Draft version of article with the "criticism" section removed

Atheism, defined as a

The term atheism originated as a pejorative epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of freethought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and was sometimes used as a self-description by atheists.

In early

In English, the term atheism was derived from the French athéisme in about 1587.^[11] The term atheist (from Fr. athée), in the sense of "one who denies or disbelieves the existence of God",^[12] predates atheism in English, being first attested in about 1571.^[13] Atheist as a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577.^[14] The words deist and theist entered English after atheism, being first attested in 1621^[15] and 1662,^[16] respectively, and followed by theism and deism in 1678^[17] and 1682,^[18] respectively. 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.^[19]

Karen Armstrong writes that "During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the word 'atheist' was still reserved exclusively for polemic.... The term 'atheist' was an insult. Nobody would have dreamed of calling himself an atheist."^[20] Atheism was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the monotheistic Judeo-Christian God.^[21] In the 20th century, globalization contributed to the expansion of the term to refer to disbelief in all deities, though it remains common in Western society to describe atheism as simply "disbelief in God".^[22] 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.^[22][23][24]

Writers have disagreed on how best to define and classify atheism,^[25] 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.

Range

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

With respect to the range of phenomena being rejected, atheism may counter anything from the existence of a god, to the existence of any spiritual, supernatural, or transcendental concepts, such as those of Hinduism and Buddhism.^[27]

Implicit vs. explicit

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,

Strong vs. weak

Main article:

Weak and strong atheism

Philosophers such as

Michael Martin^[22] 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.^[34] The terms weak and strong are relatively recent; however, the equivalent terms negative and positive atheism have been used in the philosophical literature^[33] and (in a slightly different sense) in Catholic apologetics.^[35]

Under this demarcation of atheism, most agnostics would qualify as weak atheists.

Many atheists object to the 'weak/strong' terminology because it can convey the inference that the 'weak' position is less philosophically rigorous than the 'strong' perspective. The principle argument which distinguishes the two positions concerns whether or not it is possible to prove that something does not exist. A sizable segment of the atheistic community is critical of 'strong' atheism, seeing it as a position that is no more justified than theism, or as one that requires equal conviction.[36]^[37]

Theist critics argue that weak atheism is an attempt to tip the burden of proof in favor of nonbelief, and assert the unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of God as indication that atheism requires a

weak atheism is not a positive claim, and thus requires no more faith than not accepting the existence of Santa Claus, an Invisible Pink Unicorn, or a Flying Spaghetti Monster;^[39] and that the unprovability of God's existence does not imply equal probability of either possibility.^[40]

Rationale

The broadest demarcation with respect to atheistic rationale is between practical and theoretical atheism. The different forms of theoretical atheism each derive from a particular rationale or philosophical argument. In contrast, practical atheism requires no specific argument, and can include indifference to and ignorance of the idea of gods.

Practical atheism

In practical, or

methodological naturalism—the "tacit adoption or assumption of philosophical naturalism within scientific method with or without fully accepting or believing it."^[43]

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.[44]

Historically, practical atheism 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 hedonism. 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."^[45]

Theoretical atheism

wager in Pensées

(1669): "Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that He is."

Further information: [[:Existence of God]]

Theoretical, or contemplative, atheism explicitly posits arguments against belief in gods. These arguments assume various psychological, sociological, metaphysical, and epistemological forms. Since theist philosophers have presented evidence for the

wager

, the atheist must consider whether such arguments are successful. Theoretical atheists may use one or more of these arguments to support their views:

Epistemological arguments

Further information: [[:Agnostic atheism, Theological noncognitivism]]

Epistemological atheism argues that people cannot know God or determine the existence of God. The foundation of epistemological atheism is

subject. The rationalistic agnosticism of Kant and the Enlightenment 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. Skepticism, based on the ideas of Hume, 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.^[46]

Other forms of atheistic argumentation that may qualify as epistemological, including

Theodore M. Drange reject both categories, stating that both camps accept "God exists" as a proposition; they instead place noncognitivism in its own category.^[47][48]

Metaphysical arguments

Further information: [[:Monism, Physicalism]]

Metaphysical atheism is based on metaphysical

personal aspect, or unity. Examples of relative metaphysical atheism include pantheism, panentheism, and deism.^[49]

Psychological, sociological and economical arguments

Further information: [[:

Neurotheology

]]

Philosophers such as

Ludwig Feuerbach and Sigmund Freud 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 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."^[50]

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 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?"

Logical and evidential arguments

Further information: [[:Deductive arguments against the existence of God, Problem of evil, Divine hiddenness]]

Logical atheism holds that the various

immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnibenevolence, transcendence, personhood (a personal being), nonphysicality, justice and mercy.^[51]

hidden from many people.^[52]

Anthropocentric arguments

Further information: [[:

Humanism

]]

Axiological, or constructive, atheism rejects the existence of gods in favor of a "higher absolute", such as Humanity. 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, full-development, and unfettered happiness.^[53]

One of the most common criticisms of atheism has been to the contrary—that denying the existence of a just God leads to

atheists in foxholes." Atheistic philosophers such as Joseph McCabe, Paul Kurtz, Antony Flew, and Michael Martin dispute this claim;^[56] also, atheist organizations of military personnel have been created in response.^[57]

History

Main article: History of atheism

Although the term atheism originated in 16th-century France, ideas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from classical antiquity and the Vedic period.

