Thomas Holden
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579945
- eISBN:
- 9780191722776
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579945.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This book presents an historical and critical interpretation of Hume's rejection of the existence of a deity with moral attributes. It argues that in Hume's view no first cause or designer ...
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This book presents an historical and critical interpretation of Hume's rejection of the existence of a deity with moral attributes. It argues that in Hume's view no first cause or designer responsible for the ordered universe could possibly have moral attributes; nor could the existence (or non-existence) of such a being have any real implications for human practice or conduct. Hume's case for this ‘moral atheism’ is a central plank of both his naturalistic agenda in metaphysics and his secularizing program in moral theory. It complements his wider critique of traditional theism, and threatens to rule out any religion that would make claims on moral practice. This book situates Hume's commitment to moral atheism in its historical and philosophical context, offers a systematic interpretation of his case for divine amorality, and shows how Hume can endorse moral atheism while maintaining his sceptical attitude toward traditional forms of cosmological and theological speculation.Less
This book presents an historical and critical interpretation of Hume's rejection of the existence of a deity with moral attributes. It argues that in Hume's view no first cause or designer responsible for the ordered universe could possibly have moral attributes; nor could the existence (or non-existence) of such a being have any real implications for human practice or conduct. Hume's case for this ‘moral atheism’ is a central plank of both his naturalistic agenda in metaphysics and his secularizing program in moral theory. It complements his wider critique of traditional theism, and threatens to rule out any religion that would make claims on moral practice. This book situates Hume's commitment to moral atheism in its historical and philosophical context, offers a systematic interpretation of his case for divine amorality, and shows how Hume can endorse moral atheism while maintaining his sceptical attitude toward traditional forms of cosmological and theological speculation.
Phil Zuckerman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199740017
- eISBN:
- 9780199918690
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199740017.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
More and more Americans are opting out of religion. Who are these people that reject religion, and what motivates them? What actually causes a person to lose his or her faith? This book offers an ...
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More and more Americans are opting out of religion. Who are these people that reject religion, and what motivates them? What actually causes a person to lose his or her faith? This book offers an in-depth exploration of the reasons, experiences, and values of people who were once religious but are no longer. By analyzing their personal stories of how they transitioned from religiosity to secularity, key patterns are explored and many insights provided. Rather than living up to the cliché of the angry, nihilistic atheist, apostates are life-affirming, courageous, highly intelligent and inquisitive, and deeply moral. It is predicted that this trend toward nonbelief will likely continue and the sooner we recognize that religion is frequently and freely rejected by all sorts of men and women, the sooner our understanding of the human condition will improve. The first book of its kind, Faith No More will appeal to anyone interested in the ‘‘New Atheism” and indeed to anyone wishing to more fully understand our changing relationship to religious faith.Less
More and more Americans are opting out of religion. Who are these people that reject religion, and what motivates them? What actually causes a person to lose his or her faith? This book offers an in-depth exploration of the reasons, experiences, and values of people who were once religious but are no longer. By analyzing their personal stories of how they transitioned from religiosity to secularity, key patterns are explored and many insights provided. Rather than living up to the cliché of the angry, nihilistic atheist, apostates are life-affirming, courageous, highly intelligent and inquisitive, and deeply moral. It is predicted that this trend toward nonbelief will likely continue and the sooner we recognize that religion is frequently and freely rejected by all sorts of men and women, the sooner our understanding of the human condition will improve. The first book of its kind, Faith No More will appeal to anyone interested in the ‘‘New Atheism” and indeed to anyone wishing to more fully understand our changing relationship to religious faith.
William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263838
- eISBN:
- 9780191682650
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263838.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Theology
Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called ‘the Big Bang’. The question of ...
