- - From the less analytic tradition, there are three major atheist thinkers. MacIntyre notes in "The Religious Significance of Atheism" (1969) that the first two (Freud and Marx) both had quite conservative morals and would have been horrified to see what atrocities were later to be justified by their ideas. In the case of Freud, the atrocities are the way psychoanalysis sometimes led to the mistreatment of the handicapped and in the case of Marx they would be the horrors of Stalinist Russia. - - Freud was keen to describe religion a ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Etymology

Many people have disagreed on how best to characterize atheism, and much of the literature on the subject is erroneous or confusing. There are many discrepancies in the use of terminology between proponents and opponents of atheism, and even divergent definitions among those who share near-identical beliefs. Opponents of atheism have frequently associated atheism with immorality and evil, often characterizing it as a willful and malicious rejection of gods. This, in fact, is the original definition and sense of the word, but changing sensibilities and the normalization of nonreligious viewpoints have caused the ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism

Apatheism is a portmanteau (a haplology combining apathy with either atheist or theist) for the position that God may exist but is of no real importance to one's daily life. It was used by columnist Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic Monthly in 2003. There is also a satiric web page with the title "The Church of Apatheism". There are also instances of the term being used on message boards and other Internet venues as early as July 2000. Apatheism is not precisely synonymous to atheism, but rather holds that the question of whether or not God exists may be meaningful ...

Including:

• Apatheism - Another Point of View
• Apatheism - External link

Read more here: » Apatheism: Encyclopedia - Apatheism

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of god(s). That is, all who do not have such a belief - whether they think of themselves as nontheists, agnostics or even Buddhists - are covered under this term. Atheism can also be defined more narrowly as the active denial of the existence of god(s), either of a specific or general kind, or even that god(s) can exist. Generally speaking, atheism refers to a la ...

Including:

• Atheism - Etymology
• Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism
• Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism
• Atheism - Atheism as immorality
• Atheism - Weak and strong atheism
• Atheism - Ignosticism
• Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism
• Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism
• Atheism - Antitheism
• Atheism - History
• Atheism - Distribution of atheists
• Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom
• Atheism - Atheism in the United States
• Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics
• Atheism - Statistical problems
• Atheism - Religion and atheism
• Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism
• Atheism - Judaism
• Atheism - Christianity
• Atheism - Islam
• Atheism - Asian spirituality
• Atheism - Reasons for atheism
• Atheism - Philosophical reasons
• Atheism - Personal and social reasons
• Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche
• Atheism - Criticisms of atheism
• Atheism - Atheism is incoherent
• Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist
• Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics
• Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is
• Atheism - Related concepts
• Atheism - Organizations
• Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia - Atheism

Apathetic Agnosticism, in its most widely acknowledged form, is a theological position put forward by John Tyrrell in 1965. Apathetic Agnosticism differs from Ignosticism, in that while Ignostics are apathetic about the question of God, Apathetic Agnostics are apathetic about the answer, since there is no way to satisfactorily answer the question. The position follows that, regardless of whether or not a god or gods exist, it does not affect us, or the human conditio ...

Including:

• Apathetic agnosticism - Articles of Faith
• Apathetic agnosticism - Organization

Read more here: » Apathetic agnosticism: Encyclopedia - Apathetic agnosticism

Although the actual term atheism originated in 16th Century France, ideas that would be recognized as atheistic today existed even before Classical Antiquity. Epicurus proposed theories that can be classified as atheistic, such as a lack of belief in an afterlife, though he remained ambiguous concerning the actual existence of deities. Before him, Socrates was sentenced to death partly on the grounds that he was an atheist, although he did express belief in several forms of divinity, as recorded in Plato's Apology. This crimina ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - History

Though atheists are a minority group in most countries, they are relatively common in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, in former and present communist states, and, to a lesser extent, in the United States. Atheism is particularly prevalent among scientists, a tendency already quite marked at the beginning of the 20th century, developing into a dominant one during the course of the century. In 1914, James H. Leuba found that 58% of 1,000 randomly selected U.S. natural scientists expressed "disbelief or doubt in the exist ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Distribution of atheists

As some governments have strongly promoted atheism, whilst others have strongly condemned it, atheism may be either over-reported or under-reported for different countries. There is a great deal of room for debate as to the accuracy of any method of estimation, as the opportunity for misreporting (intentionally or not) a belief system without an organized structure is high. Also, many surveys on religious identification ask people to identify themselves as "agnostics" or "atheists", which is potentially confusing, since these terms are inter ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics

Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism. Although atheistic beliefs are often accompanied by a total lack of supernatural beliefs, this is not an aspect, or even a necessary consequence, of atheism. Indeed, there are many atheists who are not irreligious or secular. These are most common in spiritualities like Buddhism and Taoism, but they also exist in sects of religions that are usually very theistic by nature, such as Christi ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Religion and atheism

Although not all atheists claim to have a rational justification for their stance, a majority of explicit atheists do assert that their stance has a rational basis, and there are some especially common reasons given by them. Atheism - Philosophical reasons. A majority of explicit atheists base their stance on rational or philosophical grounds, arguing that their position is based on logical analysis, and subsequent rejection, of theistic claims. These arguments against the existence of deities consist of a number of different problems with theism. Chief among these problems is a perceiv ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Reasons for atheism

Atheists and atheism have received much criticism and opposition throughout human history, chiefly from theistic sources who consider lack of belief in their god sinful, misguided, or immoral. There has also been some criticism from nontheistic sources, at least of various forms of atheism. It is possible from the standpoint of religious philosophy to assess the arguments without necessarily taking a position on the issue. The most direct arguments against atheism are those in favor of the existence of deities, which would imply that atheism is simply untrue. For example ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Criticisms of atheism

A different source for Apatheism is given at this web site, Apatheism, Allognosticism, and the American Religious Landscape. Combining apathy with theism is more in line with the way Rauch uses the neologism. Early on he characterize himself, an atheist, as also being an apatheist. Later in Let It Be he writes, "And agnostics? True, most of them are apatheists, but most apatheists are not agnostics. Because -- and this is an essential point -- many apatheists are believers." Paraphrasing Mr. Rauch, this also support his statement that Apat ...