Early Indic religion

heterodox 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.^[58]

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:

"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."[59]

Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include

Purva Mimamsa. The rejection of a personal, creator God is also seen in Jainism and Buddhism in India.^[60]

Classical antiquity

Western atheism has its roots in

Greek philosophy, but did not emerge as a distinct world-view until the late Enlightenment.^[61] The 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher Diagoras is known as the "first atheist",^[62] and strongly criticized religion and mysticism. Critias viewed religion as a human invention used to frighten people into following moral order.^[63] Atomists such as Leucippus and Democritus explained the world in a purely materialistic way, without reference to the spiritual or mystical. Other pre-Socratic philosophers with atheistic views included Prodicus, Protagoras, and Theodorus

.

Another atomic materialist,

personal deity; he considered the soul purely material and mortal. While Epicureanism did not rule out the existence of gods, he believed that if they did exist, they were unconcerned with humanity.^[64]

Following in the footsteps of materialists like Epicurus, the Roman poet Lucretius agreed that, if there were gods, they were unconcerned with humanity, and unable to affect the natural world. For this reason, he believed humanity should have no fear of the supernatural. In De rerum natura ("On the nature of things"), he expounds his Epicurean views of the cosmos, atoms, the soul, mortality, and religion.^[65]

One of the greatest Roman philosophers to affirm skeptical inquiry was Sextus Empiricus.^{[citation needed]} He held that one should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs—a form of skepticism known as Pyrrhonism. He held the view that nothing was inherently evil, and that ataraxia ("peace of mind") is attainable by withholding one's judgment. His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.^[66]

The Greek philosopher Socrates was called an atheist for impiety on the basis that he inspired questioning of the state gods.^[67] Although he disputed the accusation that he was a "complete atheist",^[68] he was ultimately sentenced to death.

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.

heresy became a punishable offense.^[70]

Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance

The espousal of atheistic views was rare in Europe during the

Johannes Scotus Eriugena, David of Dinant, Amalric of Bena, and the Brethren of the Free Spirit maintained Christian viewpoints with pantheistic tendencies. Nicholas of Cusa held to a form of fideism he called docta ignorantia ("learned ignorance"), asserting that God is beyond human categorization, and our knowledge of God is limited to conjecture. William of Ockham inspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with his nominalistic limitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divine essence could not be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Followers of Ockham, such as John of Mirecourt and Nicholas of Autrecourt furthered this view. The resulting division between faith and reason influenced later theologians such as John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, and Martin Luther.^[72]

The

arguments from religious authority. Other critics of religion and the Church during this time included Niccolò Machiavelli, Bonaventure des Périers, and François Rabelais.^[66]

Early Modern Period

The

Calvinists

. This era of interconfessional rivalry permitted an even wider scope of theological and philosophical speculation, much of which would later be used to advance a religiously skeptical worldview.

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,

A 2005 survey published in Encyclopædia Britannica 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.^[87]

According to a study by Paul Bell, published in the UK

A November–December 2006 poll published in the

agnostic.^[90]

Atheism, religion and morality

Main articles: Atheism and religion and Secular ethics

personal God, Buddhism

is commonly described as atheistic.

Although people who self-identify as atheists are usually assumed to be

atheistic or humanistic Judaism^[92][93] and Christian atheists.^[94][95][96]

As the strictest sense of positive atheism does not entail any specific beliefs outside of disbelief in God, atheists can hold any number of spiritual beliefs. For the same reason, atheists can hold a wide variety of ethical beliefs, ranging from the moral universalism of humanism, which holds that a moral code should be applied consistently to all humans, to moral nihilism, which holds that morality is meaningless.^[97]

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.

false analogy, and that morality does not depend upon a lawmaker in the same way that laws do,^[101] based on the Euthyphro dilemma, which either renders God unnecessary or morality arbitrary.^[102]

Philosopher Julian Baggini asserts that behaving ethically only because of divine mandate is not true ethical behavior, merely blind obedience.^[103] 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.^[104]

Atheists such as

witch trials, are often used by antireligious atheists to justify their views;^[107] however, theists have made very similar arguments against atheists based on the state atheism of communist states.^[108]