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Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called ‘the Big Bang’. The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who defend opposing positions. Craig argues that the Big Bang that began the universe was created by God, while Smith argues that the Big Bang has no cause. The book consists of alternating chapters by Craig and Smith, with each chapter being either a criticism of a preceding chapter or being criticized by a subsequent chapter. Part One consists of Craig's arguments that the past is necessarily finite and that God created the Big Bang, and Smith's criticisms of these arguments. Part Two presents Smith's arguments that Big Bang cosmology is inconsistent with theism and Craig's criticisms of Smith's argument. The authors' arguments are based on Einstein's theory of relativity, and there is also a discussion of Stephen Hawking's new quantum cosmology.Less
Contemporary science presents us with the remarkable theory that the universe began to exist about fifteen billion years ago with a cataclysmic explosion called ‘the Big Bang’. The question of whether Big Bang cosmology supports theism or atheism has long been a matter of discussion among the general public and in popular science books, but has received scant attention from philosophers. This book sets out to fill this gap by means of a sustained debate between two philosophers, William Lane Craig and Quentin Smith, who defend opposing positions. Craig argues that the Big Bang that began the universe was created by God, while Smith argues that the Big Bang has no cause. The book consists of alternating chapters by Craig and Smith, with each chapter being either a criticism of a preceding chapter or being criticized by a subsequent chapter. Part One consists of Craig's arguments that the past is necessarily finite and that God created the Big Bang, and Smith's criticisms of these arguments. Part Two presents Smith's arguments that Big Bang cosmology is inconsistent with theism and Craig's criticisms of Smith's argument. The authors' arguments are based on Einstein's theory of relativity, and there is also a discussion of Stephen Hawking's new quantum cosmology.
David Fergusson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199569380
- eISBN:
- 9780191702051
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199569380.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book discusses numerous wide-ranging, topical issues of faith, using various illustrations from contemporary life. It provides a historical, social, and rhetorical context for the ‘new atheism’, ...
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This book discusses numerous wide-ranging, topical issues of faith, using various illustrations from contemporary life. It provides a historical, social, and rhetorical context for the ‘new atheism’, and evaluates in depth, the relationship of religion to science, including a theological and scientific critique of both creationism and intelligent design theory. Critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, and Sam Harris, are heralded as the exponents of a ‘new atheism’, and the book explains each of their work in its historical perspective, drawing comparisons with earlier forms of atheism. Responding to the critics through dialogue on the credibility of religious belief, Darwinism, morality, fundamentalism, and our approach to reading sacred texts, it establishes a compelling case for the practical and theoretical validity of faith in the contemporary world. This book supports an informed and constructive exchange of ideas rather than a contest between two sides of the debate. It encourages faith communities to undertake patient engagement with their critics and acknowledge the place for development in their self-understanding, whilst resisting the reductive explanations of the ‘new atheism’.Less
This book discusses numerous wide-ranging, topical issues of faith, using various illustrations from contemporary life. It provides a historical, social, and rhetorical context for the ‘new atheism’, and evaluates in depth, the relationship of religion to science, including a theological and scientific critique of both creationism and intelligent design theory. Critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, and Sam Harris, are heralded as the exponents of a ‘new atheism’, and the book explains each of their work in its historical perspective, drawing comparisons with earlier forms of atheism. Responding to the critics through dialogue on the credibility of religious belief, Darwinism, morality, fundamentalism, and our approach to reading sacred texts, it establishes a compelling case for the practical and theoretical validity of faith in the contemporary world. This book supports an informed and constructive exchange of ideas rather than a contest between two sides of the debate. It encourages faith communities to undertake patient engagement with their critics and acknowledge the place for development in their self-understanding, whilst resisting the reductive explanations of the ‘new atheism’.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter explores the life of William Hone. It pays particular attention to his thought as a freethinker, parodist, and alleged blasphemer that led to his famous trials. His atheist phase was ...
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This chapter explores the life of William Hone. It pays particular attention to his thought as a freethinker, parodist, and alleged blasphemer that led to his famous trials. His atheist phase was influenced by Baron d’Holbach’s System of Nature. It then goes on to explore the contours of his reconversion and his later Christian thought.Less
This chapter explores the life of William Hone. It pays particular attention to his thought as a freethinker, parodist, and alleged blasphemer that led to his famous trials. His atheist phase was influenced by Baron d’Holbach’s System of Nature. It then goes on to explore the contours of his reconversion and his later Christian thought.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Joseph Barker was a Methodist New Connexion minister, but his evolving religious journey led him to split the denomination. He moved to America and became a leading popular freethinker and anti-Bible ...
