlink = Baron d'Holbach | title = The system of nature | url = http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~freethought/holbach/system/0syscontents.htm | accessdate = 2006-10-27 | year = 1770}}</ref> ] was the most systematic exponent of Enlightenment thought, developing a skeptical epistemology grounded in empiricism, undermining the metaphysical basis of natural theology. | |||
=== Early Indian religions === | |||
]'s '']'' would greatly influence philosophers such as ], ], ], and ]. He considered God to be a human invention and religious activities to be wish-fulfillment.]] | |||
{{Main|Atheism in Hinduism}} | |||
The ] took atheism outside the salons and into the public sphere. Attempts to enforce the ] 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 ] to seize power in 1793, ushering in the ]. At its climax, the more militant atheists attempted to forcibly de-Christianize France, replacing religion with a ]. These persecutions ended with the ], but some of the secularizing measures of this period remained a permanent legacy of French politics. | |||
Ideas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from the ]<ref name="Pandian 1996 64">{{cite book |last=Pandian |title=India, that is, sidd |publisher=Allied Publishers |year=1996 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B90uj14NHjMC&pg=PA64 |isbn=978-81-7023-561-3 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-date=October 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007055548/https://books.google.com/books?id=B90uj14NHjMC&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> and the ].<ref name="GraftonMostSettis">{{cite book |date=2010 |last=Mulsow |first=Martin |chapter=Atheism |title=The Classical Tradition |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&q=devil+poseidon+pan&pg=PA264 |editor1-last=Grafton |editor1-first=Anthony |editor1-link=Anthony Grafton |editor2-last=Most |editor2-first=Glenn W. |editor2-link=Glenn W. Most |editor3-last=Settis |editor3-first=Salvatore |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts and London |isbn=978-0-674-03572-0 |pages=96–97 |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206135820/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&pg=PA264&dq=devil+poseidon+pan#v=onepage&q=devil%20poseidon%20pan&f=false |archive-date=December 6, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Atheistic schools are found in early Indian thought and have existed from the times of the ].<ref name="Pandian 1996 64"/> Among the six ] schools of Hindu philosophy, ], the oldest philosophical school of thought, does not accept God, and the early ] also rejected the notion of God.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dasgupta |first=Surendranath |title=A history of Indian philosophy, Volume 1 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1992 |page=258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PoaMFmS1_lEC&pg=PA258 |isbn=978-81-208-0412-8}}</ref> | |||
The ] 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 ], the ] in Italy, and the growth of an international ] movement. | |||
The thoroughly materialistic and anti-theistic philosophical ] (or ''Lokāyata'') school that originated in ] around the 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of philosophy in India, similar to the Greek ]. This branch of Indian philosophy is classified as ] due to its rejection of the authority of ] and hence is not considered part of the six orthodox schools of ]. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement in ancient India.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 3, 2019|title=The ancient connections between atheism, buddhism and Hinduism|url=https://qz.com/india/1585631/the-ancient-connections-between-atheism-buddhism-and-hinduism/|url-status=live|website=Quartz.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403094858/https://qz.com/india/1585631/the-ancient-connections-between-atheism-buddhism-and-hinduism/ |archive-date=April 3, 2019 }}</ref><ref>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}}.</ref> | |||
In the latter half of the 19th century, atheism rose to prominence under the influence of ] and ] philosophers. Many prominent German philosophers of this era denied the existence of deities and were critical of religion, including ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=BKz2FcDrFy0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=nietzsche+schopenhauer+marx+feuerbach&ots=Uj5_B0kDbS&sig=1lXbokGVRbwxqAIbmcOwL033N88 |title=Subjectivity and Irreligion: Atheism and Agnosticism in Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |accessdate=2007-04-12 |last=Ray |first=Matthew Alun |date=]}}</ref> | |||
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Satischandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta explain in ''An Introduction to Indian Philosophy'' that our understanding of Chārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools:<ref>Satischandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta. ''An Introduction to Indian Philosophy''. Eighth Reprint Edition. (University of Calcutta: 1984). p. 55.</ref> "Though ] 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 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 include ] and ]. The rejection of a personal creator "God" is also seen in ] and ] in India.<ref name="Joshi">{{cite journal |last=Joshi |first=L.R. |year=1966 |title=A New Interpretation of Indian Atheism |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=16 |issue=3/4 |pages=189–206 |doi=10.2307/1397540 |jstor=1397540}}</ref> | |||
===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 ], ], ], ], ], ], ],<ref>Overall, Christine. "Feminism and Atheism," in {{harvnb|Martin|2007|pp=233–246}}.</ref> and the general scientific and ]. | |||
=== Classical antiquity === | |||
Logical positivism and ] paved the way for ], ], ], and ]. Neopositivism and analytical philosophy discarded classical rationalism and metaphysics in favor of strict empiricism and epistemological ]. Proponents such as ] emphatically rejected the existence of God. In his early work, ] attempted to separate metaphysical and supernatural language from rational discourse. ] asserted the unverifiability and meaninglessness of religious statements, citing his adherence to the empirical sciences. Relatedly, the applied ] of ] sourced religious language to the human subconscious in denying its transcendental meaning. ] and ] argued that the existence of God is not logically necessary. Naturalists and materialistic monists such as ] considered the natural world to be the basis of everything, denying the existence of God or immortality.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=16}}.</ref><ref name="stanford"/> | |||
] pointing to the casus, the downward movement of the ]. In his work '']'', Lucretius stated that everything consists of material substance moving in infinity.]] | |||
The 20th century also saw the political advancement of atheism, spurred on by interpretation of the works of ] and ]. Following the ], ] in Russia made war against followers of religion.<ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=17}}.</ref> The ] and other ]s promoted ] and opposed religion, often by violent means.<ref>{{cite book| last=Solzhenitsyn |first= Aleksandr I.| title=The Gulag Archipelago| publisher=Harper Perennial Modern Classics|id=ISBN 0-06-000776-1}}</ref> | |||
Western atheism has its roots in ] ],<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|pp=73–74}}. "Atheism had its origins in Ancient Greece but did not emerge as an overt and avowed belief system until late in the Enlightenment."</ref><ref name="GraftonMostSettis" /> but atheism in the modern sense was extremely rare in ancient Greece.<ref name="Winiarczyk">{{cite book |last1=Winiarczyk |first1=Marek |title=Diagoras of Melos: A Contribution to the History of Ancient Atheism |date=2016|translator-last=Zbirohowski-Kościa|translator-first=Witold |publisher=Walther de Gruyter |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-11-044765-1 |pages=61–68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NryvDAAAQBAJ&q=Diagoras+of+Melos}}</ref><ref name="GraftonMostSettis" /> Pre-Socratic ] such as ] attempted to explain the world in a purely ] way and interpreted religion as a human reaction to natural phenomena,<ref name="Burkert1985">{{cite book |last=Burkert |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Burkert |date=1985 |title=Greek Religion |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=978-0-674-36281-9 |pages=311–317}}</ref> but did not explicitly deny the gods' existence.<ref name="Burkert1985" /><ref name=Vassa>Vassallo, C. (2018). Atomism and the Worship of Gods: On Democritus' 'Rational' Attitude towards Theology. ''Philosophie antique'', 18 105-125.</ref> | |||
], whom ] calls "the atheist",<ref>]. '']'' II 14, 2 (D. 171) = 59 B 113 DK.</ref> 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.<ref>]. '']'' II, 265 = 59 A 19 DK; ]. ''On superstition'' 10 p. 169 F – 170 A; ], II 12-14; ]. ''Commentary on Aristotle's Meteorology'' p. 17, 19 Stüve = 59 B 19 DK.</ref> In the late fifth century BCE, the Greek lyric poet ] was sentenced to death in ] under the charge of being a "godless person" (ἄθεος) after he made fun of the ], but he fled the city to escape punishment.<ref name="Winiarczyk" /><ref name="Burkert1985" /> In post-classical antiquity, philosophers such as ] and ] described Diagoras as an "atheist" who categorically denied the existence of the gods,<ref name=CIC>''... nullos esse omnino Diagoras et Theodorus Cyrenaicus ...'' Cicero, Marcus Tullius: ''De natura deorum''. Comments and English text by Richard D. McKirahan. Thomas Library, Bryn Mawr College, 1997, p. 3. {{ISBN|0-929524-89-6}}</ref><ref name=SextEmp>Sext. Emp. ''Pyr''. hyp. 3.218 cf. ''Math''. 10.50–53.</ref> 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.<ref name="Winiarczyk" /> On the other hand, the verdict has been challenged by ], who argues that Diagoras rejected the gods on the basis of the ], and this argument was in turn alluded to in Euripides' fragmentary play '']''.<ref name=Whit>Whitmarsh, T. (2016). Diagoras, Bellerophon and the Siege of Olympus. ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', 136 182-186.</ref> ] from a lost Attic drama that featured ], which has been attributed to both ] and ], claims that a clever man invented "the fear of the gods" in order to frighten people into behaving morally.<ref name=Davi>Davies, M. (1989). Sisyphus and the Invention of Religion (Critias ''TrGF'' 1 (43) F 19 = B 25 DK). ''BICS'' 32, 16-32.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kahn |first=Charles |date=1997 |title=Greek Religion and Philosophy in the Sisyphus Fragment |journal=Phronesis |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=247–262 |jstor=4182561 |doi=10.1163/15685289760518153}}</ref><ref name="Winiarczyk" /> | |||
Other leaders like ] (]), a prominent atheist leader of India, fought against ] and ] for discriminating and dividing people in the name of ] and religion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Michael |first=S. M. |year=1999 |chapter=Dalit Visions of a Just Society |editor= S. M. Michael (ed.) |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |title=Untouchable: Dalits in Modern India |id=ISBN 1555876978 |pages=pp. 31–33}}</ref> This was highlighted in 1956, when he made Hindu god Rama to wear a garland made of slippers, and made ] statements. <ref>"He who created god was a fool, he who spreads his name is a scoundrel, and he who worships him is a barbarian." ] (1996). "". ], ''International Humanist News''. Retrieved on ].</ref> Today even while ] oppose him, people from the depressed classes consider him a great leader. | |||
{{Rquote|right|"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!"|] denying the existence of the gods, from ]' '']'' {{circa}} 5th century BCE, fr. 286 ''TrGF'' 1-5<ref name=Coll>Collard, C., and Cropp, M.J. (2008). Euripides, Fragments: Volume VII, Aegeus-Meleager. Cambridge, MA, 298-301.</ref>}} | |||
In ], ] asked "Is God Dead?"<ref> online. 8 Apr 1966. Retrieved 2007-04-17.</ref> in response to the ], citing the estimation that nearly one in two people in the world lived under an antireligious power, and millions more, in Africa, Asia and South America, seemed to lack knowledge of the Christian God.<ref>"". ''TIME Magazine'' online. 8 Apr 1966. Retrieved 2007-04-17.</ref> The following year, the ]n government under ] announced the closure of all religious institutions in the country, declaring ] the world's first atheist state.<ref>Majeska, George P. (1976). "". ''The Slavic and East European Journal''. '''20'''(2). pp. 204–206.</ref> These regimes enhanced the negative associations of atheism, especially where anti-communist sentiment was strong in the ], despite the fact that some prominent atheists were anti-communist.<ref>{{cite journal |quotes= |last=Rafford |first=R.L. |year=1987 |title=Atheophobia—an introduction |journal= Religious Humanism|volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=32–37 }}</ref> Since the fall of the ], the number of actively antireligious regimes has reduced considerably. In 2006, Timothy Shah of the ] 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."<ref>"". 2006-07-18. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Retrieved 2007-04-18.</ref> Gregory Paul and Phil Zuckerman consider this a myth, and suggest that the actual situation is more complex and nuanced.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Gregory |last=Paul |authorlink=Gregory S. Paul |coauthors=Phil Zuckerman |title=Why the Gods Are Not Winning |journal=Edge |volume=209 |year=2007 |url=http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge209.html#gp |accessdate=2007-05-16}}</ref> | |||
] has 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."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bremmer |first=Jan |title=Atheism in Antiquity |postscript=,}} in {{harvnb|Martin|2006|pp=12–13}}</ref><ref name="Garland2008">{{cite book |last1=Garland |first1=Robert |title=Ancient Greece: Everyday Life in the Birthplace of Western Civilization |date=2008 |publisher=Sterling |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-4549-0908-8 |page=209}}</ref> The Athenian public associated Socrates ({{circa|470–399 BCE}}) with the trends in pre-Socratic philosophy towards naturalistic inquiry and the rejection of divine explanations for phenomena.<ref name="Burkert1985" /><ref name="Bremmer" /> ]' comic play '']'' (performed 423 BCE) portrays Socrates as teaching his students that the traditional Greek deities do not exist.<ref name="Burkert1985" /><ref name="Bremmer" /> Socrates was later tried and executed under the charge of not believing in the gods of the state and instead worshipping foreign gods.<ref name="Burkert1985" /><ref name="Bremmer" /> Socrates himself vehemently denied the charges of atheism at his trial.<ref name="Burkert1985" /><ref name="Bremmer">{{cite book |last=Bremmer |first=Jan |title=Atheism in Antiquity |postscript=,}} in {{harvnb|Martin|2006|pp=14–19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Brickhouse |last2=Smith |first2=Nicholas D. |title=Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Trial of Socrates |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-15681-3 |page=112}}</ref> From a survey of these 5th-century BCE philosophers, ] has 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".<ref name=Sedl>Sedley, D. (2013). The atheist underground. In Harte and M. Lane (edd.), ''Politeia in Greek and Roman Philosophy''. Cambridge, 329-48.</ref> | |||
Religious skepticism continued into the ], and from this period the most important Greek thinker in the development of atheism was the philosopher ] ({{circa|300 BCE}}).<ref name="GraftonMostSettis" /> 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 (see ]).<ref name="EpicStanEncycl">{{cite web |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epicurus/ |title=Epicurus |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=Jan 10, 2005 |first1=David |last1=Konstan |access-date=November 10, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180802185445/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epicurus/ |archive-date=2018-08-02}}</ref> Although Epicurus still maintained that the gods existed,<ref name="Hickson2014">{{cite book |last=Hickson |first=Michael W. |editor1-last=McBrayer |editor1-first=Justin P. |editor2-last=Howard-Snyder |editor2-first=Daniel |date=2014 |chapter=A Brief History of Problems of Evil |title=The Blackwell Companion to The Problem of Evil |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J0ScAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-118-60797-8 |pages=26–27 |access-date=September 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120231324/https://books.google.com/books?id=J0ScAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 |archive-date=November 20, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GraftonMostSettis" /><ref name="EpicStanEncycl" /> he believed that they were uninterested in human affairs.<ref name="EpicStanEncycl" /> The aim of the Epicureans was to attain '']'' ("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.<ref name="EpicStanEncycl" /> | |||
