Atheism

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Richard Dawkins, a famous supporter of atheism.

Atheism is the rejection of belief in the existence of any deities (God or gods).[1][2] It is the opposite of theism, which is the belief that there is at least one deity.

A person who rejects the belief in deities is called an atheist. Atheism is not the same as agnosticism. Agnostics say that there is no way to know whether gods exist or not. Even so, agnostics may still believe in one or more gods.[3]

Atheists often give reasons why they do not believe in a god or gods. Three of the reasons that they often give are the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, and the argument from nonbelief.

Contents

Origins of the word

The Greek word αθεοι (atheoi), as it appears in the Epistle to the Ephesians (2:12) on the early 3rd-century Papyrus 46. It is usually translated into English as "[those who are] without God".[4]

The word atheism comes from the Greek language. Atheism is divided into a- (ἄ), a Greek prefix meaning "without", and theos (θεός), meaning "god". Therefore, in Greek it means "without gods". The English word, atheism, comes from the French athéisme from the 16th century.

Atheism in society

Map of atheist and agnostic population by percentage in the world, by Zuckerman (2006)

In many places, it is (or was) a crime to be an atheist,[5] and many countries still have laws against atheism.[6][7][8] Atheism is becoming more common.[9] In some countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States, there are laws that protect atheists' right not to have a religion. This means that atheists have the same rights under the law as everyone else. Freedom of religion in international law and treaties includes the freedom not to have a religion.

Today, about 2.3% of the world's population describes itself as atheist. About 11.9% is described as nontheist.[10] Between 64% and 65% of Japanese describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, or non-believers,[11][12] and up to 48% in Russia.[11] The percentage of such people in European Union member states ranges between 6% (Italy) and 85% (Sweden).[11]

Defining Atheism

People disagree how atheism should be defined. The main points of disagreement are whether someone who does not believe in one of the "main" world religions is an atheist and whether people who do not practise their religion can be called atheists.

A chart showing the relationship between the definitions of weak/strong and implicit/explicit atheism. An implicit atheist has not thought about belief in gods. Such an individual would be described as implicitly without a belief in gods. An explicit atheist has thought about belief in gods. An explicit atheist may reject belief in gods (weak atheism), or may further conclude that gods do not exist (strong atheism). (Relative sizes on diagram are not meant to indicate actual sizes in populations.)

Atheism has sometimes been defined to include the simple absence of belief that any deities exist. This definition is very general and includes people who have never heard about theistic ideas. As far back as 1772, Baron d'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God."[13] Similarly, George H. Smith (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 [who is able 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."[14] 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.

Philosophers such as Antony Flew,[15] Michael Martin,[16] and William L. Rowe[17] 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.[18] The terms weak and strong are relatively recent, the terms negative and positive atheism are older; they have been used more often in the philosophical literature[15] and in Catholic apologetics[19] since at least 1813.[20][21] Under this definition of atheism, most agnostics qualify as weak atheists.

According to Martin, agnosticism includes weak atheism.[16] Most agnostics disagree, they think their view is different from atheism. In their view, atheism is no different from believing in a god, because both require belief.[22]

Agnostics say that it cannot be known if one or more gods exist. In their view, strong atheism requires a leap of faith.[23][needs proving]

Atheists commonly reply to this that there is is no difference between an unproven proposition about religion, and one about other things[24] and that the unprovability of a god's existence does not imply equal probability of either possibility.[25] Scottish philosopher J. J. C. Smart even argues that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalised philosophical skepticism which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic."[26] Consequently, some popular atheist authors such as Richard Dawkins prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic and atheist positions by the probability assigned to the statement "God exists".[27]

Atheism in daily life

"A child of the mob once asked an astronomer who the father was who brought him into this world. The scholar pointed to the sky, and to an old man sitting, and said:
'That one there is your body's father, and that your soul's.'
To which the boy replied:
'What is above of us is of no concern to us, and I'm ashamed to be the child of such an aged man!'
 'O what supreme impiety, not to want to recognize your father, and not to think God is your maker!' [28] Emblem illustrating practical atheism and its historical association with immorality, titled "Supreme Impiety: Atheist and Charlatan", from Picta poesis, by Barthélemy Aneau, 1552.