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Joseph Barker was a Methodist New Connexion minister, but his evolving religious journey led him to split the denomination. He moved to America and became a leading popular freethinker and anti-Bible lecturer. On his return to England, he was the co-editor with Charles Bradlaugh of the atheistic paper, the National Reformer. Concerns about morality were one factor in his reconversion.Less
Joseph Barker was a Methodist New Connexion minister, but his evolving religious journey led him to split the denomination. He moved to America and became a leading popular freethinker and anti-Bible lecturer. On his return to England, he was the co-editor with Charles Bradlaugh of the atheistic paper, the National Reformer. Concerns about morality were one factor in his reconversion.
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199287871
- eISBN:
- 9780191713422
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199287871.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
John Bagnall Bebbington, in addition to writing and lecturing in favour of Secularism, was also a patron of freethinking endeavours. He was the chairman of the Temple Secular Society and the editor ...
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John Bagnall Bebbington, in addition to writing and lecturing in favour of Secularism, was also a patron of freethinking endeavours. He was the chairman of the Temple Secular Society and the editor of the Propagandist. He was particularly influenced by the thought of David Hume. He gave the reasons for his reconversion in Why I Was An Atheist and Why I Am Now A Christian.Less
John Bagnall Bebbington, in addition to writing and lecturing in favour of Secularism, was also a patron of freethinking endeavours. He was the chairman of the Temple Secular Society and the editor of the Propagandist. He was particularly influenced by the thought of David Hume. He gave the reasons for his reconversion in Why I Was An Atheist and Why I Am Now A Christian.
Jonathan Kvanvig (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199656417
- eISBN:
- 9780191742163
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199656417.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This book is an annual volume offering a regular snapshot of state-of-the-art work in this longstanding area of philosophy that has seen an explosive growth of interest over the past half century. ...
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This book is an annual volume offering a regular snapshot of state-of-the-art work in this longstanding area of philosophy that has seen an explosive growth of interest over the past half century. Under the guidance of a distinguished editorial board, it publishes work in any area of philosophy of religion. Topics covered include secular belief, theories of analogical predication, nominalism and divine aseity, meticulous providence and gratuitous evil, many-one identity and how it relates to the Trinity, atheism and theistic belief, the Epistemology of the Agape struggle, Wittgensteinian Quasi-Fideism, the semantics for blasphemy, and grounding and omniscience.Less
This book is an annual volume offering a regular snapshot of state-of-the-art work in this longstanding area of philosophy that has seen an explosive growth of interest over the past half century. Under the guidance of a distinguished editorial board, it publishes work in any area of philosophy of religion. Topics covered include secular belief, theories of analogical predication, nominalism and divine aseity, meticulous providence and gratuitous evil, many-one identity and how it relates to the Trinity, atheism and theistic belief, the Epistemology of the Agape struggle, Wittgensteinian Quasi-Fideism, the semantics for blasphemy, and grounding and omniscience.
Anthony B. Pinn
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195340822
- eISBN:
- 9780199932344
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340822.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Rejecting the assumption of theism as the African American orientation, and in response to a central question—What is the look of a nontheistic theology?—Pinn provides the first systematic African ...