==Demographics== | |||
{{main|Demographics of atheism}} | |||
] ({{circa|300 BCE}}) published his view that the gods were only the deified rulers and founders of the past.<ref>Fragments of Euhemerus' work in Ennius' Latin translation have been preserved in ] writings (e.g. by ] and ]), which all rely on earlier fragments in ] 5,41–46 & 6.1. Testimonies, especially in the context of polemical criticism, are found e.g. in ], ''Hymn to Zeus'' 8.</ref> Although not strictly an atheist, Euhemerus was later criticized by ] for having "spread atheism over the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods".<ref>], ''Moralia—Isis and Osiris'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902080058/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/moralia/isis_and_osiris%2A/b.html#23 |date=September 2, 2023 }}</ref> In the 3rd century BCE, the ] philosophers ]<ref name=CIC /><ref>Diogenes Laërtius, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, ii</ref> and ]<ref>Cicero, ''Lucullus'', 121. in Reale, G., ''A History of Ancient Philosophy''. SUNY Press. (1985).</ref> were also reputed to deny the existence of the gods. The ] philosopher ] ({{circa|200 CE}})<ref>{{cite book |last1=Klauck |first1=Hans-Joseph |editor1-last=van der Watt |editor1-first=Jan G. |title=Identity, Ethics, and Ethos in the New Testament |date=2012 |isbn=978-3-11-018973-5 |page=417 |url=https://www.gos_in_the_Neoogle.com/books/edition/Identity_Ethics_and_Ethw_Tes/Xnmt2z8PonYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA417&printsec=frontcover |access-date=October 9, 2020 |chapter=Moving in and Moving Out |publisher=Walter de Gruyter}} {{dead link|date=March 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> compiled a large number of ancient arguments against the existence of gods, recommending that one should ] regarding the matter.<ref>], ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'' Book III, Chapter 3</ref> His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.<ref name="gordonstein">Stein, Gordon (Ed.) (1980). " {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024429/http://www.positiveatheism.org/india/s1990c25.htm |date=September 30, 2007}}". ''An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism''. New York: Prometheus. Retrieved April 3, 2007.</ref> | |||
It is difficult to quantify the number of atheists in the world. Different people interpret "atheist" and related terms differently, and it can be hard to draw boundaries between ''atheism'', non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs. Furthermore, atheists may not report themselves as such, to prevent suffering from social stigma, ], and ] in certain regions. | |||
The meaning of "atheist" changed over the course of classical antiquity.<ref name="Winiarczyk" /> ] were widely reviled as "atheists" because they did not believe in the existence of the Graeco-Roman deities.<ref name="CE1913">{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Atheism}}</ref><ref name="Winiarczyk" /><ref name="Ferguson1993">{{cite book |last1=Ferguson |first1=Everett |title=Backgrounds of Early Christianity |date=1993 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-8028-0669-7 |pages=556–561 |edition=second}}</ref><ref name="Sherwin">{{cite journal |last1=Sherwin-White |first1=A.N. |title=Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted? – An Amendment |journal=Past and Present |date=April 1964 |issue=27 |pages=23–27 |jstor=649759|doi=10.1093/past/27.1.23 }}</ref> During the ], Christians were executed for their rejection of the ] in general and the ] in particular.<ref name="Sherwin" /><ref name="Maycock">Maycock, A.L. and Ronald Knox (2003). '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030191702/https://books.google.com/books?id=DmL8CljbqDwC |date=October 30, 2015 }}''. {{ISBN|0-7661-7290-2}}.</ref> 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.<ref name="Duran">{{cite book |last1=Duran |first1=Martin |title=Wondering About God: Impiety, Agnosticism, and Atheism in Ancient Greece |date=2019 |publisher=Independently Published |location=Barcelona |isbn=978-1-08-061240-6 |pages=171–178}}</ref> When Christianity became the state religion of Rome under ] in 381, ] became a punishable offense.<ref name="Maycock" /> | |||
A 2005 survey published in ] states that the non-religious make up about 11.9% of the world's population, and atheists around 2.3%. This figure does not include those who follow atheistic religions such as some forms of Buddhism.<ref name="Britannica demographics">{{cite web | |||
{{clear}} | |||
|url=http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9432620 | |||
|title=Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-2005 | |||
|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica | |||
|date=2005 | |||
|accessdate=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. | |||
</ref> | |||
=== Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance === | |||
According to a study by Paul Bell, published in the UK ''] Magazine'' in 2002, there is an inverse ] between ]. 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."<ref>Bell, Paul. "Would you believe it?" ''Mensa Magazine'', UK Edition, Feb. 2002, pp. 12–13</ref> A letter published in '']'' in 1998 reported a survey suggesting that belief in a personal God or ] was at an all time low among the members of the ], only 7.0% of which believed in a personal God as compared to more than 85% of the US general population.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Correspondence: Leading scientists still reject God |last=Larson |first=Edward J. |coauthors=Larry Witham |year=1998 |journal=Nature |volume=394 |issue= 6691 |pages=313}} Available at , Stephen Jay Gould archive. Retrieved on ]</ref> | |||
During the ], the ] experienced a ]. Along with advances in science and philosophy, Arab and Persian lands produced rationalists who were skeptical about revealed religion, such as ] (fl. 9th century), ] (827–911), and ] ({{circa|865}}–925),<ref>While strongly critical of revealed religion, Abu Bakr al-Razi did accept the existence of God, who was one of his five 'eternal principles' (next to soul, matter, time, and place); see {{harvnb|Adamson|2021}}. Whether Muhammad al Warraq and Ibn al-Rawandi were merely skeptical freethinkers or full-blown atheists is not clear; see {{harvnb|Stroumsa|1999}}.</ref> as well as outspoken atheists such as ] (973–1058). Al-Ma'arri wrote and taught that religion itself was a "fable invented by the ancients"<ref name="Nicholson318">Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, 1962, ''A Literary History of the Arabs'', p. 318. Routledge</ref> and that humans were "of two sorts: those with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains".<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214102422/http://www.sdsmt.edu/student-orgs/tfs/reading/freethought/islam.html |date=February 14, 2012 }} by Fred Whitehead; also quoted in Cyril Glasse, (2001), ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'', p. 278. Rowman Altamira.</ref> 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 Muslim ] attempting to refute them.<ref>''Al-Zandaqa Wal Zanadiqa'', by Mohammad Abd-El Hamid Al-Hamad, first edition 1999, Dar Al-Taliaa Al-Jadida, Syria (Arabic)</ref> | |||
A November–December 2006 poll published in the '']'' gives rates for the USA and five European countries; this poll shows 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, in contrast, the French are the least likely (27%). In France, 32% declared themselves to be atheists, with an additional 32% declaring themselves ].<ref>{{cite web | |||
|url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131 | |||
|title=Religious Views and Beliefs Vary Greatly by Country, According to the Latest Financial Times/Harris Poll | |||
|publisher=Financial Times/Harris Interactive | |||
|date=] | |||
|accessdate=2007-01-17}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
==Atheism, religion and morality== | |||
In Europe, the espousal of atheistic views was rare during the Early Middle Ages and ] (see ]).<ref name="Zdybicka 2005 4">{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= The Anthropology of Religion, Witchcraft, and Magic |edition= 2nd|last1= Stein|first1= Rebecca L.|last2=Stein|first2=Phillip L. |year= 2007|publisher= Allyn & Bacon|location= |asin= B004VX3Z6S|page= 219}}</ref> 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. ] inspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with his ] limitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divine ] could not be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Sects deemed heretical such as the ] were also accused of being atheistic.<ref name="Schultz 2016 p. 39">{{cite book |last=Schultz |first=T. |title=Assault on the Remnant: The Advent Movement The Spirit of Prophecy and Rome's Trojan Horse |publisher=Dog Ear Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4575-4765-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zr1pDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |access-date=2023-03-03 |page=39 |edition=Expanded |archive-date=April 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406110524/https://books.google.com/books?id=zr1pDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |url-status=live }}</ref> The resulting division between ] influenced later radical and reformist theologians.<ref name="Zdybicka 2005 4" /> | |||
{{main|Atheism and religion|Secular ethics}} | |||
] of a ], ] is commonly described as atheistic.]] | |||
The ] did much to expand the scope of free thought and skeptical inquiry. Individuals such as ] sought experimentation as a means of explanation, and opposed ]. Other critics of religion and the Church during this time included ], ], ], and ].<ref name="gordonstein" /> | |||
Although people who self-identify as atheists are usually assumed to be ], some sects within major religions have atheistic beliefs, and even reject the existence of a personal, creator God.<ref name="winston2">{{cite book | last = Winston | first = Robert (Ed.) | title = Human | publisher = New York: DK Publishing, Inc | year = 2004 | id = ISBN 0-7566-1901-7 | pages = p. 299 | quote=Nonbelief has existed for centuries. For example, Buddhism and Jainism have been called atheistic religions because they do not advocate belief in gods.}}</ref> In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such as ] or ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/subdivisions/humanistic.shtml |title=Humanistic Judaism |date=] |accessdate=2006-10-25 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Levin | first = S. | year = 1995 | month = May | title = Jewish Atheism | journal = New Humanist | volume = 110 | issue = 2 | pages = 13–15}}</ref> and Christian atheists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/christianatheism.shtml |title=Christian Atheism |date=] |accessdate=2006-10-25 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Altizer | first = Thomas J. J. | authorlink = Thomas J. J. Altizer | title = The Gospel of Christian Atheism | url = http://www.religion-online.org/showbook.asp?title=523 | accessdate = 2006-10-27 | year = 1967 | publisher = London: Collins | pages = 102–103}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Lyas | first = Colin | year = 1970 | month = January | title = On the Coherence of Christian Atheism | journal = Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy | volume = 45 | issue = 171 | pages = 1–19}}</ref> | |||
=== Early modern period === | |||
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 ] of ], which holds that a moral code should be applied consistently to all humans, to ], which holds that morality is meaningless.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|pp=21–22}}.</ref> | |||
Historian ] wrote that the ] had 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".<ref>Geoffrey Blainey; A Short History of Christianity; Viking; 2011; p. 388</ref> ] gained influence in France, Prussia, and England. In 1546, French scholar ] was executed upon accusation of being an atheist.<ref name="Bryson 2016 p. 40">{{cite book | last=Bryson | first=M.E. | title=The Atheist Milton | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-317-04095-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MnOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 | access-date=2022-10-19 | page=40 | archive-date=October 19, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019010744/https://books.google.com/books?id=6MnOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 | url-status=live }}</ref> The philosopher ] was "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 his ''Short Treatise on God''.<ref>Geoffrey Blainey; A Short History of Christianity; Viking; 2011; p. 343</ref> | |||
However, throughout its history, atheism has commonly been equated with immorality, based on the belief that morality is directly derived from God, and thus cannot be attained without appealing to God.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=275}}. "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."</ref><ref>In ]'s '']'' (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?'"</ref><ref name = "Kant CPR A811"> For ], 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).</ref> Moral precepts such as "murder is wrong" are seen as ]s, requiring a divine lawmaker and judge. However, many atheists argue that treating morality legalistically involves a ], and that morality does not depend upon a lawmaker in the same way that laws do,<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=38}}.</ref> based on the ], which either renders God unnecessary or morality arbitrary.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=39}}.</ref> | |||
] became increasingly frequent in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in France and England. Some Protestant thinkers, such as ], espoused a materialist philosophy and skepticism toward supernatural occurrences. By the late 17th century, deism came to be openly espoused by intellectuals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pantheism |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=November 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223113/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pantheism |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first known explicit atheist was the German critic of religion ] in his three writings of 1674.<ref>Winfried Schröder, in: Matthias Knutzen: Schriften und Materialien (2010), p. 8. See also Rececca Moore, ''The Heritage of Western Humanism, Scepticism and Freethought'' (2011), calling Knutzen "the first open advocate of a modern atheist perspective" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330182416/http://reason.sdsu.edu/germany.html |date=March 30, 2012 }}</ref> He was followed by two other explicit atheist writers, the Polish ex-Jesuit philosopher ] (who most likely authored the world's first treatise on the non-existence of God<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pacholczyk |first1=Natalia |title="Traktatów o istnieniu Boga napisano setki. O nieistnieniu tylko jeden i to w Polsce". Jego autor spłonął na stosie |date=March 28, 2024 |url=https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114883,30836931,traktatow-o-istnieniu-boga-napisano-setki-o-nieistnieniu-tylko.html#s=BoxMMtCzol3 |publisher=Gazeta,pl |access-date=March 28, 2024 |ref=Gazeta}}</ref>) and in the 1720s by the French priest ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue40/Onfray40.htm |title=Michel Onfray on Jean Meslier |publisher=William Paterson University |access-date=November 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112154508/http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue40/Onfray40.htm |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
Philosopher ] asserts that behaving ethically only because of divine mandate is not true ethical behavior, merely blind obedience.<ref> {{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=40}}.</ref> He argues that atheism is a superior basis for ethics than theism, claiming that a moral basis external to religious imperatives is necessary in order 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 therefore atheists have the advantage of being more inclined to make such evaluations.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=43}}.</ref> | |||
], atheist and editor of '']''.]] | |||
