Positive Atheism

Author : Charles Devellennes
Publisher : EUP
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2022-11-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1474478441

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Positive Atheism by Charles Devellennes Pdf

Charles Devellennes looks at the the religious, social and political thought of the first four thinkers of the French Enlightenment: Pierre Bayle, Jean Meslier, Paul-Henri Thiry d'Holbach and Denis Diderot to explicitly argue for atheism as a positive philosophy. He shows how atheism evolved considerably over the century that spans the works of these four authors: from the possibility of the virtuous atheist in the late 17th century, to a deeply rooted materialist philosophy with radical social and political consequences by the eve of the French revolution. The metamorphosis of atheism from a purely negative phenomenon to one that became self-aware had profound consequences for establishing an ethics without God and the rise of republicanism as a political philosophy.

Author : Julian Baggini
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 137 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2003-06-26
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0192804243

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Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini Pdf

Do you think of atheists as immoral pessimists who live their lives without meaning, purpose, or values? Think again! Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral.

Author : Michael Martin
Publisher : Temple University Press
Page : 562 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1990
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0877229430

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Atheism by Michael Martin Pdf

In this book Michael Martin provides logical reasons for being an atheist. Carefully examining the current debate in Anglo-American analytic philosophy regarding God's existence, Martin presents a comprehensive critique of the arguments for the existence of God and a defense of arguments against the existence of God, showing in detail their relevance to atheism. Claiming that atheism is a rational position while theistic beliefs are not, he relies both on logic and evidence and confines his efforts to showing the irrationality of belief in a personal supreme being who is omniscient, omnipotent, perfect, and the creator of heaven and earth. The author's approach is two-fold. By presenting and criticizing arguments that have been advanced in favor of belief, he makes a case for "negative atheism." By offering arguments against atheism and defending it from these attacks, he presents a case for "positive atheism." Along the way, he confronts the views of numerous philosophers—among them Anselm, Aquinas, Plantinga, Hick, and Swinburne—and refutes both classical and contemporary arguments that have been advanced through the history of this debate. In his conclusion, Martin considers what would and would not follow if his main arguments were widely accepted, and he defines and distinguishes atheism from other "isms" and movements. Building on the work of religious skeptics and atheists of the past and present, he justifies his reconstruction of this philosophical dispute by citing some of the most interesting and important arguments for atheism and criticisms of arguments for the existence of God that have appeared in recent journal articles and have yet to be systematically addressed. Author note: Michael Martin is Professor of Philosophy at Boston University and author of several books, including The Legal Philosophy of H.L.A. Hart: A Critical Appraisal and The Case Against Christianity (both from Temple).

Author : Raymond W. Converse
Publisher : Algora Publishing
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780875862293

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Atheism as a Positive Social Force by Raymond W. Converse Pdf

Recent disasters have raised new questions concerning the role of religion in society. Converse does not oppose religion per se; he outlines the growth of religion from a modern historical perspective and shows how atheism can be applied as a positive alt.

Author : Lois Lee,Stephen Bullivant
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 40 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2016-11-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780192520135

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A Dictionary of Atheism by Lois Lee,Stephen Bullivant Pdf

This Dictionary of Atheism provides more than 150 definitions of terms related to the subject of atheism, ranging from those of historic importance, including the history of the term atheist itself, to crucial concepts in the contemporary study of atheism, such as agnosticism and scepticism. Coverage includes secular and humanist organizations and publications, significant events in the history of atheism, such as the Scopes Monkey Trial, neologisms adopted by atheists including Bright and New Atheism, and parodic deities and religions such as Pastafarianism and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Atheism is a growing subject of study with a significant scholarly presence emerging online, and many of the new terms covered represent the first authoritative definitions for this subject.

Author : Gora
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 136 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 1972
Category : Atheism
ISBN : LCCN:73090469

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Positive Atheism by Gora Pdf

Author : Stephen Bullivant,Michael Ruse
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 781 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2013-11
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199644650

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The Oxford Handbook of Atheism by Stephen Bullivant,Michael Ruse Pdf

This handbook is a pioneering edited volume, exploring atheism - understood in the broad sense of 'an absence of belief in the existence of a God or gods' - in its historical and contemporary expressions. It probes the varied manifestations and implications of unbelief from an array of disciplinary perspectives and in a range of global contexts.

Author : Matthew S. Mccormick
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 349 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2012-09-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781616145828

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Atheism And The Case Against Christ by Matthew S. Mccormick Pdf

Hundreds of millions of people believe that Jesus came back from the dead. This cogent, forcefully argued book presents a decidedly unpopular view —namely, that the central tenet of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus, is false. The author asks a number of probing questions: Is the evidence about Jesus as it has been relayed to us over the centuries of sufficient quantity and quality to justify belief in the resurrection? How can we accept the resurrection but reject magic at the Salem witch trials? What light does contemporary research about human rationality from the fields of behavioral economics, empirical psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy shed on the resurrection and religious belief? Can we use contemporary research about the reliability of people’s beliefs in the supernatural, miracles, and the paranormal to shed light on the origins of Christianity and other religions? Does it make sense that the all-powerful creator of the universe would employ miracles to achieve his ends? Can a Christian believe by faith alone and yet reasonably deny the supernatural claims of other religions? Do the arguments against Christianity support atheism? By carefully answering each of these questions, this book undermines Christianity and theism at their foundations; it gives us a powerful model for better critical reasoning; and it builds a compelling case for atheism. Without stooping to condescension or arrogance, the author offers persuasive arguments that are accessible, thoughtful, and new.