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Rejecting the assumption of theism as the African American orientation, and in response to a central question—What is the look of a nontheistic theology?—Pinn provides the first systematic African American nontheistic theology. It expands the range of theological resources to include more of the mundane materials generally overlooked in African American theology. Through an appreciation of a complex sense of community that extends beyond a simple location of the like-minded, The End of God-Talk offers a new center for theological inquiry and ties this to a sense of the human much more scientifically grounded than the imago Dei ideas that dominate African American theistic theologies. Pinn explores the importance of symmetry as a new marker of meaning, one that rejects traditional notions of salvation—even those posed by the more materially grounded liberation theologies. Furthermore, Pinn proposes a turn to Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Walker as a way of forging a sense of ethical conduct consistent with African American nontheistic humanism. The book ends with an exploration of the religious significance of ordinary spaces and activities as the locations for humanist theological engagement. Through a turn to embodied human life as the proper arena for and content of theologizing, Pinn's book opens a new theological path with important implications for ongoing work in African American religious studies.Less
Rejecting the assumption of theism as the African American orientation, and in response to a central question—What is the look of a nontheistic theology?—Pinn provides the first systematic African American nontheistic theology. It expands the range of theological resources to include more of the mundane materials generally overlooked in African American theology. Through an appreciation of a complex sense of community that extends beyond a simple location of the like-minded, The End of God-Talk offers a new center for theological inquiry and ties this to a sense of the human much more scientifically grounded than the imago Dei ideas that dominate African American theistic theologies. Pinn explores the importance of symmetry as a new marker of meaning, one that rejects traditional notions of salvation—even those posed by the more materially grounded liberation theologies. Furthermore, Pinn proposes a turn to Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Alice Walker as a way of forging a sense of ethical conduct consistent with African American nontheistic humanism. The book ends with an exploration of the religious significance of ordinary spaces and activities as the locations for humanist theological engagement. Through a turn to embodied human life as the proper arena for and content of theologizing, Pinn's book opens a new theological path with important implications for ongoing work in African American religious studies.
Victoria Smolkin
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266915
- eISBN:
- 9780191938177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266915.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign ...
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In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign (1958-1964). When Khrushchev came to power, he denounced Stalin’s more pragmatic approach to religious affairs and called for a return to ideological purity. The Soviet Union had entered a new historical stage – “Building Communism” – which again made religion a problem and atheism a priority. Yet, as the party mobilised for a new antireligious campaign, it realized that it lacked the institutions, expertise, and cadres to conduct atheist work, and that it had to build an atheist apparatus. This made the figure of the religious apostate turned atheist apologist especially valuable., and under Khrushchev, hundreds of believers and clergy publicly broke with religion. Among them, Evgraf Duluman (1928-2013) and Aleksandr Osipov (1911-1967) were the most prominent. These figures transformed a private spiritual crisis into a public vocation, in the process becoming the party’s atheist apologists. Based on archival sources and the author’s interviews with former atheist cadres, this chapter looks at what atheist apologists can reveal about the Soviet atheist apparatus and the party’s struggle to overcome religion, spread atheism, and build Communism.Less
In the Soviet Union, the figure of the “atheist apologist”—a propagandist charged with publicly denouncing religion and spreading atheism—emerged during Nikita Khrushchev’s antireligious campaign (1958-1964). When Khrushchev came to power, he denounced Stalin’s more pragmatic approach to religious affairs and called for a return to ideological purity. The Soviet Union had entered a new historical stage – “Building Communism” – which again made religion a problem and atheism a priority. Yet, as the party mobilised for a new antireligious campaign, it realized that it lacked the institutions, expertise, and cadres to conduct atheist work, and that it had to build an atheist apparatus. This made the figure of the religious apostate turned atheist apologist especially valuable., and under Khrushchev, hundreds of believers and clergy publicly broke with religion. Among them, Evgraf Duluman (1928-2013) and Aleksandr Osipov (1911-1967) were the most prominent. These figures transformed a private spiritual crisis into a public vocation, in the process becoming the party’s atheist apologists. Based on archival sources and the author’s interviews with former atheist cadres, this chapter looks at what atheist apologists can reveal about the Soviet atheist apparatus and the party’s struggle to overcome religion, spread atheism, and build Communism.
Thomas Holden
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579945
- eISBN:
- 9780191722776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579945.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter defines and introduces the conceptual category of ‘moral atheism’ — i.e. the denial of the existence of a deity with moral attributes — and distinguishes between two main versions of the ...
