Information AboutAtheism |
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Atheism, as a , some Religion s have been characterized as atheistic because of their lack of belief in a Personal God . Many Self-described Atheists are Skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of Empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward Secular philosophies such as Humanism Honderich, Ted (Ed.) (1995). "Humanism". ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. Oxford University Press. p 376. ISBN 0198661320. and Naturalism ,Fales, Evan. "Naturalism and Physicalism", in . there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.. The term ''atheism'' originated as a Pejorative Epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion.4'' and '; to these the English words ungodly and ungodliness correspond rather closely. In exactly the same way as ungodly, ' 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. }} 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. ETYMOLOGY () on the early 3rd-century Papyrus 46 . It is usually translated into English as " who are without God".The word —in any of its forms—appears nowhere else in the Septuagint or the New Testament . 5]] In early (') or "impious". Modern translations of classical texts sometimes render ' as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also (''''), "atheism". Cicero transliterated the Greek word into the Latin ''''. The term found frequent use in the debate between Early Christians and pagans, with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other. In '' in 1678;11 and '' Deism '' in 1682.12 ''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.The '' Oxford English Dictionary '' 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. 13 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."14 ''Atheism'' was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the Monotheistic Judeo-Christian God .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. 15 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."Martin, Michael. '' The Cambridge Companion to Atheism ''. Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN 0521842700. 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.1617 DEFINITIONS AND DISTINCTIONS Writers have disagreed on how best to define and classify ''atheism'',18 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 Conceptions Of God and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. In contexts where '' Theism '' is defined as the belief in a Singular Personal God , for example, people who believe in a variety of other deities may be classified as atheists, including Deists and even Polytheists . In the 20th century, this view has fallen into disfavor as ''theism'' has come to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity.Martin, Michael. '' The Cambridge Companion to Atheism ''. Cambridge University Press. 2006. ISBN 0521842700. 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.19 Implicit vs. explicit See Also: Implicit and explicit atheism Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist. 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, D'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God".20 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 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.". 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. The view that children are born atheist is relatively recent. Prior to the 18th century, the existence of God was so universally accepted in the western world that even the possibility of true atheism was questioned. This is called ''theistic . Strong vs. weak See Also: Weak and strong atheism Philosophers such as 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.23 The terms ''weak'' and ''strong'' are relatively recent; however, the equivalent terms ''negative'' and ''positive'' atheism have been used in the philosophical literature and (in a slightly different sense) in Catholic apologetics.24 Under this demarcation of atheism, most Agnostics qualify as weak atheists. While agnosticism can be seen as a form of weak atheism,25 most agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism, which they may consider no more justified than theism, or requires an equal conviction.26 The supposed unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of God is sometimes seen as indication that atheism requires a Leap Of Faith .27 Common atheist responses to this argument include that unproven '' Religious '' propositions deserve as much disbelief as all ''other'' unproven propositions,. "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." and that the unprovability of God's existence does not imply equal probability of either possibility.. "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." 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 Scepticism which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic."28 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".29 RATIONALE . Glasgow University Emblem Website. Retrieved on , 1552.]] 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 ''. Practical atheism can take various forms:
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