Atheism
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I INTRODUCTION Atheism, the denial of or lack of
belief in the existence of a god or gods. The term
atheism comes from the Greek prefix a-, meaning
"without," and the Greek word theos, meaning "deity."
The denial of god's existence is also known as strong,
or positive, atheism, whereas the lack of belief in
god is known as negative, or weak, atheism. Although
atheism is often contrasted with agnosticism-the view
that we cannot know whether a deity exists or not and
should therefore suspend belief-negative atheism is in
fact compatible with agnosticism.
Atheism has wide-ranging implications for the human
condition. In the absence of belief in god, ethical
goals must be determined by secular (nonreligious)
aims and concerns, human beings must take full
responsibility for their destiny, and death marks the
end of a person's existence. As of 1994 there were an
estimated 240 million atheists around the world
comprising slightly more than 4 percent of the world's
population, including those who profess atheism,
skepticism, disbelief, or irreligion. The estimate of
nonbelievers increases significantly, to about 21
percent of the world's population, if negative
atheists are included.
II SCOPE OF ATHEISM
>From ancient times, people have at times used atheism
as a term of abuse for religious positions they
opposed. The first Christians were called atheists
because they denied the existence of the Roman
deities. Over time, several misunderstandings of
atheism have arisen: that atheists are immoral, that
morality (see ethics) cannot be justified without
belief in God, and that life has no purpose without
belief in God. Yet there is no evidence that atheists
are any less moral than believers. Many systems of
morality have been developed that do not presuppose
the existence of a supernatural being. Moreover, the
purpose of human life may be based on secular goals,
such as the betterment of humankind.
In Western society the term atheism has been used more
narrowly to refer to the denial of theism, in
particular Judeo-Christian theism, which asserts the
existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good
personal being. This being created the universe, takes
an active interest in human concerns, and guides his
creatures through divine disclosure known as
revelation. Positive atheists reject this theistic God
and the associated beliefs in an afterlife, a cosmic
destiny, a supernatural origin of the universe, an
immortal soul, the revealed nature of the Bible and
the Qur'an (Koran), and a religious foundation for
morality.
Theism, however, is not a characteristic of all
religions. Some religions reject theism but are not
entirely atheistic. Although the theistic tradition is
fully developed in the Bhagavad-Gita, the sacred text
of Hinduism, earlier Hindu writings known as the
Upanishads teach that Brahman (ultimate reality) is
impersonal. Positive atheists reject even the
pantheistic aspects of Hinduism that equate God with
the universe. Several other Eastern religions,
including Theravada Buddhism and Jainism, are commonly
believed to be atheistic, but this interpretation is
not strictly correct. These religions do reject a
theistic God believed to have created the universe,
but they accept numerous lesser gods. At most, such
religions are atheistic in the narrow sense of
rejecting theism.
III HISTORY
In the Western intellectual world, nonbelief in the
existence of God is a widespread phenomenon with a
long and distinguished history. Philosophers of the
ancient world such as Lucretius were nonbelievers.
Even in the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century)
there were currents of thought that questioned theist
assumptions, including skepticism, the doctrine that
true knowledge is impossible, and naturalism, the
belief that only natural forces control the world.
Several leading thinkers of the Enlightenment
(1700-1789) were professed atheists, including Danish
writer Baron Holbach and French encyclopedist Denis
Diderot. Expressions of nonbelief also are found in
classics of Western literature, including the writings
of English poets Percy Shelley and Lord Byron; English
novelist Thomas Hardy; French philosophers Voltaire
and Jean-Paul Sartre; Russian author Ivan Turgenev;
and American writers Mark Twain and Upton Sinclair. In
the 19th century the most articulate and best-known
atheists and critics of religion were German
philosophers Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Arthur
Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche. British
philosopher Bertrand Russell, Austrian psychoanalyst
Sigmund Freud, and Sartre are among the 20th century's
most influential atheists.