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This chapter defines and introduces the conceptual category of ‘moral atheism’ — i.e. the denial of the existence of a deity with moral attributes — and distinguishes between two main versions of the position. A ‘weak moral atheist’ rejects the existence of a morally praiseworthy divinity; while a ‘strong moral atheist’ rejects the existence of a morally assessable divinity. The chapter also relates the category of moral atheism to early modern ways of thinking about religion, irreligion, and atheism. It introduces the main interpretive thesis of the book: the claim that Hume is a strong moral atheist. It also addresses a preliminary objection from the lack of explicit textual evidence.Less
This chapter defines and introduces the conceptual category of ‘moral atheism’ — i.e. the denial of the existence of a deity with moral attributes — and distinguishes between two main versions of the position. A ‘weak moral atheist’ rejects the existence of a morally praiseworthy divinity; while a ‘strong moral atheist’ rejects the existence of a morally assessable divinity. The chapter also relates the category of moral atheism to early modern ways of thinking about religion, irreligion, and atheism. It introduces the main interpretive thesis of the book: the claim that Hume is a strong moral atheist. It also addresses a preliminary objection from the lack of explicit textual evidence.
Thomas Holden
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579945
- eISBN:
- 9780191722776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579945.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This concluding chapter summarizes Hume's overall case for divine amorality and assesses the significance of his commitment to moral atheism, both for our wider understanding of his theoretical and ...
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This concluding chapter summarizes Hume's overall case for divine amorality and assesses the significance of his commitment to moral atheism, both for our wider understanding of his theoretical and practical philosophy, and for our understanding of the philosophical history of irreligion in the early modern period. It is argued that a proper understanding of Hume's commitment to moral atheism casts light on his general epistemology as well as the precise scope and force of his sceptical critique of traditional natural theology. Hume's moral atheism also has the important practical consequence of ruling out the fideistic proposal (found in Hamann, Jacobi, and Kant) that we might responsibly believe in or at least hope for a moral God even in the absence of knowledge.Less
This concluding chapter summarizes Hume's overall case for divine amorality and assesses the significance of his commitment to moral atheism, both for our wider understanding of his theoretical and practical philosophy, and for our understanding of the philosophical history of irreligion in the early modern period. It is argued that a proper understanding of Hume's commitment to moral atheism casts light on his general epistemology as well as the precise scope and force of his sceptical critique of traditional natural theology. Hume's moral atheism also has the important practical consequence of ruling out the fideistic proposal (found in Hamann, Jacobi, and Kant) that we might responsibly believe in or at least hope for a moral God even in the absence of knowledge.
Petter Korkman
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265406
- eISBN:
- 9780191760457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265406.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Jean Barbeyrac is a seminal figure in the history of natural law doctrine and one who, as a Huguenot refugee, had much to say on the topic of toleration. For Barbeyrac, natural law offered a secular ...
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Jean Barbeyrac is a seminal figure in the history of natural law doctrine and one who, as a Huguenot refugee, had much to say on the topic of toleration. For Barbeyrac, natural law offered a secular rationalist principle of morality that could be used in the battle against Catholic persecution. Barbeyrac took from his seventeenth-century predecessors the natural law idea that the state was an essentially secular body and used that idea to license a much more thoroughgoing form of toleration. If the state had no religious competence then even atheism could be permitted, because it did not constitute an injury to the civil peace. This chapter shows that Barbeyrac's radical account of natural law and toleration made substantial modifications to the arguments of his predecessors, and in doing so moved natural law beyond the theological constraints that structured the defining work in the genre.Less
Jean Barbeyrac is a seminal figure in the history of natural law doctrine and one who, as a Huguenot refugee, had much to say on the topic of toleration. For Barbeyrac, natural law offered a secular rationalist principle of morality that could be used in the battle against Catholic persecution. Barbeyrac took from his seventeenth-century predecessors the natural law idea that the state was an essentially secular body and used that idea to license a much more thoroughgoing form of toleration. If the state had no religious competence then even atheism could be permitted, because it did not constitute an injury to the civil peace. This chapter shows that Barbeyrac's radical account of natural law and toleration made substantial modifications to the arguments of his predecessors, and in doing so moved natural law beyond the theological constraints that structured the defining work in the genre.
