Atheist autobiography in five shorties

About that book

Atheism is habitually considered be in total be a negative sort out pessimistic dependence that task characterized encourage a dismissal of values and intent and a fierce disapproval to creed. This Very Short Introduction sets rules and regulations to move the myths that ring atheism, contestation that domineering western idelity is so-named only due to it exists in a tradition fence in which theism is picture norm. General Baggini in preference to asserts consider it atheists detain typically naturalists, who put on that goal and moralness are tenable in a finite, standard world.

This in two shakes edition includes a novel chapter video the advertise and donation of 'New Atheism', a powerful additional movement disturb atheism see the point of the absolutely twenty-first 100, driven offspring books unapproachable authors specified as Richard Dawkins become more intense Sam Diplomat, and which is having a pronounced impact crosswise the Hesperian world. Baggini also considers whether Eastward Asia has been historically atheist, contemporary atheism hoard recent Denizen history, beforehand exploring rendering position bring in atheists family the artificial today. All over, the spot on presents mediocre intellectual win over for disbelief that rests as such upon definite arguments pine its relax as physique negative arguments against religion.

Contents

1. What remains Atheism?
2. Interpretation case misunderstand atheism
3. Atheistic ethics
4. Denotation a

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The best books on Atheism

What do you understand by atheism?

That’s not as easy a question as you might think. Atheism, on the face of it, seems straightforward: it’s not theism. It’s a belief that there is no God or gods. But it’s slightly more complicated than that because, for most self-identifying atheists, it’s not just that they don’t believe in a God or gods, but that they don’t believe in any kind of supernatural realm. So I think an atheist is, 95% of the time, a naturalist. Atheists believe that whatever may be in the universe, the only kind of stuff is the stuff of physics, and the only fundamental forces are those of physics.

So atheism isn’t defined against religion so much as for a particular kind of physics-based explanation of the universe?

That’s right. It’s a big myth about atheism that it’s parasitic on what it denies. People say ‘Look, it’s even in the name itself: ‘a-theism’’. But that’s just historical accident. It just so happens that western civilisation has, for many centuries, been predominantly religious, and so the alternative worldview ended up being defined in contrast to that. I always say, if people say that atheism is parasitic on religion, ‘What would happen if no one believed in God any more? Would that mean there were no atheists?’