Atheists such as ] have argued that Western religions' reliance on divine authority lends itself to ] and ]tism.<ref>{{cite web | last = Harris | first = Sam | authorlink = Sam Harris (author) | title = The Myth of Secular Moral Chaos | url = http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=sharris_26_3 | accessdate = 2006-10-29 | publisher = ] | year = 2006a}}</ref> Indeed, ] and ] have been correlated with authoritarianism, dogmatism, and prejudice.<ref>See for example: Kahoe, R.D. (June 1977). "". ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion''. '''16'''(2). pp. 179–182. Also see: Altemeyer, Bob and Bruce Hunsberger (1992). "". ''International Journal for the Psychology of Religion''. '''2'''(2). pp. 113–133.</ref> This argument, combined with historical events that are argued to demonstrate the dangers of religion, such as the ]s, ]s, and ]s, are often used by ] atheists to justify their views;<ref>{{cite web | last = Harris | first = Sam | authorlink = Sam Harris (author) | title = An Atheist Manifesto | url = http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/200512_an_atheist_manifesto/ | accessdate = 2006-10-29 | publisher = ] | year = 2005 | quote = In a world riven by ignorance, only the atheist refuses to deny the obvious: Religious faith promotes human violence to an astonishing degree. }}</ref> however, theists have made very similar arguments against atheists based on the ] of ]s.<ref>{{cite book | last = McGrath | first = Alister | authorlink = Alister McGrath | title = The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World | year = 2005 | url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/march/21.36.html | accessdate = 2006-10-27 | id = ISBN 0-385-50062-9}}</ref> | |||
In the course of the 18th century, other openly atheistic thinkers followed, such as ], ], and other ].<ref name="Holbach-SoN">{{cite book |last=d'Holbach |first=P.H.T. |author-link=Baron d'Holbach |title=The System of Nature |url=https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/The-System-of-Nature-Vol-21/ |access-date=April 7, 2011 |year=1770 |volume=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617162007/https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/The-System-of-Nature-Vol-21/ |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> ] was a prominent figure in the ] who is best known for his atheism and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them being '']'' (1770) but also '']''. "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."<ref>Paul Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, ''System of Nature; or, the Laws of the Moral and Physical World'' (London, 1797), Vol. 1, p. 25</ref> In Great Britain, William Hammon and physician Mathew Turner authored a pamphlet in response to ]'s '']''. 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.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14120/pg14120-images.html | publisher=Gutenberg.org | title=Answer to Dr. Priestley's Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever | last=Hammon | first=William | last2=Turner | first2=Matthew | date=November 22, 2004 | access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref> | |||
Although ] is 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."<ref>Geoffrey Blainey; A Short History of Christianity; Viking; 2011; pp. 390–391</ref> The philosopher ] developed a skeptical epistemology grounded in ], and ]'s philosophy has strongly questioned the very possibility of metaphysical knowledge. Both philosophers undermined the metaphysical basis of natural theology and criticized classical ].<ref name="hume-metaphysics" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Natural Theology |url=https://iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/ |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=] |language=en-US |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508152553/https://iep.utm.edu/theo-nat/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
==Notes and references== | |||
{{reflist|2}} | |||
One goal of the ] was a restructuring and subordination of the clergy with respect to the state through the ]. Attempts to enforce it led to ] violence and the expulsion of many clerics from France, lasting until the ]. The radical ] seized power in 1793. The Jacobins were deists and introduced the ] as a new French state religion. | |||
*{{citation | |||
| last = Baggini | |||
In the latter half of the 19th century, atheism rose to prominence under the influence of ] and ] philosophers. German philosopher ] considered God to be a human invention and religious activities to be wish-fulfillment. He influenced philosophers such as ] and ], who denied the existence of deities and were critical of religion.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BKz2FcDrFy0C&pg=PA1 |title=Subjectivity and Irreligion: Atheism and Agnosticism in Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |last=Ray |first=Matthew Alun |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7546-3456-0 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023337/https://books.google.com/books?id=BKz2FcDrFy0C&pg=PA1 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1842, ] was the last person imprisoned in Great Britain due to atheist beliefs. ] notes that he may have also been the first imprisoned on such a charge. Law states that Holyoake "first coined the term ']'".<ref>{{cite book |title=Humanism. A Very Short Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xa7KOJvM2MMC |last=Law |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Law |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-955364-8 |page= |access-date=June 28, 2017 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023323/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xa7KOJvM2MMC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Holyoake |first=G.J. |author-link=George Holyoake |year=1896 |title=The Origin and Nature of Secularism. Showing that where Freethought Commonly Ends Secularism Begins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnxPAAAAYAAJ |location=London |publisher=Watts |pages=}}</ref> | |||
| first = Julian | |||
| authorlink = Julian Baggini | |||
=== 20th century === | |||
| title = Atheism: A Very Short Introduction | |||
| year = 2003 | |||
]]] | |||
| publisher = Oxford: Oxford University Press | |||
Atheism advanced in many societies in the 20th century. Atheistic thought found recognition in a wide variety of other, broader philosophies, such as ], ], ], ] and ],<ref name=feminism>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&q=%22Feminism+and+Atheism%22&pg=PA233 |last=Overall |first=Christine |chapter=Feminism and Atheism |year=2006 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Atheism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-82739-3 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023322/https://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&q=%22Feminism+and+Atheism%22&pg=PA233#v=snippet&q=%22Feminism%20and%20Atheism%22&f=false |url-status=live }} in {{harvnb|Martin|2006|pp=233–246}}</ref> and the general scientific movement.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&q=%22Feminism+and+Atheism%22&pg=PA233 |last=Overall |first=Christine |chapter=Feminism and Atheism |year=2006 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Atheism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-82739-3 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023322/https://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&q=%22Feminism+and+Atheism%22&pg=PA233#v=snippet&q=%22Feminism%20and%20Atheism%22&f=false |url-status=live }} in {{harvnb|Martin|2006|p=112}}</ref> | |||
| id = ISBN 0-19-280424-3}} | |||
Proponents of ] such as ] and ] emphatically rejected belief in God. ] such as ] and ] argued against the existence of God.<ref name="stanford" /><ref>{{harvnb|Zdybicka|2005|p=16}}</ref> | |||
*{{citation | |||
| editor-last = Martin | |||
State atheism emerged in Eastern Europe and Asia, particularly in the Soviet Union under ] and ],<ref>Victoria Smolkin, ''A Sacred Space is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism'' (Princeton UP, 2018) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221605/https://issforum.org/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-XXI-56.pdf |date=April 24, 2022 }}</ref> and in ] under ]. Atheist and anti-religious policies in the Soviet Union included ], the outlawing of religious instruction in the schools, and the emergence of the ].<ref>]; ''Russia under the Bolshevik Regime''; The Harvill Press; 1994; pp. 339–340</ref><ref name="Viking p.494">]; '']''; Viking; 2011; p. 494</ref> Stalin softened his opposition to the Orthodox church in order to improve public acceptance of his regime during the second world war.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=S.A. |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-960205-6 |chapter=Religion Under Communism |last=Madsen |first=Richard |author1-link=Richard Madsen (sociologist) |page=588 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMd7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA586 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMd7AgAAQBAJ |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151028090400/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMd7AgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=October 28, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| editor-first = Michael | |||
| editor-link = Michael Martin (philosopher) | |||
In 1966, '']'' magazine asked "Is God Dead?"<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19660408,00.html |title=Is God Dead? |magazine=] |date=April 8, 1966 |at=Cover |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209112100/http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19660408,00.html |archive-date=December 9, 2013}}</ref> in response to the ], 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.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,835309,00.html |title='Is God Dead?' |magazine=Time |date=April 8, 1966 |access-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713013434/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,835309,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| title = The Cambridge Companion to Atheism | |||
| publisher = Cambridge: Cambridge University Press | |||
Leaders like ], a prominent atheist leader of ], fought against ] and ] for discriminating and dividing people in the name of ] and religion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Michael |first=S.M. |year=1999 |chapter=Dalit Visions of a Just Society |editor-last=Michael |editor-first=S. M. |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |title=Untouchable: Dalits in Modern India |isbn=978-1-55587-697-5 |pages= |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/foreignpolicyact0000gins_t2j6/page/31 }}</ref><ref>"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). " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211052228/http://iheu.org/content/atheism-south-india-2 |date=December 11, 2013}}". ], ''International Humanist News''. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref> In the United States, atheist ] was the plaintiff in a 1948 ] case that struck down religious education in US public schools.<ref>{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Douglas |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/obituaries/26mccullum.html |title=Vashti McCollum, 93, Plaintiff In a Landmark Religion Suit – Obituary |work=] |date=August 26, 2006 |access-date=November 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727150236/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/obituaries/26mccullum.html |archive-date=July 27, 2018 |url-status=live |ref=none}}</ref> ] was one of the most influential American atheists; she brought forth the 1963 Supreme Court case '']'' which banned compulsory prayer in public schools.<ref>{{cite book |title=Religion on Trial |last=Jurinski |first=James |year=2004 |publisher=AltraMira Press |location=Walnut Creek, California |isbn=978-0-7591-0601-7 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Yq_z5LaCjsC&pg=PA48 |access-date=July 23, 2009 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023335/https://books.google.com/books?id=0Yq_z5LaCjsC&pg=PA48 |url-status=live }}</ref> The ] was co-founded by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter, ], in 1976 in the United States. It promotes the ].<ref name="aboutCalling">{{cite news |title=The atheists' calling the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking its latest battle to the U.S. Supreme court. It's a milestone for the often-vilified but financially strong group, which has seen its membership grow to an all-time high |url=http://host.madison.com/news/the-atheists-calling-the-madison-based-freedom-from-religion-foundation/article_85a849c9-f26a-50e8-8a04-cf8bc889d8a0.html |date=February 25, 2010 |last=Erickson |first=Doug |newspaper=] |access-date=June 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625205513/http://host.madison.com/news/the-atheists-calling-the-madison-based-freedom-from-religion-foundation/article_85a849c9-f26a-50e8-8a04-cf8bc889d8a0.html |archive-date=June 25, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://host.madison.com/news/the-atheists-calling-the-madison-based-freedom-from-religion-foundation/article_85a849c9-f26a-50e8-8a04-cf8bc889d8a0.html |title=The Atheists' Calling |publisher=] |first=Doug |last=Erickson |date=February 25, 2007 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625205513/http://host.madison.com/news/the-atheists-calling-the-madison-based-freedom-from-religion-foundation/article_85a849c9-f26a-50e8-8a04-cf8bc889d8a0.html |archive-date=June 25, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| year = 2007 | |||
| id = ISBN 0-521-60367-6}} | |||
=== 21st century === | |||
*{{citation | |||
{{Main|New Atheism}} | |||
| last = Smith | |||
| first = George H. | |||
], ] and ] in 2015.]] | |||
| authorlink = George H. Smith | |||
"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."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html |title=The rise of the New Atheists |publisher=CNN |first=Simon |last=Hooper |access-date=March 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408094135/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html |archive-date=April 8, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><!--- NB: they may also advocate other views---> The movement is commonly associated with ], ], Richard Dawkins, ], and ].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Preview: The Four Horsemen of New Atheism reunited |first=Alice |last=Gribbin |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/12/richard-dawkins-issue-hitchens |journal=] |date=December 22, 2011 |access-date=February 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410071709/http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2011/12/richard-dawkins-issue-hitchens |archive-date=April 10, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Stenger|2009}} The religiously-motivated terrorist ] and the partially successful attempts to change the American science curriculum to include ] ideas, together with support for those ideas from the ], have been cited by "new" atheists as evidence of a need to move toward a more secular society.<ref name="sharedvalues">{{cite journal |last=Garfield |first=Alan E |url=http://lawreview.vermontlaw.edu/files/2012/02/13-Garfield-Book-2-Vol-33.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207172239/http://lawreview.vermontlaw.edu/files/2012/02/13-Garfield-Book-2-Vol-33.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 7, 2013 |journal=Vermont Law Review |volume=33 Book 2 |title=Finding Shared Values in a Diverse Society: Lessons From the Intelligent Design Controversy |access-date=November 21, 2013}}</ref> | |||
| title = Atheism: The Case Against God | |||
| year = 1979 | |||
== Demographics == | |||
| publisher = Buffalo, New York: Prometheus | |||
| id = ISBN 0-87975-124-X}} | |||
{{Main|Demographics of atheism}} | |||
*{{citation | |||
| last = Zdybicka | |||
], 2010<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/|title=Religious Composition by Country, 2010-2050|date=April 2, 2015|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|language=en-US|access-date=April 27, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215031743/http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/|url-status=live}}</ref>]] | |||
| first = Zofia J. | |||
| authorlink = Zofia Zdybicka | |||