Christopher McKnight Nichols
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195342536
- eISBN:
- 9780199867042
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342536.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines three important strands of progressive thought in the late nineteenth century to reveal the tensions between ideas about progress, religion, and science, and resulting ...
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This chapter examines three important strands of progressive thought in the late nineteenth century to reveal the tensions between ideas about progress, religion, and science, and resulting predictions about America's religious future. This chapter first delineates a populist‐secular group of thinkers, exemplified by Robert Ingersoll, “the great agnostic” proponent of freethinking, whose prophecies blended the older jeremiad form with a heightened emphasis on atheistical science and Enlightment rationality. The second strand of thought explored in this chapter came from the ranks of progressive intellectuals, represented in part by the powerful pragmatic philosophy of religion developed by William James in his book, Varieties of Religious Experience. Finally, this chapter argues for a third diverse group comprised largely of ministers and social gospel activists, such as Walter Rauschenbusch, who attempted to reform the nation along explicitly Christian lines.Less
This chapter examines three important strands of progressive thought in the late nineteenth century to reveal the tensions between ideas about progress, religion, and science, and resulting predictions about America's religious future. This chapter first delineates a populist‐secular group of thinkers, exemplified by Robert Ingersoll, “the great agnostic” proponent of freethinking, whose prophecies blended the older jeremiad form with a heightened emphasis on atheistical science and Enlightment rationality. The second strand of thought explored in this chapter came from the ranks of progressive intellectuals, represented in part by the powerful pragmatic philosophy of religion developed by William James in his book, Varieties of Religious Experience. Finally, this chapter argues for a third diverse group comprised largely of ministers and social gospel activists, such as Walter Rauschenbusch, who attempted to reform the nation along explicitly Christian lines.
Witham Larry
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394757
- eISBN:
- 9780199777372
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394757.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The “religious economies” model challenges the theory of secularization, which says that the role of religion is receding in society and individual lives. Instead, the economic model says that ...
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The “religious economies” model challenges the theory of secularization, which says that the role of religion is receding in society and individual lives. Instead, the economic model says that secularization comes and goes and is always complemented by religious revivals and innovations. Individuals, meanwhile, hold beliefs despite a lack of religious affiliation. Hence, there will never be an “end” of religion, as some secularist theory suggests. The “Middletown” study of Muncie, Indiana, illustrates the debate. This debate also includes a comparison of Europe and the United States, which Alexis de Tocqueville began in the early 1800s. The secularism debate raises issues of how we define private religion and “attendance” religion. It also looks at state regulation of religion, supply of religion, and the optimal degrees of secularity and religiousness in a society, as illustrated by the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union.Less
The “religious economies” model challenges the theory of secularization, which says that the role of religion is receding in society and individual lives. Instead, the economic model says that secularization comes and goes and is always complemented by religious revivals and innovations. Individuals, meanwhile, hold beliefs despite a lack of religious affiliation. Hence, there will never be an “end” of religion, as some secularist theory suggests. The “Middletown” study of Muncie, Indiana, illustrates the debate. This debate also includes a comparison of Europe and the United States, which Alexis de Tocqueville began in the early 1800s. The secularism debate raises issues of how we define private religion and “attendance” religion. It also looks at state regulation of religion, supply of religion, and the optimal degrees of secularity and religiousness in a society, as illustrated by the United States, Europe, and the Soviet Union.
Herman Philipse
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199697533
- eISBN:
- 9780191738470
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199697533.003.0016
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Metaphysics/Epistemology
After a brief overview of the book, its main conclusions are stated. 1. Theism is not a meaningful theory. So we should become particular semantic atheists. 2. If we assume for the sake of argument ...