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3. religioustolerance.org's short article on Definitions of the term "Atheism" suggests that there is no consensus on the definition of the term. Simon Blackburn summarizes the situation in The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: "Atheism. Either the lack of belief in a god, or the belief that there is none." Most dictionaries (see the OneLook query for "atheism"
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10. ISBN 0-89005-201-8. Atheism and atheist are words formed from Greek roots and with Greek derivative endings. Nevertheless they are not Greek; their formation is not consonant with Greek usage. In Greek they said atheos and atheotēs; to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly, atheos was used as an expression of severe censure and moral condemnation; this use is an old one, and the oldest that can be traced. Not till later do we find it employed to denote a certain philosophical creed. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help
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91. ISBN 0-7566-1901-7. Nonbelief has existed for centuries. For example, Buddhism and Jainism have been called atheistic religions because they do not advocate belief in gods. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help
    )
92. ^ "Humanistic Judaism". BBC. 2006-07-20. Retrieved 2006-10-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
93. ^ Levin, S. (1995). "Jewish Atheism". New Humanist. 110 (2): 13–15. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
94. ^ "Christian Atheism". BBC. 2006-05-17. Retrieved 2006-10-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
95. ^ Altizer, Thomas J. J. (1967). The Gospel of Christian Atheism. London: Collins. pp. 102–103. Retrieved 2006-10-27.
96. ^ Lyas, Colin (1970). "On the Coherence of Christian Atheism". Philosophy: The Journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. 45 (171): 1–19. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
97. ^ Smith 1979, pp. 21–22.
98. ^ 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."
99. 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?'"
100. ^ 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).
101. ^ Baggini 2003, p. 38.
102. ^ Baggini 2003, p. 39.
103. ^ Baggini 2003, p. 40.
104. ^ Baggini 2003, p. 43.
105. Harris, Sam (2006a). "The Myth of Secular Moral Chaos". Free Inquiry
     . Retrieved 2006-10-29.
106. ^ See for example: Kahoe, R.D. (June 1977). "Intrinsic Religion and Authoritarianism: A Differentiated Relationship". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 16(2). pp. 179–182. Also see: Altemeyer, Bob and Bruce Hunsberger (1992). "Authoritarianism, Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Prejudice". International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 2(2). pp. 113–133.
107. Harris, Sam (2005). "An Atheist Manifesto". Truthdig
     . Retrieved 2006-10-29. In a world riven by ignorance, only the atheist refuses to deny the obvious: Religious faith promotes human violence to an astonishing degree.
108. ISBN 0-385-50062-9
     . Retrieved 2006-10-27.

Notes

• ISBN 0-19-280424-3
• ISBN 0-521-60367-6
• ISBN 0-87975-124-X
• Zdybicka, Zofia J. (2005), "Atheism" (PDF), in Maryniarczyk, Andrzej (ed.), Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 1, Polish Thomas Aquinas Association, retrieved 2007-04-07

Further reading

• Berman, David (1990). A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell. London: Routledge.
  ISBN 0-415-04727-7
  .
• Buckley, M. J. (1990). At the Origins of Modern Atheism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  ISBN 0300048971
  .
• ISBN 0593055489
  .
• ISBN 1591023300
  .
• Flynn, Tom, ed. (2007). The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Prometheus Books.
  ISBN 1591023912
  .
• Gaskin, J.C.A., ed. (1989), Varieties of Unbelief: From Epicurus to Sartre, New York: Macmillan,
  ISBN 0-02-340681-X
• Harbour, Daniel.
  ISBN 0-7156-3229-9
  .
• ISBN 978-0307265777
  .
• ISBN 978-0446579803
  .
• Krueger, D. E. (1998). What is Atheism?: A Short Introduction. New York: Prometheus.
  ISBN 1-57392-214-5
  .
• Le Poidevin, R. (1996). Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. London: Routledge.
  ISBN 0-415-09338-4
  .
• ISBN 019824682X
• Maritain, Jacques (1953). The Range of Reason. London: Geoffrey Bles.
  ISBN B0007DKP00. Retrieved 2006-10-27. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help
  )
• ISBN 0-87722-943-0
  .
• Martin, Michael & Monnier, R., eds. (2003). The impossibility of God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
  ISBN 1591021200
• Martin, Michael & Monnier, R., eds. (2006). The improbability of God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
  ISBN 1591023815
• McTaggart, John & McTaggart, Ellis (1930). Some Dogmas of Religion. London: Edward Arnold & Co., new edition. [First published 1906]
• Mills, David (2004).
  ISBN 1-4134-3481-9
  .
• ISBN 0-87975-289-0|'"`UNIQ--templatestyles-000000D3-QINU`"'[[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/0-87975-289-0 |0-87975-289-0]]]]. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); templatestyles stripmarker in |ISBN= at position 1 (help
  )
• ISBN 1573928534
  .
• ISBN 0521863864
  .
• Robinson, Richard (1964). An Atheist's Values. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  ISBN 0198241917
  .
• Sharpe, R.A. (1997). The Moral Case Against Religious Belief. London: SCM Press.
  ISBN 0-334-02680-6
  .
• Stenger, Victor J. (2007). God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
  ISBN 1591024811
• Thrower, James (1971). A Short History of Western Atheism. London: Pemberton.
  ISBN 0-301-71101-1
  .

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Atheism/criticism-removal-attempt.

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Atheism/criticism-removal-attempt

• Open Directory: Atheism—includes links to organizations and websites.
• Religion & Ethics—Atheism at
  bbc.co.uk
  .
• Secular Web library—library of both historical and modern writings, probably the most comprehensive online resource for freely available material on atheism.
• Positive atheism: Great Historical Writings—historical writing sorted by authors, contains a few items not in the Secular web library.
• Infography about Atheism
• Lion of Judah: Answering atheists—large directory of apologetic websites.
• About Atheism—part of the About.com family of websites