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Nonreligious |title=Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents, Section on accuracy of non-Religious Demographic Data |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422093857/http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html |archive-date=April 22, 2011 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> A 2010 survey published in '']'' found 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.<ref name="eb-2010">{{cite web |title=Religion: Year in Review 2010: Worldwide Adherents of All Religions |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1731588/Religion-Year-In-Review-2010/298437/Worldwide-Adherents-of-All-Religions |website=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702182310/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1731588/Religion-Year-In-Review-2010/298437/Worldwide-Adherents-of-All-Religions |archive-date=July 2, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The average annual change for atheism from 2000 to 2010 was −0.17%.<ref name="eb-2010" /> Scholars have indicated that ] as 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.<ref name=":1"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623024354/http://www.sneps.net/RD/uploads/1-Shall%20the%20Religious%20Inherit%20the%20Earth.pdf |date=June 23, 2017}} by ], Belfer Center, Harvard University/Birkbeck College, University of London</ref><ref name="CambridgeZuckerman">{{cite book |doi=10.1017/CCOL0521842700.004 |chapter=Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Patterns |title=The Cambridge Companion to Atheism |date=2006 |last1=Zuckerman |first1=Phil |pages=47–66 |isbn=978-0-521-84270-9 }}</ref><ref name=":0"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213124500/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/eric-kaufmann/london-a-rising-island-of-religion_b_2336699.html |date=December 13, 2021}} by ], ''Huffington Post'', February 20, 2013</ref> | |||
| year = 2005 | |||
| contribution = Atheism | |||
According to global ] studies, 13% of respondents were "convinced atheists" in 2012,<ref name="Gallup2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.wingia.com/en/news/win_gallup_international_ae_religiosity_and_atheism_index_ao_reveals_atheists_are_a_small_minority_in_the_early_years_of_21st_century/14/ |title=WIN-Gallup International "Religiosity and Atheism Index" reveals atheists are a small minority in the early years of 21st century |date=August 6, 2012 |access-date=August 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825005955/http://www.wingia.com/en/news/win_gallup_international_ae_religiosity_and_atheism_index_ao_reveals_atheists_are_a_small_minority_in_the_early_years_of_21st_century/14 |archive-date=August 25, 2012}}</ref> 11% were "convinced atheists" in 2015,<ref name="wingia2">{{cite news |author=<!--none specified--> |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/13/399338834/new-survey-shows-the-worlds-most-and-least-religious-places |title=New Survey Shows the World's Most and Least Religious Places |newspaper=] |date=April 13, 2015 |access-date=April 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506110630/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/13/399338834/new-survey-shows-the-worlds-most-and-least-religious-places |archive-date=May 6, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2017, 9% were "convinced atheists".<ref name="WINGIA 2017">{{Cite web |url=http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/370/file/370.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114113506/http://www.wingia.com/web/files/news/370/file/370.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2017 |title=Religion prevails in the world |date=November 14, 2017|access-date=February 27, 2018}}</ref> {{as of|2012}}, the top 10 surveyed countries with people who viewed themselves as "convinced atheists" were ] (47%), ] (31%), the ] (30%), ] (29%), ] (15%), ] (15%), ] (14%), ] (10%), ] (10%), ] (10%), and ] (10%).<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Index of Religion and Atheism |url=http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf |publisher=] – ] |ref=REDC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016062403/http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf |archive-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref> A 2012 study by the NORC found that East Germany had the highest percentage of atheists while Czech Republic had the second highest amount.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Tom W. |title=Beliefs about God across Time and Countries |url=https://www.norc.org/PDFs/Beliefs_about_God_Report.pdf |access-date=February 26, 2021 |location=NORC, University of Chicago |page=7 |language=en |date=April 18, 2012 |archive-date=May 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522083304/http://www.norc.org/PDFs/Beliefs_about_God_Report.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The number of atheists per country is strongly correlated with the level of security for both the individual and society, with some exceptions.<ref name="Martin2007">{{cite book |last=Zuckerman |first=Phil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&pg=PA56 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Atheism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-60367-6 |editor=Martin, Michael T |location=Cambridge |pages=55, 57 |ol=22379448M |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031223718/https://books.google.com/books?id=tAeFipOVx4MC&pg=PA56 |archive-date=October 31, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| contribution-url = http://www.kul.lublin.pl/efk/angielski/hasla/a/atheism.pdf | |||
| editor-first = Andrzej | |||
=== Europe === | |||
| editor-last = Maryniarczyk | |||
] | |||
| title = Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy | |||
| volume = 1 | |||
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%.<ref name="EU">{{cite book |title=Social values, Science and Technology |publisher=Directorate General Research, European Union |year=2010 |pages=207 |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430163128/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{citation |title=Discrimination in the EU in 2012 |work=] |year=2012 |series=383 |page=233 |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf |access-date=August 14, 2013 |publisher=] |location=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202023700/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf |archive-date=December 2, 2012}} The question asked was "Do you consider yourself to be ...?", with a card showing: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Other Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, and non-believer/agnostic. Space was given for Other (Spontaneous) and DK. Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu did not reach the 1% threshold.</ref> | |||
| publisher = Polish Thomas Aquinas Association | |||
| accessdate = 2007-04-07}} | |||
According to a ] survey in 2012, about 18% of Europeans are ], including agnostics and atheists.<ref name="Religiously Unaffiliated">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated.aspx |title=Religiously Unaffiliated |date=December 18, 2012 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |access-date=November 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730043126/http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated.aspx |archive-date=July 30, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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%).<ref name="Religiously Unaffiliated" /> | |||
=== Asia === | |||
There are three countries and ] or regions where the religiously unaffiliated make up a majority of the population: ] (71%), ] (57%), Hong Kong (56%), and China (52%).<ref name="Religiously Unaffiliated" /> | |||
=== Australasia === | |||
According to the ], 38% of Australians have "no religion", a category that includes atheists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329231159/https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/AUS |url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2018 census, 48.2% of ] reported having no religion, up from 30% in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-place-summaries/new-zealand#religion |title=Place Summaries {{!}} New Zealand |website=Stats NZ |access-date=Nov 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127073855/https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-place-summaries/new-zealand#religion |archive-date=Nov 27, 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== United States === | |||
]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://atheistzone.com/|title=Atheist Zone|access-date=May 23, 2023|archive-date=May 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518005431/https://atheistzone.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atheistalliance.org/secular/articles/v12n3_conventionpt5.pdf |title=PDF of the Secular Nation article "A Conventioneer's Delight! Pt 5 of 5" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121031350/http://atheistalliance.org//secular/articles/v12n3_conventionpt5.pdf |archive-date=2008-11-21}}</ref>]] | |||
According to the ], 4.4% of Americans self-identified as atheists in 2014.<ref name="WVS">{{cite web |title=WVS Database |url=http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp |website=World Values Survey |publisher=Institute for Comparative Survey Research |date=March 2015 |access-date=January 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105141038/http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the same survey showed that 11.1% of all respondents stated "no" when asked if they believed in God.<ref name="WVS" /> 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%.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410223438/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |date=April 10, 2019 }}, Pew Research Center, May 12, 2015.</ref> 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.<ref name="GSS 2014">{{cite web |last1=Hout |first1=Michael |last2=Smith |first2=Tom W. |title=Fewer Americans Affiliate with Organized Religions, Belief and Practice Unchanged: Key Findings from the 2014 General Social Survey |url=http://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_Religion_2014.pdf |website=General Social Survey |publisher=NORC |date=March 2015 |access-date=July 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713122450/http://www.norc.org/PDFs/GSS%20Reports/GSS_Religion_2014.pdf |archive-date=July 13, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
According to the American Family Survey, 34% were found to be religiously unaffiliated in 2017 (23% 'nothing in particular', 6% agnostic, 5% atheist).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.christiantoday.com/article/nones-are-now-the-biggest-religious-group-in-the-us-with-families-torn-on-priorities/118935.htm |title='Nones' are now the biggest religious group in the US – with families torn on priorities |website=www.christiantoday.com |date=November 17, 2017 |language=en |access-date=December 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206140155/https://www.christiantoday.com/article/nones-are-now-the-biggest-religious-group-in-the-us-with-families-torn-on-priorities/118935.htm |archive-date=December 6, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/american-family-survey/2017 |title=DN American Family Survey 2017 |website=DeseretNews.com |language=en |access-date=December 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206144335/https://www.deseretnews.com/american-family-survey/2017 |archive-date=December 6, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |publisher=]: Religion & Public Life |date=May 12, 2015 |access-date=May 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410223438/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |archive-date=April 10, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a PRRI survey, 24% of the population is unaffiliated. Atheists and agnostics combined make up about a quarter of this unaffiliated demographic.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.prri.org/research/american-religious-landscape-christian-religiously-unaffiliated/ |title=America's Changing Religious Identity |work=PRRI |access-date=December 16, 2017 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131052457/https://www.prri.org/research/american-religious-landscape-christian-religiously-unaffiliated/ |archive-date=January 31, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 2023 ] study, 28% of Americans are religiously unaffiliated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alper |first=Gregory A. Smith, Patricia Tevington, Justin Nortey, Michael Rotolo, Asta Kallo and Becka A. |date=2024-01-24 |title=Religious 'Nones' in America: Who They Are and What They Believe |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/01/24/religious-nones-in-america-who-they-are-and-what-they-believe/ |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311080734/https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2024/01/24/religious-nones-in-america-who-they-are-and-what-they-believe/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Arab world === | |||
In recent years, the profile of atheism has risen substantially in the ].<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/4898/the-rise-of-arab-atheism |title=The rise of Arab atheism |date=June 29, 2015 |access-date=February 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206085946/https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/4898/the-rise-of-arab-atheism |archive-date=February 6, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> In major cities across the region, such as ], atheists have been organizing in cafés and social media, despite regular crackdowns from authoritarian governments.<ref name="auto" /> A 2012 poll by Gallup International revealed that 5% of Saudis considered themselves to be "convinced atheists".<ref name="auto" /> 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.<ref name="Tabah2016"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208013343/http://mmgsurvey.tabahfoundation.org/downloads/mmgsurvey_full_En_web.pdf |date=February 8, 2016 }}, Tabah Foundation, Abu Dhabi, 2016</ref> When asked whether they have "seen or heard traces of atheism in 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%.<ref name="Tabah2016" /> | |||
=== Attitudes toward atheism === | |||
{{See also|Discrimination against atheists}} | |||
] | |||
Statistically, atheists are held in poor regard across the globe. Non-atheists seem to implicitly view atheists as prone to exhibit immoral behaviors.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gervais |first1=Will M. |last2=Xygalatas |first2=Dimitris |last3=McKay |first3=Ryan T. |last4=van Elk |first4=Michiel |last5=Buchtel |first5=Emma E. |last6=Aveyard |first6=Mark |last7=Schiavone |first7=Sarah R. |last8=Dar-Nimrod |first8=Ilan |last9=Svedholm-Häkkinen |first9=Annika M. |last10=Riekki |first10=Tapani |last11=Klocová |first11=Eva Kundtová |last12=Ramsay |first12=Jonathan E. |last13=Bulbulia |first13=Joseph |title=Global evidence of extreme intuitive moral prejudice against atheists |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |date=August 7, 2017 |volume=1 |issue=8 |page=0151 |doi=10.1038/s41562-017-0151 |url=http://psyarxiv.com/csnp2/ |access-date=September 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118224040/https://psyarxiv.com/csnp2/ |archive-date=January 18, 2018 |url-status=live |hdl=10138/246517 |s2cid=45851307 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In addition, according to a 2016 ] publication, 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 "]".<ref>{{cite web |title=10 facts about atheists |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/ |website=Pew Research Center |access-date=January 23, 2018 |date=June 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121114119/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/ |archive-date=January 21, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 of ].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Corey L.|last2=Cohen|first2=Florette|last3=Solomon|first3=Sheldon|date=September 1, 2015|title=What If They're Right About the Afterlife? Evidence of the Role of Existential Threat on Anti-Atheist Prejudice|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550615584200|journal=Social Psychological and Personality Science|language=en|volume=6|issue=7|pages=840–846|doi=10.1177/1948550615584200|s2cid=145425706|issn=1948-5506|access-date=March 4, 2021|archive-date=June 11, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023827/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550615584200|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
=== Wealth, education, and reasoning style === | |||
{{Further|Religiosity and education}} | |||
] | |||