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After a brief overview of the book, its main conclusions are stated. 1. Theism is not a meaningful theory. So we should become particular semantic atheists. 2. If we assume for the sake of argument that theism is a meaningful theory, it has no predictive power with regard to any existing evidence. Because the truth of theism is improbable given the scientific background knowledge concerning the dependence of mental life on brain processes, we should become strong particular atheists. 3. If we assume for the sake of argument that theism not only is meaningful but also has predictive power, we should become strong particular atheists as well, because the empirical arguments against theism outweigh the arguments that support it, and theism is improbable on our background knowledge. If we assume that either (1) or (2, 3) apply mutatis mutandis to all other gods that humanity has worshipped or still reveres, the ultimate conclusion of the book is that if we aim at being reasonable and intellectually conscientious, we should become strong disjunctive universal atheists.Less
After a brief overview of the book, its main conclusions are stated. 1. Theism is not a meaningful theory. So we should become particular semantic atheists. 2. If we assume for the sake of argument that theism is a meaningful theory, it has no predictive power with regard to any existing evidence. Because the truth of theism is improbable given the scientific background knowledge concerning the dependence of mental life on brain processes, we should become strong particular atheists. 3. If we assume for the sake of argument that theism not only is meaningful but also has predictive power, we should become strong particular atheists as well, because the empirical arguments against theism outweigh the arguments that support it, and theism is improbable on our background knowledge. If we assume that either (1) or (2, 3) apply mutatis mutandis to all other gods that humanity has worshipped or still reveres, the ultimate conclusion of the book is that if we aim at being reasonable and intellectually conscientious, we should become strong disjunctive universal atheists.
Christopher Watkin
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640577
- eISBN:
- 9780748671793
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640577.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This book shows how contemporary French philosophy is rethinking the legacy of the death of God in ways that take the debate beyond the narrow confines of atheism into the much broader domain of ...
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This book shows how contemporary French philosophy is rethinking the legacy of the death of God in ways that take the debate beyond the narrow confines of atheism into the much broader domain of post-theological thinking. The argument traces its way through the different approaches of Alain Badiou, Jean-Luc Nancy and Quentin Meillassoux, showing how each thinker elaborates a distinctive account of the ‘post-theological’, each moving beyond atheism and seeking to follow the death of God in a different way. The term ‘post-theological’ is used to describe a position that has moved beyond the twin poles of an ‘ascetic’ or residual atheism shorn of radical political potential and a ‘parasitic’ or imitative atheism still relying on theological categories. The three positions considered in the book all seek to locate themselves differently in relation to the spectrum between the ascetic and the parasitic as they seek to occupy the territory of post-theological thought. After examining each position carefully and exposing them to a three-way mutual critique, the book concludes that, while Badiou, Nancy and Meillassoux are each sensitive in different measure to the dangers of the ascetic and the parasitic, and while they each gesture towards a post-theological thinking no longer defined in terms of imitative and residual atheisms, they each also struggle to do justice to the death of God.Less
This book shows how contemporary French philosophy is rethinking the legacy of the death of God in ways that take the debate beyond the narrow confines of atheism into the much broader domain of post-theological thinking. The argument traces its way through the different approaches of Alain Badiou, Jean-Luc Nancy and Quentin Meillassoux, showing how each thinker elaborates a distinctive account of the ‘post-theological’, each moving beyond atheism and seeking to follow the death of God in a different way. The term ‘post-theological’ is used to describe a position that has moved beyond the twin poles of an ‘ascetic’ or residual atheism shorn of radical political potential and a ‘parasitic’ or imitative atheism still relying on theological categories. The three positions considered in the book all seek to locate themselves differently in relation to the spectrum between the ascetic and the parasitic as they seek to occupy the territory of post-theological thought. After examining each position carefully and exposing them to a three-way mutual critique, the book concludes that, while Badiou, Nancy and Meillassoux are each sensitive in different measure to the dangers of the ascetic and the parasitic, and while they each gesture towards a post-theological thinking no longer defined in terms of imitative and residual atheisms, they each also struggle to do justice to the death of God.
Webb Keane
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691167732
- eISBN:
- 9781400873593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691167732.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the case of moral revolutions that are bound up with political ones that are self-consciously atheist. One of the hallmarks of the twentieth-century socialist and communist ...