IV REASONS FOR REJECTING GOD
A Criticisms of Theism
Atheists justify their philosophical position in
several different ways. Negative atheists attempt to
establish their position by refuting typical theist
arguments for the existence of God, such as the
argument from first cause, the argument from design,
the ontological argument, and the argument from
religious experience (see Theism: Arguments for
Theism). Other negative atheists assert that any
statement about God is meaningless, because attributes
such as all-knowing and all-powerful cannot be
comprehended by the human mind. Positive atheists, on
the other hand, defend their position by arguing that
the concept of God is inconsistent. They question, for
example, whether a God who is all-knowing can also be
all-good and how a God who lacks bodily existence can
be all-knowing.
B The Problem of Evil
Some positive atheists have maintained that the
existence of evil makes the existence of God
improbable. In particular, atheists assert that theism
does not provide an adequate explanation for the
existence of seemingly gratuitous evil, such as the
suffering of innocent children. Theists commonly
defend the existence of evil by claiming that God
desires that human beings have the freedom to choose
between good and evil, or that the purpose of evil is
to build human character, such as the ability to
persevere. Positive atheists counter that
justifications for evil in terms of human free will
leave unexplained why, for example, children suffer
because of genetic diseases or abuse from adults.
Arguments that God allows pain and suffering to build
human character fail, in turn, to explain why there
was suffering among animals before human beings
evolved and why human character could not be developed
with less suffering than occurs in the world. For
atheists, a better explanation for the presence of
evil in the world is that God does not exist.
C Historical Evidence
Atheists have also criticized historical evidence used
to support belief in the major theistic religions. For
example, atheists have argued that a lack of evidence
casts doubt on important doctrines of Christianity,
such as the virgin birth and the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Because such events are said to represent
miracles, atheists assert that extremely strong
evidence is necessary to support their occurrence.
According to atheists, the available evidence to
support these alleged miracles-from Biblical, pagan,
and Jewish sources-is weak, and therefore such claims
should be rejected.
V DIVERSITY IN ATHEISM
Atheism is primarily a reaction to, or a rejection of,
religious belief, and thus does not determine other
philosophical beliefs. Atheism has sometimes been
associated with the philosophical ideas of
materialism, which holds that only matter exists;
communism, which asserts that religion impedes human
progress; and rationalism, which emphasizes analytic
reasoning over other sources of knowledge. However,
there is no necessary connection between atheism and
these positions. Some atheists have opposed communism
and some have rejected materialism. Although nearly
all contemporary materialists are atheists, the
ancient Greek materialist Epicurus believed the gods
were made of matter in the form of atoms. Rationalists
such as French philosopher René Descartes have
believed in God, whereas atheists such as Sartre are
not considered to be rationalists. Atheism has also
been associated with systems of thought that reject
authority, such as anarchism, a political theory
opposed to all forms of government, and
existentialism, a philosophic movement that emphasizes
absolute human freedom of choice; there is however no
necessary connection between atheism and these
positions. British analytic philosopher A. J. Ayer was
an atheist who opposed existentialism, while Danish
philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was an existentialist
who accepted God. Marx was an atheist who rejected
anarchism while Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, a
Christian, embraced anarchism. Because atheism in a
strict sense is merely a negation, it does not provide
a comprehensive worldview. It is therefore not
possible to presume other philosophical positions to
be outgrowths of atheism.
Intellectual debate over the existence of God
continues to be active, especially on college
campuses, in religious discussion groups, and in
electronic forums on the Internet. In contemporary
philosophical thought, atheism has been defended by
British philosopher Antony Flew, Australian
philosopher John Mackie, and American philosopher
Michael Martin, among others. Leading organizations of
unbelief in the United States include The American
Atheists, The Committee for the Scientific Study of
Religion, and The Internet Infidels.[]
__________________________
Contributed By: Michael Martin
"Atheism."Microsoft(r) Encarta(r) Encyclopedia 2001.
(c) 1993-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
=====
I am sorry that I have had to leave so many problems unsolved. I always have to
make this apology, but the world really is rather puzzling and I cannot help
it.
© Bertrand Russell (From The Philosophy of Logical Atomism, Lecture V)
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