Various studies have reported positive correlations between levels of education, wealth, and ] with atheism.<ref name="VyseSI">{{cite journal |last1=Vyse |first1=Stuart |title=Are atheists sadder but wiser? |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |date=April 2020 |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=31–33}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="GeggelLiveScience">{{cite web |last1=Geggel |first1=Laura |title=Why are atheists generally smarter than religious people |url=https://www.livescience.com/59361-why-are-atheists-generally-more-intelligent.html |website=LiveScience |date=June 5, 2017 |publisher=Future US Inc. |access-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324203444/https://www.livescience.com/59361-why-are-atheists-generally-more-intelligent.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="intmag">{{Cite journal |last1=Lynn |first1=Richard |author-link=Richard Lynn |last2=Harvey |first2=John |last3=Nyborg |first3=Helmuth |title=Average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 nations |journal=] |year=2009 |volume=37 |pages=11–15 |doi=10.1016/j.intell.2008.03.004}}</ref><ref name="Zuckerman" /> According to 2024 data from ], atheists in the United States are more likely to be white compared to the general U.S. population (77% vs 62%).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Starr |first1=Michael Lipka, Patricia Tevington and Kelsey Jo |title=8 facts about atheists |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/07/8-facts-about-atheists/ |website=Pew Research Center |date=February 7, 2024 |access-date=May 14, 2024 |archive-date=May 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240514080410/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/07/8-facts-about-atheists/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="intmag"/> According to evolutionary psychologist ], atheism blossoms in places where most people feel economically secure, particularly in the ] of 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.<ref>Nigel Barber (May 18, 2010). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023828/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201005/why-atheism-will-replace-religion |date=June 11, 2024 }} . '']''. Retrieved March 17, 2021.</ref> | |||
The relationship between atheism and IQ, while statistically significant, is not a large one, and the reason for the relationship is not well understood.<ref name="VyseSI" /> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rhodes |first1=Nancy |last2=Wood |first2=Wendy |title=Self-esteem and intelligence affect influenceability |journal=Psychological Bulletin |date=1992 |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=156–171 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.111.1.156}}</ref> 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.<ref name="VyseSI" /> | |||
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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Daws |first1=Richard |last2=Hampshire |first2=Adam |title=The Negative Relationship between Reasoning and Religiosity Is Underpinned by a Bias for Intuitive Responses Specifically When Intuition and Logic Are in Conflict |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |date=December 19, 2017 |volume=8 |issue=2191 |page=2191 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02191 |pmid=29312057 |pmc=5742220 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Da Silva |first1=Sergio |last2=Matsushita |first2=Raul |last3=Seifert |first3=Guilherme |last4=De Carvalho |first4=Mateus |title=Atheists score higher on cognitive reflection tests |journal=MPRA Paper |issue=68451 |url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/68451/2/MPRA_paper_68451.pdf |access-date=July 20, 2020 |archive-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321211303/https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/68451/2/MPRA_paper_68451.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pennycook |first1=Gordon |author-link=Gordon Pennycook |last2=Ross |first2=Robert |last3=Koehler |first3=Derek |last4=Fugelsang |first4=Jonathan |date=April 2016 |title=Atheists and Agnostics Are More Reflective than Religious Believers: Four Empirical Studies and a Meta-Analysis |url= |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=e0153039 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1153039P |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0153039 |pmc=4824409 |pmid=27054566 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This "analytic atheist" effect has also been found among academic philosophers, even when controlling for about a dozen potential confounds such as education.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Byrd |first1=Nick |title=Great Minds do not Think Alike: Philosophers' Views Predicted by Reflection, Education, Personality, and Other Demographic Differences |journal=Review of Philosophy and Psychology |date=2022 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=647–684 |doi=10.1007/s13164-022-00628-y |s2cid=247911367 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-022-00628-y |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023831/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13164-022-00628-y |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
Some studies do not detect this correlation between atheism and analytic thinking in all of the countries that they study,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gervais |first1=Will M. |last2=van Elk |first2=Michiel |last3=Xygalatas |first3=Dimitris |last4=McKay |first4=Ryan |last5=Aveyard |first5=Mark |last6=Buchtel |first6=Emma E. |last7=Dar-Nimrod |first7=Ilan |last8=Klocová |first8=Eva Kundtová |last9=Ramsay |first9=Jonathan E. |last10=Riekki |first10=Tapani |last11=Svedholm-Häkkinen |first11=Annika M. |last12=Bulbulia |first12=Joseph |title=Analytic atheism: A cross-culturally weak and fickle phenomenon? |journal=Judgment and Decision-making |date=2018 |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=268–274 |doi=10.1017/S1930297500007701 |url=http://journal.sjdm.org/18/18228/jdm18228.pdf |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=February 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221113759/http://journal.sjdm.org/18/18228/jdm18228.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> suggesting that the relationship between analytic thinking and atheism may depend on culture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gervais |first1=Will M. |last2=Najle |first2=Maxine B. |last3=Caluori |first3=Nava |title=The Origins of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach |journal=Social Psychological and Personality Science |date=2021 |volume=12 |issue=7 |pages=1369–1379 |doi=10.1177/1948550621994001 |s2cid=233804304 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550621994001 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023829/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550621994001 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schnell |first1=Tatjana |last2=de Boer |first2=Elpine |last3=Alma |first3=Hans |title=Worlds apart? Atheist, agnostic, and humanist worldviews in three European countries |journal=Psychology of Religion and Spirituality |date=2021 |volume=15 |pages=83–93 |doi=10.1037/rel0000446 |hdl=1887/3307612 |s2cid=242996508 |url=https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000446 |hdl-access=free |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611023842/https://psycnet.apa.org/api/request/browsePA.getJournals |url-status=live }}</ref> and men often perform slightly better on tests of analytic thinking,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Maloney |first1=Erin A. |last2=Retanal |first2=Fraulein |title=Higher math anxious people have a lower need for cognition and are less reflective in their thinking |journal=Acta Psychologica |date=2021 |volume=202 |page=102939 |doi=10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102939 |pmid=31805479 |s2cid=208768799 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102939 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611024341/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001691819302793?via%3Dihub |url-status=live }}</ref> when not controlling for variables such as math anxiety,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Primi |first1=Caterina |last2=Donati |first2=Maria Anna |last3=Chiesi |first3=Francesca |last4=Morsanyi |first4=Kinga |title=Are there gender differences in cognitive reflection? Invariance and differences related to mathematics |journal=Thinking & Reasoning |date=2018 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=258–279 |doi=10.1080/13546783.2017.1387606 |s2cid=55892851 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13546783.2017.1387606 |access-date=April 6, 2022 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611024000/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13546783.2017.1387606 |url-status=live }}</ref> the correlation between atheism and analytic reasoning may be partly explained by whatever explains observed gender differences in analytic thinking. | |||
== See also == | |||
{{Portal|Philosophy}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==Notes== | |||
{{notelist}} | |||
== References == | |||
=== Citations === | |||
{{reflist|colwidth=30em | |||
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<ref name="encyc-unbelief-def-issues">{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Van A. |title=Agnosticism and Atheism |postscript=,}} in {{harvnb|Flynn|2007|p=35}}: "The terms ''ATHEISM'' and ''AGNOSTICISM'' lend themselves to two different definitions. The first takes the privative ''a'' both before the Greek ''theos'' (divinity) and ''gnosis'' (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."</ref> | |||
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<ref name="eb2011-atheism">{{harvnb|Nielsen|2013}}: "Instead of saying that an atheist is someone who believes that it is false or probably false that there is a God, 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 the following reasons ... : for an anthropomorphic God, the atheist rejects belief in God because it is false or probably false that there is a God; for a nonanthropomorphic God ... because the concept of such a God is either meaningless, unintelligible, contradictory, incomprehensible, or incoherent; for the God portrayed by some modern or contemporary theologians or philosophers ... because the concept of God in question is such that it merely masks an atheistic substance—e.g., "God" is just another name for love, or ... a symbolic term for moral ideals."</ref> | |||
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<ref name="eb2011-Rejection-of-all-religious-beliefs">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Atheism as rejection of religious beliefs |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40634/atheism |encyclopedia=] |edition=15th |volume=1 |page=666 |year=2011 |id=0852294735 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512015453/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40634/atheism |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
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<ref name="encyc-philosophy">{{harvnb|Edwards|2005}}: "On our definition, an 'atheist' is a person who rejects belief in God, regardless of whether or not his reason for the rejection is the claim that 'God exists' expresses a false proposition. People frequently adopt an attitude of rejection toward a position for reasons other than that it is a false proposition. It is common among contemporary philosophers, and indeed it was not uncommon in earlier centuries, to reject positions on the ground that they are meaningless. Sometimes, too, a theory is rejected on such grounds as that it is sterile or redundant or capricious, and there are many other considerations which in certain contexts are generally agreed to constitute good grounds for rejecting an assertion."</ref> | |||
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<ref name=RoweRoutledge>{{harvnb|Rowe|1998}}: "As commonly understood, atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. So an atheist is someone who disbelieves in God, whereas a theist is someone who believes in God. Another meaning of 'atheism' is simply nonbelief in the existence of God, rather than positive belief in the nonexistence of God. ... an atheist, in the broader sense of the term, is someone who disbelieves in every form of deity, not just the God of traditional Western theology."</ref> | |||
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<!--ref name=extreme-secularism>{{harvnb|Zuckerman|2010}}: "A major source of these biases is the lack of clear definitions. Atheism and secularity are defined in opposition to religion, with atheism (the rejection of theism) often perceived as an extreme form of secularism (the decline of religious influence over society). But atheism is a narrow term referring to a specific belief (that there is no god), whereas secularism has various meanings, including a range of attitudes (such as religious indifference, doubt, agnosticism, and atheism) as behaviors (such as lack of regular church attendance or disregard for traditional religious morality)."</ref--> | |||
<ref name="martin-agnosticism-entails">{{harvnb|Martin|2006|p=2}}: "But agnosticism is compatible with negative atheism in that agnosticism ''entails'' negative 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 atheist ''might'' disbelieve in God but need not."</ref> | |||
<ref name="agnosticism-compatible">{{harvnb|Martin|1990|pp=}}: "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."</ref> | |||
<ref name="barker-agnostic-atheism">{{harvnb|Barker|2008|p=}}: "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."</ref> | |||
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<ref name=honderich>Honderich, Ted (Ed.) (1995). "Humanism". ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. Oxford University Press. p. 376. {{ISBN|0-19-866132-0}}.</ref--> | |||
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<ref name=religioustolerance>Most dictionaries (see the OneLook query for {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023613/http://www.onelook.com/?w=atheism&ls=a |date=September 30, 2007 }}) first list one of the more narrow definitions. | |||
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofphil00ange |title=Dictionary of Philosophy |editor-first=Dagobert D. |editor-last=Runes |editor-link=Dagobert D. Runes |year=1942 |publisher=Littlefield, Adams & Co. Philosophical Library |location=New Jersey |isbn=978-0-06-463461-8 |quote=(a) the belief that there is no God; (b) Some philosophers have been called "atheistic" because they have not held to a belief in a personal God. Atheism in this sense means "not theistic". The former meaning of the term is a literal rendering. The latter meaning is a less rigorous use of the term though widely current in the history of thought |access-date=April 9, 2011}} – entry by ]</ref> | |||
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<ref name=oxdicphil>{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Simon Blackburn |encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy |title=atheism |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199541430.001.0001/acref-9780199541430-e-278?rskey=GC0Coc&result=279 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |edition=2008 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |quote=Either the lack of belief that there exists a god, or the belief that there exists none. Sometimes thought itself to be more dogmatic than mere agnosticism, although atheists retort that everyone is an atheist about most gods, so they merely advance one step further.|isbn=978-0-19-954143-0 }}</ref> | |||
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<ref name=reldef>{{cite web |url=http://www.as.ua.edu/rel/aboutreldefinitions.html |title=Definitions: Atheism |publisher=Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama |access-date=December 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607093325/http://www.as.ua.edu/rel/aboutreldefinitions.html |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
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<ref name="hume-metaphysics">{{harvnb|Hume|1748|loc=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."</ref> | |||
}} | |||
=== Sources === | |||
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* {{cite book |last=Sartre |first=Jean-Paul |orig-year=1946 |contribution=An existentialist ethics |year=2004 |editor-last=Gensler |editor-first=Harry J. |editor2-last=Spurgin |editor2-first=Earl W. |editor3-last=Swindal |editor3-first=James C. |title=Ethics: Contemporary Readings |place=London |publisher=Routledge |page=127 |isbn=978-0-415-25680-3}} | |||
* {{cite book |author1-last=Schaffner |author1-first=Caleb |author2-last=Cragun |author2-first=Ryan T. |year=2020 |chapter=Chapter 20: Non-Religion and Atheism |chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004331471/BP000022.xml?body=pdf-43180 |editor1-last=Enstedt |editor1-first=Daniel |editor2-last=Larsson |editor2-first=Göran |editor3-last=Mantsinen |editor3-first=Teemu T. |title=Handbook of Leaving Religion |location=] |publisher=] |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=18 |doi=10.1163/9789004331471_021 |doi-access=free |pages=242–252 |isbn=978-90-04-33092-4 |issn=1874-6691 |access-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-date=June 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214237/https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004331471/BP000022.xml?body=pdf-43180 |url-status=live }} | |||