Author : J. Angelo Corlett
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 271 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2010-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781441179890

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The Errors of Atheism by J. Angelo Corlett Pdf

The Errors of Atheism is a response to the glaring gap that exists in analytical philosophy on the concept of God. While there is the large body of work that either defends or challenges orthodox Christian theistic arguments, there is a lack of analytical philosophical work articulating agnosticism as a critique of both theism and atheism. J. Angelo Corlett shows that the conceptual depths of theism must be explored beyond orthodoxy in order to re-open the debate on the problem of God. His book is an agnostic's statement on the current state of the debate about God's existence and where the discussion must go to make genuine philosophical progress instead of remaining in a dialectical stalemate.

Author : Szymon Wróbel,Krzysztof Skonieczny
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2020-01-14
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9783030343682

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Atheism Revisited by Szymon Wróbel,Krzysztof Skonieczny Pdf

Atheism Revisited is a collection of essays that explore the multifaceted nature of atheism. Starting from the notion that today’s atheism is shaped by the defining processes of Modernity—such as secularization and the breakup of science, philosophy, and theology—the first part of the book undertakes a thorough scrutiny of Modern atheisms, from Spinoza and Hobbes to Marx and Nietzsche. The second part of the book seeks to draw practical conclusions from this scrutiny and answer the questions: what is the state of atheism today? What is the role of an atheist in a world affected by religious fundamentalisms? What should the relationship between atheists and religious people look like? The wide scope of the book allows readers to see atheism as a central concern of many intellectual movements, from Marxism and French Theory to post-secularism and the reevaluation of Modernity, and to understand atheism as a focal point of the most important contemporary philosophical debates.

Author : Michael Palmer
Publisher : Lutterworth Press
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2013-02-28
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780718840785

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Atheism for Beginners by Michael Palmer Pdf

'Hurray for Michael Palmer!' is how Michael Martin, the distinguished American philosopher, greeted Palmer's The Atheist's Primer (Lutterworth, 2012). Atheism for Beginners, by providing a 'coursebook for schools and colleges,' differs from its predecessor in being designed specifically for teachers and their students. Yet, although different in focus and format, the intention remains the same: to reinstate the importance of philosophy within the debate about God's existence and to act as a corrective tothe largely Darwinian criticisms levelled against religious belief by Richard Dawkins and the so-called 'new atheists'. So, in Palmer's lively history of atheism, extending from the ancient Greeks to the present day, we meet the enduring philosophical arguments against God and the great literature in which they are expressed. Atheism for Beginners is user-friendly and presumes no special grounding in philosophy. Throughout assistance is given by numerous aids to learning: there are exercises, marginal notes, essay questions, bibliographies and a glossary. Also provided are fourteen short biographies of famous atheists. In these respects Palmer follows the format first presented in his widely-read Moral Problems of 1991, long established as a core text inthe teaching of philosophy. In Atheism for Beginners, Palmer covers the main atheistic arguments, discussing issues such as creation, morality, evil, miracles and the motivations of belief. Particular attention is paid to the work of Hume, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud, with a special chapter devoted to the development of 'disproof atheism'. Atheism is often criticized for being unduly pessimistic: that without God there is nothing to look forward to, no life after death, no final righting of wrongs and no hope of salvation. But this, Palmer argues, is 'a slander against the atheistic outlook'. He concludes, therefore, on a positive note, explaining that happiness and personal fulfilment are to be found in the very materialism that religious belief rejects.

Author : Stephen Bullivant,Michael Ruse
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 784 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2013-11-21
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780191667404

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The Oxford Handbook of Atheism by Stephen Bullivant,Michael Ruse Pdf

Recent books by, among others, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens have thrust atheism firmly into the popular, media, and academic spotlight. This so-called New Atheism is arguably the most striking development in western socio-religious culture of the past decade or more. As such, it has spurred fertile (and often heated) discussions both within, and between, a diverse range of disciplines. Yet atheism, and the New Atheism, are by no means co-extensive. Interesting though it indeed is, the New Atheism is a single, historically and culturally specific manifestation of positive atheism (the that there is/are no God/s), which is itself but one form of a far deeper, broader, and more significant global phenomenon. The Oxford Handbook of Atheism is a pioneering edited volume, exploring atheism—understood in the broad sense of 'an absence of belief in the existence of a God or gods'—in all the richness and diversity of its historical and contemporary expressions. Bringing together an international team of established and emerging scholars, it probes the varied manifestations and implications of unbelief from an array of disciplinary perspectives (philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology, demography, psychology, natural sciences, gender and sexuality studies, literary criticism, film studies, musicology) and in a range of global contexts (Western Europe, North America, post-communist Europe, the Islamic world, Japan, India). Both surveying and synthesizing previous work, and presenting the major fruits of innovative recent research, the handbook is set to be a landmark text for the study of atheism.

Author : Julian Baggini
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2003-06-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780191501043

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Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini Pdf

Atheism is often considered to be a negative, dark, and pessimistic belief which is characterized by a rejection of values and purpose and a fierce opposition to religion. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral. It also confronts the failure of officially atheist states in the Twentieth Century. The book presents an intellectual case for atheism that rests as much upon positive arguments for its truth as on negative arguments against religion. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Martin Mickan
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 117 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2012-03-22
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9783656157175

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American Atheism 2.0 by Martin Mickan Pdf

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,1, University of Leipzig (American Studies), language: English, abstract: Odd as it may sound, this paper is not interested in the existence of God or gods. Neither will this paper be a work of advocacy of atheism nor of religion and faith but a not tendentious culture-scientific study on contemporary atheism in the USA and its model of secularism as it is presented in the Internet.

Author : Susan Jacoby
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2013-01-08
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780300137255

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The Great Agnostic by Susan Jacoby Pdf

A biography that restores America's foremost 19th-century champion of reason and secularism to the still contested 21st-century public square.