Home > Philosophy and Religion > Philosophy > Philosophy, Terms and Concepts

Topic:atheism

Visit our new topic page about atheism

atheism

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

atheism , denial of the existence of God or gods and of any supernatural existence, to be distinguished from agnosticism , which holds that the existence cannot be proved. The term atheism has been used as an accusation against all who attack established orthodoxy, as in the trial of Socrates. There were few avowed atheists from classical times until the 19th cent., when popular belief in a conflict between religion and science brought forth preachers of the gospel of atheism, such as Robert G. Ingersoll. There are today many individuals and groups professing atheism. The 20th cent. has seen many individuals and groups professing atheism, including Bertrand Russell and Madalyn Murry O'Hair.

Author not available, ATHEISM., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research

	Beyond disbelief.(The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World)(Book Review) New Criterion; 6/1/2005; Hart, David B.; 2188 words ; Alister McGrath The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the ... read Alister McGrath's The Twilight of Atheism, and it may be for this reason that the ... it still seemed inevitable to many that atheism would one day triumph. The majority of ... Read more
	Why atheism is unscientific.(Critical Essay) Contemporary Review; 6/1/2004; Van Heerden, Adriaan; 3345 words ; ... Labour Government has advocated that atheism be included in the Religious Education ... argument of this group is the idea that atheism is rational and scientific. In this article I will argue that atheism is unscientific. The argument is intended ... Read more
	Is atheism a religion? Recent judicial perspectives on the constitutional meaning of "religion".(Kaufman v. McCaughtry) Journal of Church and State; 9/22/2005; Davis, Derek H.; 7593 words ; ... Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals holds that atheism is entitled to the same treatment that ... because the decision seemingly bolsters atheism. Yet some atheist groups are also concerned ... that the prison officials did not treat atheism as a 'religion, perhaps in keeping with ... Read more
	The eclipse of atheism can't diminish its achievements.(The Twilight of Atheism)(Book Review) National Catholic Reporter; 11/12/2004; Turner, Darrell; 686 words ; THE TWILIGHT OF ATHEISM By Alister McGrath Doubleday, 306 pages, $23.95 Atheism and organized religion are often in an inverse ... Oxford has titled the work The Twilight of Atheism, he notes that that condition may not be permanent ... Although he made a personal pilgrimage from atheism to evangelical ... Read more
	Believe it.(The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World)(Book Review) National Review; 9/13/2004; Allen, Charlotte; 1671 words ; The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the ... of militant Islam. In The Twilight of Atheism, McGrath, a former atheist himself, attempts ... this happened: how it came to be that atheism, the hallmark of that powerful intellectual ... Read more
	The Twilight of Atheism.(Book Review) Catholic Insight; 3/1/2005; Daffern, Kate; 1276 words ; ... version of a speech I gave at a landmark debate on atheism in February 2002 at the Oxford Union. The learned ... a tidal wave crashing against the shoreline, atheism surged over the West, sweeping away its rivals ... makes a point of condemning what happened when atheism, after a false start in revolutionary ... Read more
	Atheism and civil rights: a reply to Tabash and Downey.(Humanist Activism) Free Inquiry; 8/1/2004; Grothe, D.J. Dacey, Austin; 2101 words ; ... would vote against an atheist on grounds of atheism alone than would vote against someone for any ... Would you vote against an atheist on grounds of atheism alone? Should atheists be prohibited from running ... secularism is an atheist issue; it does not show that atheism is a civil rights issue. Since ... Read more
	Books: Sunlight on dungheaps Bill Saunders believes that the latest atheist counterblast proves that appeals to science undermine atheism itself; An Intelligent Person's Guide to Atheism By Daniel Harbour DUCKWORTH pounds 14.95 The Independent - London; 6/10/2001; Bill Saunders; 795 words ; ... find an approach to what he calls the atheism debate which avoids the adversarial and ... religion cannot help but supply, the case for atheism has very little substance. Harbour's fresh ... question of God, it will inevitably lead to atheism. This is because all the successful descriptions ... Read more
	Atheism is indeed a civil rights issue: struggling for equality before the law.(Response) Free Inquiry; 6/1/2004; Tabash, Edward; 1671 words ; In Atheism Is Not a Civil Rights Issue, DJ Grothe and Austin Dacey deny that atheism is a civil rights issue. They reject the idea that ... political office. I disagree on both counts. Is ATHEISM A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE? One test of whether a minority ... Read more
	THE TWILIGHT OF ATHEISM: THE RISE AND FALL OF DISBELIEF IN THE MODERN WORLD The Spectator; 10/9/2004; Anderson, Digby; 950 words ; ... that has failed to fail THE TWILIGHT OF ATHEISM: THE RISE AND FALL OF DISBELIEF IN THE ... He here gives us a potted history of atheism over those two centuries. He helpfully ... poor arguments when it comes to their atheism. McGrath presents here the canon of atheism ... Read more

See all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	atheism World Encyclopedia atheism Philosophical denial of the existence of God or any supernatural ... Kant , and the Encyclopedists laid the foundations for atheism. In the 19th century, Karl Marx , Friedrich Nietzsche , and Sigmund Freud all accommodated some form of atheism into their respective philosophies. In the 20th century ... Read more
	atheism Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ... the question of whether there is a God, atheism is a positive denial. It is rooted in ... Friedrich Nietzsche , existentialist atheism proclaimed the death of God and the human ... of God are nonsensical or meaningless. atheism atheism atheism Read more
	atheism The Oxford Pocket Thesaurus of Current English atheism • noun synonyms : disbelief, nonbelief, unbelief, heresy, godlessness, skepticism, irreligion, heathenism, freethinking, apostasy, nihilism. Read more
	atheism The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology atheism XVI. — Fr. athéisme , f. Gr. átheos , f. A-4 + theós god; see -ISM So atheist XVI. — F. athéiste or It. ateista ; hence atheistic XVII, atheistical XVI. Read more
	atheism The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English a·the·ism / ˈā[unvoicedthx113;ˌizəm / • n. the theory or belief that God does not exist. DERIVATIVES: a·the·ist n. a·the·is·tic / ˌā[unvoicedthx113;ˈistik / adj. a·the·is·ti·cal / Read more