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{{refend}} | |||
== Further reading == | == Further reading == | ||
{{refbegin|30em}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
* {{cite book |last=Berman |first=David |title=A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell |year=1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Li4OAAAAQAAJ&q=A%20History%20of%20Atheism%20in%20Britain%3A%20From%20Hobbes%20to%20Russell&pg=PP1 |publisher=London: Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-04727-2 |access-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611024841/https://books.google.com/books?id=Li4OAAAAQAAJ&q=A%20History%20of%20Atheism%20in%20Britain%3A%20From%20Hobbes%20to%20Russell&pg=PP1 |url-status=live }} | |||
| last = Berman | |||
* ], ] and others. (1884) ''The Atheistic Platform: 12 Lectures''. London: Freethought Publishing. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611024842/https://books.google.com/books?id=jh8HAAAAQAAJ |date=June 11, 2024 }} | |||
| first = David | |||
* {{cite book |last=Buckley |first=M.J. |title=At the Origins of Modern Atheism |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-300-04897-1 |publisher=New Haven, CT: Yale University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/atoriginsofmoder00buck }} | |||
| title = A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell | |||
* {{cite book |editor-last=Bullivant |editor-first=Stephen |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Ruse |title=The Oxford Handbook of Atheism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbIVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA267 |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford UP |isbn=978-0-19-964465-0 }} | |||
| year = 1990 | |||
* {{cite book |last=Duran |first=Martin |title=Wondering About God: Impiety, Agnosticism, and Atheism in Ancient Greece |date=2019 |publisher=Independently Published |location=Barcelona |isbn=978-1-08-061240-6}} | |||
| publisher = London: Routledge | |||
* {{cite book |last=Flew |first=Antony |author-link=Antony Flew |title=God and Philosophy |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-59102-330-2 |year=2005}} | |||
| id = ISBN 0-415-04727-7}} | |||
* {{cite book |editor=Tom Flynn |title=The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief |year=2007 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, New York |isbn=978-1-59102-391-3}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
* {{cite book |editor=Gaskin, J. C. A. |title=Varieties of Unbelief: From Epicurus to Sartre |publisher=New York: Macmillan |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-02-340681-2}} | |||
| last = Buckley | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Germani |first=Alan |title=The Mystical Ethics of the New Atheists |journal=The Objective Standard |volume=3 |issue=3 |date=September 15, 2008 |url=http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-fall/mystical-ethics-new-atheists.asp |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428193621/http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-fall/mystical-ethics-new-atheists.asp |archive-date=April 28, 2011 |url-status=dead }} | |||
| first = M. J. | |||
* {{Cite book |title=Seven Types of Atheism |last=Gray |first=John |publisher=Penguin |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-241-19941-1 |location=Harmondsworth }} | |||
| title = At the Origins of Modern Atheism | |||
*{{cite book |last=Harbour |first=Daniel |title=An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism |publisher=London: Duckworth |isbn=978-0-7156-3229-1 |year=2003|title-link=An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism}} | |||
| year = 1990 | |||
* {{cite news |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/sam_harris/2007/10/the_problem_with_atheism.html |title=The Problem with Atheism |last=Harris |first=Sam |date=October 2, 2007 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524071308/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/sam_harris/2007/10/the_problem_with_atheism.html |archive-date=May 24, 2011 |url-status=dead }} | |||
| id = ISBN 0300048971 | |||
* Howson, Colin (2011). ''Objecting to God''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-18665-0|}} | |||
* ], "Giving Up on God: The Global Decline of Religion", '']'', vol. 99, no. 5 (September / October 2020), pp. 110–118. | |||
*{{cite book | |||
* {{cite book |last=Jacoby |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Jacoby |title=Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism |year=2004 |publisher=Metropolitan Books |isbn=978-0-8050-7442-0 }} | |||
| last = Dawkins | |||
* {{cite book |last=Krueger |first=D.E. |title=What is Atheism?: A Short Introduction |publisher=New York: Prometheus |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-57392-214-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/whatisatheismsho0000krue }} | |||
| first = Richard | |||
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1177/0952695112441301 |title=The evolution of atheism: Scientific and humanistic approaches |year=2012 |last1=Ledrew |first1=S. |journal=History of the Human Sciences |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=70–87 |s2cid=145640287 }} | |||
| authorlink = Richard Dawkins | |||
* {{cite book |last=Le Poidevin |first=R. |title=Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion |publisher=London: Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4YlYZi_cMUC |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-415-09338-5 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611024904/https://books.google.com/books?id=M4YlYZi_cMUC |url-status=live }} | |||
| title = ] | |||
* {{cite book |last=Mackie |first=J.L. |author-link=J. L. Mackie |title=The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God |year=1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-824682-4 }} | |||
| year = 2006 | |||
* {{cite book |last=Maritain |first=Jacques |title=The Range of Reason |publisher=London: Geoffrey Bles |year=1952 |url=http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range.htm |access-date=April 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407012751/http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2013 }} | |||
| publisher = Bantam Press | |||
* {{cite book |editor=Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier |title=The Impossibility of God |year=2003 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, New York |isbn=978-1-59102-120-9}} | |||
| id = ISBN 0593055489 }} | |||
* {{cite book |editor=Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier |title=The Improbability of God |year=2006 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, New York |isbn=978-1-59102-381-4}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
* ] (2010). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830111033/https://www.colinmcginn.net/why-i-am-an-atheist/#.Wje3bzdryUm |date=August 30, 2023 }} | |||
| last = Flew | |||
* {{cite book |last1=McTaggart |first1=John |last2=McTaggart |first2=Ellis |title=Some Dogmas of Religion |edition=New |year=1930 |publisher=Edward Arnold & Co. |location=London |isbn=978-0-548-14955-3 |orig-year=1906}} | |||
| first = Antony | |||
* {{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Kai |author-link=Kai Nielsen (philosopher) |title=Philosophy and Atheism |year=1985 |publisher=New York: Prometheus |isbn=978-0-87975-289-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/philosophyatheis0000niel }} | |||
| authorlink = Antony Flew | |||
* {{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Kai |title=Naturalism and Religion |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-57392-853-3 |publisher=New York: Prometheus}} | |||
| title = God and Philosophy | |||
* {{cite journal|last1=Obbink|first1=Dirk|author1-link=Dirk Obbink|date=1989|title=The Atheism of Epicurus|journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies|volume=30|issue=2|pages=187–223|url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/issue/view/971|access-date=February 1, 2023|archive-date=February 1, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201135222/https://grbs.library.duke.edu/issue/view/971|url-status=live}} | |||
| publisher = Prometheus Books | |||
* {{cite book |last=Onfray |first=Michel |year=2007 |title=Atheist Manifesto |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpEAYMo7pFkC&q=Atheist%20Manifesto&pg=PP1 |publisher=Arcade Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55970-820-3 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030191621/https://books.google.com/books?id=QpEAYMo7pFkC&lpg=PP1&dq=Atheist%20Manifesto&pg=PP1 |archive-date=October 30, 2015 |url-status=live }} | |||
| id = ISBN 1591023300 | |||
* {{cite book |last=Oppy |first=Graham |author-link=Graham Oppy |year=2006 |title=Arguing about Gods |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DlVtfUxPD14C |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86386-5 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611025345/https://books.google.com/books?id=DlVtfUxPD14C |url-status=live }} | |||
| year = 2005}} | |||
* {{cite journal |last=Rafford |first=R.L. |year=1987 |title=Atheophobia—an introduction |journal=Religious Humanism |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=32–37 }} | |||
*Flynn, Tom, ed. (2007). ''The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief''. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1591023912. | |||
* {{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Richard |title=An Atheist's Values |url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/athval0.htm |isbn=978-0-19-824191-1 |publisher=Oxford: Clarendon Press |year=1964 |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425091126/http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/athval0.htm |archive-date=April 25, 2011 |url-status=dead }} | |||
*{{citation | |||
* Rosenberg, Alex (2011). ''The Atheist's Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions''. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. {{ISBN|978-0-393-08023-0|}} | |||
| editor = Gaskin, J.C.A. | |||
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Russell |first=Paul |editor=Edward N. Zalta |encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |title=Hume on Religion |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-religion/ |year=2013 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab |access-date=November 24, 2013 |archive-date=September 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915103209/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume-religion/ |url-status=live }} | |||
| title = Varieties of Unbelief: From Epicurus to Sartre | |||
* {{cite book |last=Sharpe |first=R.A. |title=The Moral Case Against Religious Belief |publisher=London: SCM Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-334-02680-8 }} | |||
| publisher = New York: Macmillan | |||
* {{cite book |last=Shermer |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Shermer |title=How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780716741619 |url-access=registration |publisher=William H Freeman |year=1999 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7167-3561-8 }} | |||
| year = 1989 | |||
* Smolkin, Victoria. ''A Sacred Space is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism'' (Princeton UP, 2018) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424221605/https://issforum.org/roundtables/PDF/Roundtable-XXI-56.pdf |date=April 24, 2022 }} | |||
| id = ISBN 0-02-340681-X}} | |||
* {{cite book |last=Thrower |first=James |title=A Short History of Western Atheism |publisher=London: Pemberton |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-301-71101-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ashorthistoryofw0000unse }} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
* Walters, Kerry (2010). ''Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed''. New York: Continuum. {{ISBN|978-0-8264-2493-8|}} | |||
| last = Harbour | |||
* Whitmarsh, Tim. (2015), ''Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World'' | |||
| first = Daniel | |||
* {{cite book|editor-last=Zuckerman|editor-first=Phil |title=Atheism and secularity |year=2010 |publisher=Praeger |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=978-0-313-35183-9}} | |||
| title = ] | |||
* {{cite book |last=Zuckerman |first=Phil |title=Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment |publisher=NYU Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8147-9723-5 }} | |||
| publisher = London: Duckworth | |||
{{refend}} | |||
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*{{cite book | |||
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| publisher = Knopf (September 19, 2006) | |||
| id = ISBN 978-0307265777}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
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*{{cite book | |||
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| first = D. E. | |||
| title = What is Atheism?: A Short Introduction | |||
| publisher = New York: Prometheus | |||
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*{{cite book | |||
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| title = Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion | |||
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*] (1982). ''The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God.'' Oxford: Oxford UP. ISBN 019824682X | |||
*{{cite book | |||
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| publisher = London: Geoffrey Bles | |||
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| url = http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/range.htm | |||
| accessdate = 2006-10-27}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
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| first = Michael | |||
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| title = Atheism: A Philosophical Justification | |||
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| year = 1990 | |||
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*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. | |||
*{{cite book | |||
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| title = Philosophy and Atheism | |||
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*{{cite book | |||
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| title = Naturalism and Religion | |||
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| publisher = New York: Prometheus}} | |||
*{{Cite book | |||
| last = Oppy | |||
| first = Graham | |||
| authorlink = Graham Oppy | |||
| year = 2006 | |||
| title = Arguing about Gods | |||
| publisher = Cambridge University Press | |||
| id = ISBN 0521863864}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
| last = Robinson | |||
| first = Richard | |||
| title = An Atheist's Values | |||
| url = http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/athval0.htm | |||
| id = ISBN 0198241917 | |||
| publisher = Oxford: Clarendon Press | |||
| year = 1964}} | |||
*{{cite book | |||
| last = Sharpe | |||
| first = R.A. | |||
| title = The Moral Case Against Religious Belief | |||
| publisher = London: SCM Press | |||
| year = 1997 | |||
| id = ISBN 0-334-02680-6}} | |||
*Stenger, Victor J. (2007). ''God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist.'' Amherst, NY: Prometheus. ISBN 1591024811 | |||
*{{cite book | |||
| last = Thrower | |||
| first = James | |||
| title = A Short History of Western Atheism | |||
| publisher = London: Pemberton | |||
| year = 1971 | |||
| id = ISBN 0-301-71101-1}} | |||
==External links== | == External links == | ||
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{{wiktionary}} | |||
* {{PhilPapers|category|atheism}} | |||
{{wikiquote}} | |||
* {{cite SEP |url-id=atheism-agnosticism/ |title=Atheism and Agnosticism}} | |||
{{wikibooks}} | |||
* {{IEP|atheism}} | |||
* —includes links to organizations and websites. | |||
* . ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. Includes links to organizations and websites. | |||
* at ]. | |||
* at bbc.co.uk | |||
* —library of both historical and modern writings, probably the most comprehensive online resource for freely available material on atheism. | |||
* . Library of both historical and modern writings, a comprehensive online resource for freely available material on atheism. | |||
* —historical writing sorted by authors, contains a few items not in the Secular web library. | |||
* ], | |||
* - complete work by Dr. D.M. Brooks. | |||
* | |||
* —large directory of apologetic websites. | |||
* —part of the About.com family of websites | |||
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Latest revision as of 04:02, 9 December 2024
Absence of belief in the existence of deities; the opposite of theism "Atheist" redirects here. For other uses, see Atheist (disambiguation).
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which is the belief that at 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 after Christianity gained prominence. The 16th century and the Age of Enlightenment marked the resurgence of atheistic thought in Europe. Atheism achieved a significant position worldwide in the 20th century. Estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a god range from 500 million to 1.1 billion people. Atheist organizations have defended the autonomy of science, freedom of thought, secular ethics and secularism.
Arguments for atheism range from philosophical to social approaches. Rationales for not believing in deities include the lack of evidence, the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, the rejection of concepts that cannot be falsified, and the argument from nonbelief. Nonbelievers contend that atheism is a more parsimonious position than theism and that everyone is born without beliefs in deities; therefore, they argue that the burden of proof lies not on the atheist to disprove the existence of gods but on the theist to provide a rationale for theism.
Definition
Writers disagree on how best to define and classify atheism, 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. Atheism has been regarded as compatible with agnosticism, but has also been contrasted with it.
Implicit vs. explicit
Main article: Implicit and explicit atheismSome of the ambiguity involved in defining atheism arises from the definitions of words like deity and god. The variety of wildly different conceptions of God and deities lead to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. The ancient Romans accused Christians of being atheists for not worshiping the pagan deities. Gradually, this view fell into disfavor as theism came to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity. With respect to the range of phenomena being rejected, atheism may counter anything from the existence of a deity, to the existence of any spiritual, supernatural, or transcendental concepts. 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'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God." Similarly, George H. Smith suggested 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."
Implicit atheism is "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it" and explicit atheism is the conscious rejection of belief. It is usual to define atheism in terms of an explicit stance against theism. For the purposes of his paper on "philosophical atheism", Ernest Nagel contested including the mere absence of theistic belief as a type of atheism. Graham Oppy classifies as innocents those who never considered the question because they lack any understanding of what a god is, for example one-month-old babies.
Positive vs. negative
Main article: Negative and positive atheismPhilosophers such as Antony Flew and Michael Martin 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 agnosticism entails negative atheism. Agnostic atheism encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. However, many agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism.
According to atheists' arguments, unproven religious propositions deserve as much disbelief as all other unproven propositions. Atheist criticism of agnosticism says that the unprovability of a god's existence does not imply an equal probability of either possibility. Australian philosopher J.J.C. Smart argues that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalized philosophical skepticism which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic." Consequently, some atheist authors, such as Richard Dawkins, prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic, and atheist positions along a spectrum of theistic probability—the likelihood that each assigns to the statement "God exists".
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 called theistic innatism—the notion that all people believe in God from birth; within this view was the connotation that atheists are in denial. Some atheists have challenged the need for the term "atheism". In his book Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris wrote:
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.
Etymology
In early ancient Greek, the adjective átheos (ἄθεος, from the privative 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 term ἀσεβής (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 render átheos as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also ἀθεότης (atheotēs), "atheism". Cicero transliterated the Greek word into the Latin átheos. The term found frequent use in the debate between early Christians and Hellenists, with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other.
The term atheist (from the French athée), in the sense of "one who ... denies the existence of God or gods", predates atheism in English, being first found as early as 1566, and again in 1571. Atheist as a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577. The term atheism was derived from the French athéisme, and appears in English about 1587.
Atheism was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the monotheistic Abrahamic god. 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 "disbelief in God".
Arguments
Epistemological arguments
Skepticism, based on the ideas of David 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".
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."
Other arguments for atheism that can be classified as epistemological or ontological, 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 can be classified 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.
Ontological arguments
Most atheists lean toward ontological monism: the belief that there is only one kind of fundamental substance. The philosophical materialism is a view that matter is the fundamental substance in nature. This omits the possibility of a non-material divine being. According to physicalism, only physical entities exist. Philosophies opposed to the materialism or physicalism include idealism, dualism and other forms of monism. Naturalism is also used to describe the view that everything that exists is fundamentally natural, and that there are no supernatural phenomena. According to naturalist view, science can explain the world with physical laws and through natural phenomena. Philosopher Graham Oppy references a PhilPapers survey that says 56.5% of philosophers in academics lean toward physicalism; 49.8% lean toward naturalism.
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". Fiona Ellis describes the "expansive naturalism" of John McDowell, James Griffin, and David Wiggins while 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. Christopher C. Knight asserts a theistic naturalism. 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.
Logical arguments
Further information: Arguments against the existence of God, Problem of evil, and Divine hiddennessSome atheists hold the view that the various conceptions of gods, such as the personal god of Christianity, are ascribed logically inconsistent qualities. Such atheists present deductive arguments against 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, and mercy.
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.
Epicurus is credited with first expounding the problem of evil. David Hume in his Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions: "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 in Buddhist philosophy. Vasubandhu (4th/5th century) outlined numerous Buddhist arguments against God.
Reductionary accounts of religion
Further information: Evolutionary origin of religions, Evolutionary psychology of religion, and Psychology of religionPhilosopher Ludwig Feuerbach and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud have argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs. Karl Marx and Friedrich 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 to Mikhail 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 reversed Voltaire'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."
Atheism and ethics
Secular ethics
See also: Secular ethics and Secular moralitySociologist Phil Zuckerman analyzed 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. His findings relating specifically to atheism in the US were that compared to religious people in the US, "atheists and secular people" are less nationalistic, 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.
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". One of the most common criticisms of atheism has been to the contrary: that denying the existence of a god either leads to moral relativism and leaves one with no moral or ethical foundation, or renders life meaningless and miserable. Blaise Pascal argued this view in his Pensées. There is also a position claiming 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". There have, however, been examples to the contrary, among them examples of literal "atheists in foxholes". There exist normative ethical systems that do not require principles and rules to be given by a deity.
According to Plato's Euthyphro 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. 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 on a lawmaker in the same way that laws do.
Philosophers Susan Neiman and Julian Baggini 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.
Criticism of religion
See also: Criticism of religionSome prominent atheists—most recently Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins, and following such thinkers as Bertrand Russell, Robert G. Ingersoll, Voltaire, and novelist José Saramago—have criticized religions, citing harmful aspects of religious practices and doctrines.
The 19th-century German political theorist and sociologist Karl Marx called religion "the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium 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."
Sam Harris criticizes Western religion's reliance on divine authority as lending itself to authoritarianism and dogmatism. Multiple studies have discovered there to be a correlation between religious fundamentalism and extrinsic religion (when religion is held because it serves ulterior interests) and authoritarianism, dogmatism, and prejudice.
These arguments—combined with historical events that are argued to demonstrate the dangers of religion, such as the Crusades, inquisitions, witch trials, and terrorist attacks—have been used in response to claims of beneficial effects of belief in religion. Believers counter-argue that some regimes that espouse atheism, such as the Soviet Union, have also been guilty of mass murder. 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.
Atheism, religions, and spirituality
Further information: Atheism and religion and Nontheistic religionsPeople who self-identify as atheists are often assumed to be irreligious, but some sects within major religions reject the existence of a personal, creator deity. It has been said that atheism is not mutually exclusive with respect to some religious and spiritual belief systems, including modern Neopagan movements. In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such as atheistic or humanistic Judaism and Christian atheists. Atheism is accepted as a valid philosophical position within some varieties of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.
History
Main article: History of atheismEarly Indian religions
Main article: Atheism in HinduismIdeas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from the Vedic period and the classical antiquity. Atheistic schools are found in early Indian thought and have existed from the times of the historical Vedic religion. Among the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, Samkhya, the oldest philosophical school of thought, does not accept God, and the early Mimamsa also rejected the notion of God.
The thoroughly materialistic and anti-theistic philosophical Chārvāka (or Lokāyata) school that originated in India around the 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of philosophy in India, similar to the Greek Cyrenaic school. This branch of Indian philosophy is classified as heterodox due to its rejection of the authority of Vedas and hence is not considered part of the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy. It is noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement in ancient India.
Satischandra Chatterjee and Dhirendramohan Datta explain in An Introduction to Indian Philosophy that our understanding of Chārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools: "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 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 include Classical Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa. The rejection of a personal creator "God" is also seen in Jainism and Buddhism in India.
Classical antiquity
Western atheism has its roots in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy, but atheism in the modern sense was extremely rare in ancient Greece. Pre-Socratic Atomists such as Democritus attempted to explain the world in a purely materialistic way and interpreted religion as a human reaction to natural phenomena, but did not explicitly deny the gods' existence.
Anaxagoras, whom Irenaeus calls "the atheist", 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. In the late fifth century BCE, the Greek lyric poet Diagoras of Melos was sentenced to death in Athens under the charge of being a "godless person" (ἄθεος) after he made fun of the Eleusinian Mysteries, but he fled the city to escape punishment. In post-classical antiquity, philosophers such as Cicero and Sextus Empiricus described Diagoras as an "atheist" who categorically denied the existence of the gods, 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. On the other hand, the verdict has been challenged by Tim Whitmarsh, who argues that Diagoras rejected the gods on the basis of the problem of evil, and this argument was in turn alluded to in Euripides' fragmentary play Bellerophon. A fragment from a lost Attic drama that featured Sisyphus, which has been attributed to both Critias and Euripides, claims that a clever man invented "the fear of the gods" in order to frighten people into behaving morally.
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!
— Bellerophon denying the existence of the gods, from Euripides' Bellerophon c. 5th century BCE, fr. 286 TrGF 1-5
Protagoras has 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." 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. Aristophanes' comic play The Clouds (performed 423 BCE) portrays Socrates as teaching his students that the traditional Greek deities do not exist. Socrates was later tried and executed under the charge of not believing in the gods of the state and instead worshipping foreign gods. Socrates himself vehemently denied the charges of atheism at his trial. From a survey of these 5th-century BCE philosophers, David Sedley has 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".
Religious skepticism continued into the Hellenistic period, and from this period the most important Greek thinker in the development of atheism was the philosopher Epicurus (c. 300 BCE). 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 (see scientific determinism). Although Epicurus still maintained that the gods existed, he believed that they were uninterested in human affairs. The aim of the Epicureans was to attain ataraxia ("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.
Euhemerus (c. 300 BCE) published his view that the gods were only the deified rulers and founders of the past. Although not strictly an atheist, Euhemerus was later criticized by Plutarch for having "spread atheism over the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods". In the 3rd century BCE, the Hellenistic philosophers Theodorus Cyrenaicus and Strato of Lampsacus were also reputed to deny the existence of the gods. The Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus (c. 200 CE) compiled a large number of ancient arguments against the existence of gods, recommending that one should suspend judgment regarding the matter. His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.
The meaning of "atheist" changed over the course of classical antiquity. Early Christians were widely reviled as "atheists" because they did not believe in the existence of the Graeco-Roman deities. During the Roman Empire, Christians were executed for their rejection of the Roman gods in general and the Imperial cult of ancient Rome in particular. 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. When Christianity became the state religion of Rome under Theodosius I in 381, heresy became a punishable offense.
Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance
During the Early Middle Ages, the Islamic world experienced a Golden Age. Along with advances in science and philosophy, Arab and Persian lands produced rationalists who were skeptical about revealed religion, such as Muhammad al Warraq (fl. 9th century), Ibn al-Rawandi (827–911), and Abu Bakr al-Razi (c. 865–925), as well as outspoken atheists such as al-Maʿarri (973–1058). Al-Ma'arri wrote and taught that religion itself was a "fable invented by the ancients" and that humans were "of two sorts: those with brains, but no religion, and those with religion, but no brains". 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 Muslim apologists attempting to refute them.
In Europe, the espousal of atheistic views was rare during the Early Middle Ages and Middle Ages (see Medieval Inquisition). 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 Ockham inspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with his nominalist limitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divine essence could not be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Sects deemed heretical such as the Waldensians were also accused of being atheistic. The resulting division between faith and reason influenced later radical and reformist theologians.
The Renaissance did much to expand the scope of free thought 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, Michel de Montaigne, and François Rabelais.
Early modern period
Historian Geoffrey Blainey wrote that the Reformation had 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". Deism gained influence in France, Prussia, and England. In 1546, French scholar Etienne Dolet was executed upon accusation of being an atheist. The philosopher Baruch Spinoza was "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 his Short Treatise on God.
Criticism of Christianity became increasingly frequent in the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in France and England. Some Protestant thinkers, such as Thomas Hobbes, espoused a materialist philosophy and skepticism toward supernatural occurrences. By the late 17th century, deism came to be openly espoused by intellectuals. The first known explicit atheist was the German critic of religion Matthias Knutzen in his three writings of 1674. He was followed by two other explicit atheist writers, the Polish ex-Jesuit philosopher Kazimierz Łyszczyński (who most likely authored the world's first treatise on the non-existence of God) and in the 1720s by the French priest Jean Meslier.
In the course of the 18th century, other openly atheistic thinkers followed, such as Baron d'Holbach, Jacques-André Naigeon, and other French materialists. Baron d'Holbach was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment who is best known for his atheism and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them being The System of Nature (1770) but also Christianity 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." In Great Britain, William Hammon and physician Mathew Turner authored a pamphlet in response to Joseph Priestley's Letters 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.
Although Voltaire is 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." The philosopher David Hume developed a skeptical epistemology grounded in empiricism, and Immanuel Kant's philosophy has strongly questioned the very possibility of metaphysical knowledge. Both philosophers undermined the metaphysical basis of natural theology and criticized classical arguments for the existence of God.
