Overview
Atheism is the position that there are no deities. It is often associated with a reliance on science, reason, and humanism to explain the universe and guide morality.
Core Idea
The core idea is Naturalism. The natural world is all there is. There is no supernatural realm, no divine intervention, and no “ghost in the machine.”
Formal Definition
- Negative Atheism: Lack of belief in God (like a baby or someone who has never heard of God).
- Positive Atheism: The assertion that God does not exist.
Intuition
- The Invisible Gardener: If you claim there is an invisible, intangible gardener tending a plot, and we test for him and find nothing, at what point do we say he doesn’t exist?
- “One Less God”: Monotheists reject thousands of gods (Zeus, Thor, Ra). Atheists just go one god further.
Examples
- New Atheism: A militant form of atheism (Dawkins, Hitchens) that views religion as harmful superstition.
- Existential Atheism: Sartre, Camus. If there is no God, life has no inherent meaning; we must create our own.
Common Misconceptions
- Misconception: Atheists have no morals.
- Correction: Secular Humanism provides a robust ethical framework based on empathy, reason, and human flourishing.
- Misconception: It’s a “faith” in itself.
- Correction: Most atheists view it as the null hypothesis—the default position until evidence is presented.
Related Concepts
- Agnosticism: “I don’t know” or “It cannot be known.”
- Materialism: Only matter exists.
- Theism: The opposite.
Applications
- Secularism: Separation of church and state.
- Science: Methodological naturalism (doing science as if God doesn’t intervene).
Criticism and Limitations
- Nihilism: Without a higher power, some argue there is no objective basis for morality or meaning.
- Fine-Tuning: The universe seems suspiciously well-calibrated for life.
Further Reading
- The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
- God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens