{"title":"1. What is atheism?","authors":"Julian Baggini","doi":"10.1093/actrade/9780198856795.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198856795.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"‘What is atheism?’ examines what atheism is. Atheism is simply the belief that there is no God or gods. The atheist’s rejection of belief in God is usually accompanied by a broader rejection of any supernatural or transcendental reality. Indeed, the atheist is almost always a naturalist, believing that there is only the natural world and not any supernatural one. Materialism goes one step further than basic naturalism and claims that the only things that are real are material objects, made up of atoms and sub-atomic particles. This view was eventually replaced by the more sophisticated physicalism.","PeriodicalId":235798,"journal":{"name":"Atheism: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"132 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127209927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"6. Atheism in the 21st century","authors":"Julian Baggini","doi":"10.1093/actrade/9780198856795.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198856795.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"‘Atheism in the 21st century’ explains how, at the dawn of the 21st century, the position of atheism was fairly stable around the world. Early in this century, however, Western atheism suddenly came to much greater prominence. The new, assertive movement that was emerging was labelled 'the New Atheism'. The New Atheists were, for the most part, strongly critical of both moderate and fundamentalist religion, dismissive of the idea that they should avoid offending the faithful, and convinced that religious belief was profoundly irrational. They also claim that religion is harmful. Indeed, an objection to religion popular among the New Atheists is that most extremism is motivated by religious faith.","PeriodicalId":235798,"journal":{"name":"Atheism: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129475089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"4. Meaning and purpose","authors":"Julian Baggini","doi":"10.1093/actrade/9780192804242.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780192804242.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"‘Meaning and purpose’ challenges the assumption that without religion, life’s meaning and purpose becomes impossible by arguing that many atheists do and have lived meaningful and purposeful lives. Indeed, atheists could credibly claim that life is more meaningful for them than it is for many religious people who see this world as a kind of preparation for the next. When heaven is the ultimate destination, life on Earth is not really valuable in itself. The atheist, as a naturalist, unequivocally accepts human mortality, with no belief in afterlife, reincarnation, or dissolution of the ego as the self rejoins ultimate reality. We mustn't forget the importance of hedonism.","PeriodicalId":235798,"journal":{"name":"Atheism: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131899535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"3. Atheist ethics","authors":"Julian Baggini","doi":"10.1093/ACTRADE/9780192804242.003.0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ACTRADE/9780192804242.003.0003","url":null,"abstract":"‘Atheist ethics’ argues that atheists are not only capable of leading moral lives, they may even be more able to do so than those who confuse divine law and punishment with right and wrong. The Euthyphro dilemma is very powerful argument against the idea that God is required for morality. An objection to the possibility of a godless morality is the degree of personal choice it seems to leave to the individual. It is important to identify the source(s) of morality and look at the concept of moral thinking. Ultimately, many remain unconvinced that secular ethics really can thrive without some kind of religious foundation.","PeriodicalId":235798,"journal":{"name":"Atheism: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131256689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"2. The case for atheism","authors":"Julian Baggini","doi":"10.1093/actrade/9780192804242.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780192804242.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"‘The case for atheism’ investigates the case for atheism, which does not depend on proving God does not exist but on making a good case for naturalism. The atheist’s naturalism consists in the view that a human being is a biological animal rather than some kind of embodied spiritual soul, as many religious believers think. The strong evidence all points to our biological nature. We need to think about inductive and abductive arguments concerning atheism as well and differentiate atheism from agnosticism, before assessing whether atheism is a faith position. What are the arguments for religious belief?","PeriodicalId":235798,"journal":{"name":"Atheism: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129953487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"5. Atheism in history","authors":"Julian Baggini","doi":"10.1093/actrade/9780192804242.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780192804242.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"‘Atheism in history’ traces the origins and history of atheism. Atheism has its origins in Ancient Greece and although there have always been people who did not believe in God, atheism did not emerge as an overt and avowed belief system until late in the Enlightenment. Since the Enlightenment, almost all atheists have advocated state secularism, which has been one of the great triumphs of Western civilization. It is important to remember, however, that the history of Western atheism is not the history of global atheism. Despite the growth of atheism, suspicion, and even fear, of atheists remains widespread.","PeriodicalId":235798,"journal":{"name":"Atheism: A Very Short Introduction","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132954004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}