See also:

Apatheism, Apatheism - Another Point of View, Apatheism - External link

Read more here: » Apatheism: Encyclopedia II - Apatheism - Another Point of View

Used in the strict sense, as by those who self-identify as nontheists or nontheistics, the term describes a particular worldview for which the question of divinity is regarded as irrelevant and meaningless. When used in this sense, nontheism is often confused with agnosticism, although there is a distinct difference. An agnostic, by definition, views the question of God's existence to be necessarily unanswered, but not necessarily irrelevant. A nontheist, by definition, views the question to be necessari ...

See also:

Nontheism, Nontheism - Relationship to Agnosticism, Nontheism - Nontheistic worldview, Nontheism - Insentient life infants etc., Nontheism - Nontheism in philosophy, Nontheism - Nontheism in Buddhism

Read more here: » Nontheism: Encyclopedia II - Nontheism - Relationship to Agnosticism

The first historically significant nontheist was probably the Buddha Shakyamuni, who, when asked whether God existed, usually responded with complete silence (see also mu). On one occasion, he responded with a story of a man shot with a poisoned arrow: When the doctor arrived to remove the arrow, the man grabbed the doctor's hand and asked: "Before you start treating me, Doctor, tell me, who was it that shot me? Was he of warrior class or some other class? Was he tall or was he short? Was he ...

See also:

Nontheism, Nontheism - Relationship to Agnosticism, Nontheism - Nontheistic worldview, Nontheism - Insentient life infants etc., Nontheism - Nontheism in philosophy, Nontheism - Nontheism in Buddhism

Read more here: » Nontheism: Encyclopedia II - Nontheism - Nontheism in Buddhism

On rare occasions, the term nontheistic is applied to living beings that are intellectually incapable of establishing any kind of positive or negative opinion about a deity, e.g. animals, fetuses, infants. This usage is disputed by some theists, who believe that all creatures are innately theistic, and that departure from theism constitutes a pathological turn away from nature. Obviously, nontheists reject the latter belief, since they presume belief in a deity to be a mere so ...

See also:

Nontheism, Nontheism - Relationship to Agnosticism, Nontheism - Nontheistic worldview, Nontheism - Insentient life infants etc., Nontheism - Nontheism in philosophy, Nontheism - Nontheism in Buddhism

Read more here: » Nontheism: Encyclopedia II - Nontheism - Insentient life infants etc.

- - From the less analytic tradition, there are three major atheist thinkers. MacIntyre notes in "The Religious Significance of Atheism" (1969) that the first two (Freud and Marx) both had quite conservative morals and would have been horrified to see what atrocities were later to be justified by their ideas. In the case of Freud, the atrocities are the way psychoanalysis sometimes led to the mistreatment of the handicapped and in the case of Marx they would be the horrors of Stalinist Russia. - - Freud was keen to describe religion a ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud, Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud, Marx and Nietzsche

Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth values of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding the existence of God, gods, or deities—are unknown, inherently unknowable, or incoherent, and therefore, (some agnostics may go as far to say) irrelevant to life. The term and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869, and are also used to describe those who are unconvinced or noncommittal about the existence of deities as well as other matters of religion. The word agnostic comes fro ...

Including:

• Agnosticism - Variations
• Agnosticism - Some philosophical opinions
• Agnosticism - Thomas Henry Huxley
• Agnosticism - Bertrand Russell
• Agnosticism - Logical positivism

Read more here: » Agnosticism: Encyclopedia - Agnosticism

1. The existence of a Supreme Being is unknown and unknowable. To believe in the existence of a god is an act of faith. To believe in the nonexistence of a god is likewise an act of faith. There is no evidence that there is a Supreme Being nor is there evidence there is not a Supreme Being. Faith is not knowledge. We can only state with assurance that we do not know. 2. If there is a Supreme Being, then that being ap ...

See also:

Apathetic agnosticism, Apathetic agnosticism - Articles of Faith, Apathetic agnosticism - Organization

Read more here: » Apathetic agnosticism: Encyclopedia II - Apathetic agnosticism - Articles of Faith

Although the concept of strong atheism has been in use for some time, more commonly under the name positive atheism originally, the strong name did not come into common usage until the early 1990s, its popularization assisted by its common usage in the alt.atheism Usenet group at the time. It is now the most commonly-used term for the concept in question, though by a relatively small margin—positive atheism ...

See also:

Strong atheism, Strong atheism - Usage, Strong atheism - Justifications for strong atheism, Strong atheism - Theism is impossible, Strong atheism - Theism is nonsensical, Strong atheism - Theism is highly improbable, Strong atheism - Statements of nonexistence merit positive claims, Strong atheism - Theism is irredeemably harmful or flawed

Read more here: » Strong atheism: Encyclopedia II - Strong atheism - Usage