One goal of the French Revolution was a restructuring and subordination of the clergy with respect to the state through the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Attempts to enforce it led to anti-clerical violence and the expulsion of many clerics from France, lasting until the Thermidorian Reaction. The radical Jacobins seized power in 1793. The Jacobins were deists and introduced the Cult of the Supreme Being as a new French state religion.
In the latter half of the 19th century, atheism rose to prominence under the influence of rationalistic and freethinking philosophers. German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach considered God to be a human invention and religious activities to be wish-fulfillment. He influenced philosophers such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche, who denied the existence of deities and were critical of religion. In 1842, George Holyoake was the last person imprisoned in Great Britain due to atheist beliefs. Stephen Law notes that he may have also been the first imprisoned on such a charge. Law states that Holyoake "first coined the term 'secularism'".
20th century
Atheism advanced in many societies in the 20th century. Atheistic thought found recognition in a wide variety of other, broader philosophies, such as Marxism, logical positivism, existentialism, humanism and feminism, and the general scientific movement. Proponents of naturalism such as Bertrand Russell and John Dewey emphatically rejected belief in God. Analytical philosophers such as J.N. Findlay and J.J.C. Smart argued against the existence of God.
State atheism emerged in Eastern Europe and Asia, particularly in the Soviet Union under Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, and in Communist China under Mao Zedong. Atheist and anti-religious policies in the Soviet Union included numerous legislative acts, the outlawing of religious instruction in the schools, and the emergence of the League of Militant Atheists. Stalin softened his opposition to the Orthodox church in order to improve public acceptance of his regime during the second world war.
In 1966, Time magazine asked "Is God Dead?" in response to the Death 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.
Leaders like Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, a prominent atheist leader of India, fought against Hinduism and Brahmins for discriminating and dividing people in the name of caste and religion. In the United States, atheist Vashti McCollum was the plaintiff in a 1948 Supreme Court case that struck down religious education in US public schools. Madalyn Murray O'Hair was one of the most influential American atheists; she brought forth the 1963 Supreme Court case Murray v. Curlett which banned compulsory prayer in public schools. The Freedom From Religion Foundation was co-founded by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter, Annie Laurie Gaylor, in 1976 in the United States. It promotes the separation of church and state.
21st century
Main article: New Atheism"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." The movement is commonly associated with Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Victor J. Stenger. The religiously-motivated terrorist events of 9/11 and the partially successful attempts to change the American science curriculum to include creationist ideas, together with support for those ideas from the religious right, have been cited by "new" atheists as evidence of a need to move toward a more secular society.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of atheismIt 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. A 2010 survey published in Encyclopædia Britannica found 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. The average annual change for atheism from 2000 to 2010 was −0.17%. Scholars have indicated that global atheism may be in decline as 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.
According to global Win-Gallup International studies, 13% of respondents were "convinced atheists" in 2012, 11% were "convinced atheists" in 2015, and in 2017, 9% were "convinced atheists". As of 2012, the top 10 surveyed countries with people who viewed themselves as "convinced atheists" were China (47%), Japan (31%), the Czech Republic (30%), France (29%), South Korea (15%), Germany (15%), Netherlands (14%), Austria (10%), Iceland (10%), Australia (10%), and Ireland (10%). A 2012 study by the NORC found that East Germany had the highest percentage of atheists while Czech Republic had the second highest amount. The number of atheists per country is strongly correlated with the level of security for both the individual and society, with some exceptions.
Europe
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%. 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.
According to a Pew Research Center survey in 2012, about 18% of Europeans are religiously unaffiliated, including agnostics and atheists. 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%).
Asia
There are three countries and one special administrative region of China or regions where the religiously unaffiliated make up a majority of the population: North Korea (71%), Japan (57%), Hong Kong (56%), and China (52%).
Australasia
According to the 2021 Australian Census, 38% of Australians have "no religion", a category that includes atheists. In a 2018 census, 48.2% of New Zealanders reported having no religion, up from 30% in 1991.
United States
According to the World Values Survey, 4.4% of Americans self-identified as atheists in 2014. However, the same survey showed that 11.1% of all respondents stated "no" when asked if they believed in God. 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%. 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.
According to the American Family Survey, 34% were found to be religiously unaffiliated in 2017 (23% 'nothing in particular', 6% agnostic, 5% atheist). 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%). According to a PRRI survey, 24% of the population is unaffiliated. Atheists and agnostics combined make up about a quarter of this unaffiliated demographic. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center study, 28% of Americans are religiously unaffiliated.
Arab world
In recent years, the profile of atheism has risen substantially in the Arab world. In major cities across the region, such as Cairo, atheists have been organizing in cafés and social media, despite regular crackdowns from authoritarian governments. A 2012 poll by Gallup International revealed that 5% of Saudis considered themselves to be "convinced atheists". 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. When asked whether they have "seen or heard traces of atheism in 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%.
Attitudes toward atheism
See also: Discrimination against atheistsStatistically, atheists are held in poor regard across the globe. Non-atheists seem to implicitly view atheists as prone to exhibit immoral behaviors. In addition, according to a 2016 Pew Research Center publication, 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". 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 of death anxiety.
Wealth, education, and reasoning style
Further information: Religiosity and educationVarious studies have reported positive correlations between levels of education, wealth, and IQ with atheism. According to 2024 data from Pew Research Center, atheists in the United States are more likely to be white compared to the general U.S. population (77% vs 62%). 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. According to evolutionary psychologist Nigel Barber, atheism blossoms in places where most people feel economically secure, particularly in the social democracies of 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.
The relationship between atheism and IQ, while statistically significant, is not a large one, and the reason for the relationship is not well understood. 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. 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.
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. 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." 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." This "analytic atheist" effect has also been found among academic philosophers, even when controlling for about a dozen potential confounds such as education.
Some studies do not detect this correlation between atheism and analytic thinking in all of the countries that they study, suggesting that the relationship between analytic thinking and atheism may depend on culture. 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, and men often perform slightly better on tests of analytic thinking, when not controlling for variables such as math anxiety, the correlation between atheism and analytic reasoning may be partly explained by whatever explains observed gender differences in analytic thinking.
See also
- Antireligion
- Apatheism
- Brights movement
- Lists of atheists
- National Secular Society
- Outline of atheism
Notes
- 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.
References
Citations
- ^ Zuckerman, Phil (2006). "Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Patterns". The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. pp. 47–66. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521842700.004. ISBN 978-0-521-84270-9.
- Joas, Hans; Wiegandt, Klaus, eds. (2010). Secularization and the World Religions. Liverpool University Press. p. 122 (footnote 1). ISBN 978-1-84631-187-1. OL 25285702M. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
- ^ "Logical Arguments for Atheism". The Secular Web Library. Internet Infidels. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- Shook, John R. "Skepticism about the Supernatural" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- ^ Drange, Theodore M. (1996). "The Arguments From Evil and Nonbelief". Secular Web Library. Internet Infidels. Archived from the original on January 10, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- Harvey, Van A. Agnosticism and Atheism, in Flynn 2007, p. 35: "The terms ATHEISM and AGNOSTICISM lend themselves to two different definitions. The first takes the privative a both before the Greek theos (divinity) and gnosis (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, citing Parsons, Keith M. (1989). God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytical Defense of Theism. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0-87975-551-5.
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Atheism" . 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. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 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. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved October 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. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved October 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.
- ^ Martin 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, in Flynn 2007, p. 34: "It is important to note that this interpretation of agnosticism is compatible with theism or atheism, since it is only asserted that knowledge of God's existence is unattainable."
- ^ Martin 2006, p. 2: "But agnosticism is compatible with negative atheism in that agnosticism entails negative 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 atheist might disbelieve in God but need not."
- ^ Barker 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. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved December 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). "Atheism" . 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.
- ^ Martin 2006.
- "Atheism as rejection of religious beliefs". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (15th ed.). 2011. p. 666. 0852294735. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- d'Holbach, P.H.T. (1772). Good Sense. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
- Smith 1979, p. 14.
- Paul Draper. "Atheism and Agnosticism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 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
- Michael Anthony. "Where's The Evidence". Philosophy Now. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved October 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 some philosophic concepts of atheism
reprinted in Critiques 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. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
- Kenny, Anthony (2006). "Why I Am Not an Atheist". What I believe. Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-8971-5.
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."
- ^ Smart, J.C.C. (March 9, 2004). "Atheism and Agnosticism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved April 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) . Atheism in Pagan Antiquity. Chicago: Ares Publishers. ISBN 978-0-89005-201-3.
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 and atheotēs; to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly, átheos 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.
- "atheist". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 2009. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
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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. OCLC 55193813.
The opinion which they conceaue of you, to be Atheists, or godlesse men.
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First Known Use: 1546
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Athisme, that is to say, vtter godlesnes.
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Zuckerman, Phil (2009). "Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions" (PDF). Sociology Compass. 3 (6): 949–971. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
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- 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."
- 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?'"
- 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).
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In a world riven by ignorance, only the atheist refuses to deny the obvious: Religious faith promotes human violence to an astonishing degree.
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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.'
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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.
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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).
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There is no universal worldview that all Neo-Pagans/Wiccans hold. One online information source indicates that depending on how the term God is defined, Neo-Pagans might be classified as monotheists, duotheists (two gods), polytheists, pantheists, or atheists.
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Further reading
- Berman, David (1990). A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-04727-2. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- Bradlaugh, Charles, Annie Besant and others. (1884) The Atheistic Platform: 12 Lectures. London: Freethought Publishing. The atheistic platform, 12 lectures by C. Bradlaugh [and others]. Archived June 11, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- Buckley, M.J. (1990). At the Origins of Modern Atheism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-04897-1.
- Bullivant, Stephen; Ruse, Michael, eds. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Atheism. Oxford UP. ISBN 978-0-19-964465-0.
- Duran, Martin (2019). Wondering About God: Impiety, Agnosticism, and Atheism in Ancient Greece. Barcelona: Independently Published. ISBN 978-1-08-061240-6.
- Flew, Antony (2005). God and Philosophy. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-330-2.
- Tom Flynn, ed. (2007). The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-391-3.
- Gaskin, J. C. A., ed. (1989). Varieties of Unbelief: From Epicurus to Sartre. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-02-340681-2.
- Germani, Alan (September 15, 2008). "The Mystical Ethics of the New Atheists". The Objective Standard. 3 (3). Archived from the original on April 28, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- Gray, John (2018). Seven Types of Atheism. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-241-19941-1.
- Harbour, Daniel (2003). An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism. London: Duckworth. ISBN 978-0-7156-3229-1.
- Harris, Sam (October 2, 2007). "The Problem with Atheism". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- Howson, Colin (2011). Objecting to God. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-18665-0
- 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. ISBN 978-0-8050-7442-0.
- Krueger, D.E. (1998). What is Atheism?: A Short Introduction. New York: Prometheus. ISBN 978-1-57392-214-2.
- Ledrew, S. (2012). "The evolution of atheism: Scientific and humanistic approaches". History of the Human Sciences. 25 (3): 70–87. doi:10.1177/0952695112441301. S2CID 145640287.
- Le Poidevin, R. (1996). Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-09338-5. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
- Mackie, J.L. (1982). The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-824682-4.
- Maritain, Jacques (1952). The Range of Reason. London: Geoffrey Bles. Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
- Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier, ed. (2003). The Impossibility of God. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-120-9.
- Michael Martin & Ricki Monnier, ed. (2006). The Improbability of God. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-381-4.
- McGinn, Colin (2010). "Why I am an Atheist" Archived August 30, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- McTaggart, John; McTaggart, Ellis (1930) . Some Dogmas of Religion (New ed.). London: Edward Arnold & Co. ISBN 978-0-548-14955-3.
- Nielsen, Kai (1985). Philosophy and Atheism. New York: Prometheus. ISBN 978-0-87975-289-7.
- Nielsen, Kai (2001). Naturalism and Religion. New York: Prometheus. ISBN 978-1-57392-853-3.
- Obbink, Dirk (1989). "The Atheism of Epicurus". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 30 (2): 187–223. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- Onfray, Michel (2007). Atheist Manifesto. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55970-820-3. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- Oppy, Graham (2006). Arguing about Gods. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86386-5. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved August 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. ISBN 978-0-19-824191-1. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- Rosenberg, Alex (2011). The Atheist's Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-393-08023-0
- Russell, Paul (2013). "Hume on Religion". In Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
- Sharpe, R.A. (1997). The Moral Case Against Religious Belief. London: SCM Press. ISBN 978-0-334-02680-8.
- Shermer, Michael (1999). How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God. New York: William H Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-3561-8.
- Smolkin, Victoria. A Sacred Space is Never Empty: A History of Soviet Atheism (Princeton UP, 2018) online reviews Archived April 24, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
- Thrower, James (1971). A Short History of Western Atheism. London: Pemberton. ISBN 978-0-301-71101-0.
- Walters, Kerry (2010). Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-2493-8
- Whitmarsh, Tim. (2015), Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World
- Zuckerman, Phil, ed. (2010). Atheism and secularity. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-313-35183-9.
- Zuckerman, Phil (2010). Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-9723-5.
External links
Library resources aboutAtheism
- Atheism at PhilPapers
- Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). "Atheism and Agnosticism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- "Atheism". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- The New Atheists. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Includes links to organizations and websites.
- 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.
- McGinn, Colin, "Why I am an Atheist"
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