In everyday life, many people define natural phenomena without the need of a god or gods. They do not deny the existence of one or more gods, they simply say that this existence is not necessary. Gods do not provide a purpose to life, nor influence it, according to this view.[29] Many scientists practice what they call methodological naturalism. They silently adopt philosophical naturalism and use the scientific method. Their belief in a god does not affect their results.[30]

Practical atheism can take different 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
  • Unawareness of the concept of a deity.[31]

Theoretical atheism

Theoretic atheism tries to find arguments against the existence of god, and to disprove the arguments of Theism, such as the argument from design or Pascal's Wager. These theoretical reasons have many forms, most of them are ontological or epistemological. Some rely on psychology or sociology.

Other pages

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Rowe, William L. (1998). "Atheism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward Craig. 
  3. ↑ Atheism and Agnosticism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  4. ↑ The word αθεοι—in any of its forms—appears nowhere else in the Septuagint or the New Testament. Robertson, A.T. [1932] (1960). "Ephesians: Chapter 2", Word Pictures in the New Testament. Broadman Press. Retrieved on 2007-04-12. “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.” 
  5. ↑ Ruth Geller. Goodbye to Blasphemy in Britain. Institute for Humanist Studies. Retrieved on 6 June 2008.
  6. ↑ Pakistan bans Da Vinci Code film. BBC News / South Asia. BBC (2006). Retrieved on 4 June 2006.
  7. ↑ Crimes Act 1961 - Section 123
  8. ↑ "Jordanian poet accused of 'atheism and blasphemy'," The Daily Star Lebanon Saturday, October 25, 2008.
  9. ↑ http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/ "American Religion Identification Survey"
  10. ↑ Worldwide Adherents of All Religions by Six Continental Areas, Mid-2005. Encyclopædia Britannica (2005). Retrieved on 15 April 2007.
    • 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.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Zuckerman, Phil. "Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns", The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, ed. by Michael Martin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2005.
  12. ↑ However, data from the U.S. State Dept. may contradict this figure, since 44% are reported as adherents of Shinto, a polytheistic religion, and information was not provided on the number of respondents identifying with multiple categories. (64% atheists/agnostics/non-believers, plus 44% Shintoists, adds up to more than 100%.)
  13. ↑ d'Holbach, P. H. T. (1772). Good Sense. Retrieved on 2006-10-27. 
  14. ↑ Smith 1979, p. 14.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 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.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Martin, Michael. The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-521-84270-0.
  17. ↑ Rowe, William L. "Atheism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edward Craig (editor). Routledge: June 1998. ISBN 0-415-18706-0. 530-534.
  18. ↑ Cline, Austin (2006). Strong Atheism vs. Weak Atheism: What's the Difference?. about.com. Retrieved on 21 October 2006.
  19. ↑ Maritain, Jacques (July 1949). "On the Meaning of Contemporary Atheism". The Review of Politics 11 (3): 267–280.
  20. ↑ Stevens, Robert (1813). Sermons on our duty towards God, our neighbour, and ourselves, 4th Ed., London: Self published, 10-11. OCLC 26059549. Retrieved on September 1, 2009. 
  21. ↑ Bishop Burnet (1813). "Discourse of the Pastoral Care", The young minister's companion: or, A collection of valuable and scarce treatises on the pastoral office.... Boston: Samuel T. Armstrong, 166. OCLC 7381237. Retrieved on September 1, 2009. 
  22. ↑ Kenny, Anthony (2006). "Why I Am Not an Atheist", What I believe. Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-8971-0. “The true default position is neither theism nor atheism, but agnosticism … a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed.” 
  23. ↑ "Many atheists I know would be certain of a high place in heaven", Irish Times. Retrieved on 19 August 2009.
  24. ↑ 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."
  25. ↑ 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."
  26. ↑ Smart, J.C.C. (2004-03-09). Atheism and Agnosticism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved on 12 April 2007.
  27. ↑ Cudworth, Ralph. The true intellectual system of the universe. 1678. Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Bantam Books: 2006, p. 50. (ISBN 0-618-68000-4)
  28. ↑ Translation of Latin text from "Summa impietas" (1552), Picta poesis, by Barthélemy Aneau. Glasgow University Emblem Website. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  29. ↑ Zdybicka 2005, p. 20.
  30. ↑ Schafersman, Steven D. "Naturalism is an Essential Part of Science and Critical Inquiry". Conference on Naturalism, Theism and the Scientific Enterprise. Department of Philosophy, The University of Texas. February 1997. Revised May 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
  31. ↑ Zdybicka 2005, p. 21.

Books

  • Martin, Michael, ed. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-60367-6
  • Smith, George, Atheism: The Case Against God, (1974). ISBN 0-87975-124-X
  • Zdybicka, Zofia J. (2005), "Atheism", in Maryniarczyk, Andrzej, Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 1, Polish Thomas Aquinas Association

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