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This chapter examines the case of moral revolutions that are bound up with political ones that are self-consciously atheist. One of the hallmarks of the twentieth-century socialist and communist revolutions was the effort to remake societies that were more or less dominated by religious faith on nonreligious or even militantly antireligious grounds. The chapter then focuses on some of the ethical sources and goals of Vietnam's anticolonial and communist revolution. By looking at how, in everyday practices, revolutions attempted to propagate an expanded moral sensibility, inculcate people with egalitarian values, and reconfigure their intuitions about agency and responsibility, one can see some of the links among psychology, face-to-face interaction, and social history.Less
This chapter examines the case of moral revolutions that are bound up with political ones that are self-consciously atheist. One of the hallmarks of the twentieth-century socialist and communist revolutions was the effort to remake societies that were more or less dominated by religious faith on nonreligious or even militantly antireligious grounds. The chapter then focuses on some of the ethical sources and goals of Vietnam's anticolonial and communist revolution. By looking at how, in everyday practices, revolutions attempted to propagate an expanded moral sensibility, inculcate people with egalitarian values, and reconfigure their intuitions about agency and responsibility, one can see some of the links among psychology, face-to-face interaction, and social history.
Bernard Schweizer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751389
- eISBN:
- 9780199894864
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This book uncovers something more radical than atheism: hostility against God. Misotheists are not anti-religious, nor do they question God's existence; however, they do deny his competence and ...
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This book uncovers something more radical than atheism: hostility against God. Misotheists are not anti-religious, nor do they question God's existence; however, they do deny his competence and goodness. The author marshals an impressive array of evidence to demonstrate that this stance has a history of its own, although few people are aware of it. Indeed, misotheists tend to conceal their hostility to God, even while they hint at it obsessively. Hating God contains both a sweeping historical overview of the hostility against God and compelling case studies of six major authors who explore misotheistic themes: Algernon Swinburne, Zora Neale Hurston, Rebecca West, Elie Wiesel, Peter Shaffer, and Philip Pullman.The author's focus on literary artists is no coincidence, as literature has served as the principal vehicle for expressions of God-hatred over the last two hundred years. By probing the deeper mainsprings that cause rational, talented, moral people to become blasphemers, he offers answers to some of the most vexing questions that beset the human relationship with the divine. In a provocative finding the author concludes that misotheists have no morbid or perverse inclinations but instead number among them humanists of the highest caliber.Less
This book uncovers something more radical than atheism: hostility against God. Misotheists are not anti-religious, nor do they question God's existence; however, they do deny his competence and goodness. The author marshals an impressive array of evidence to demonstrate that this stance has a history of its own, although few people are aware of it. Indeed, misotheists tend to conceal their hostility to God, even while they hint at it obsessively. Hating God contains both a sweeping historical overview of the hostility against God and compelling case studies of six major authors who explore misotheistic themes: Algernon Swinburne, Zora Neale Hurston, Rebecca West, Elie Wiesel, Peter Shaffer, and Philip Pullman.The author's focus on literary artists is no coincidence, as literature has served as the principal vehicle for expressions of God-hatred over the last two hundred years. By probing the deeper mainsprings that cause rational, talented, moral people to become blasphemers, he offers answers to some of the most vexing questions that beset the human relationship with the divine. In a provocative finding the author concludes that misotheists have no morbid or perverse inclinations but instead number among them humanists of the highest caliber.
Larry Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231178402
- eISBN:
- 9780231542142
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231178402.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
There are many who believe Moses parted the Red Sea and Jesus came back from the dead. Others are certain that exorcisms occur, ghosts haunt attics, and the blessed can cure the terminally ill. ...
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There are many who believe Moses parted the Red Sea and Jesus came back from the dead. Others are certain that exorcisms occur, ghosts haunt attics, and the blessed can cure the terminally ill. Though miracles are immensely improbable, people have embraced them for millennia, seeing in them proof of a supernatural world that resists scientific explanation.
Helping us to think more critically about our belief in the improbable, The Miracle Myth casts a skeptical eye on attempts to justify belief in the supernatural, laying bare the fallacies that such attempts commit. Through arguments and accessible analysis, Larry Shapiro sharpens our critical faculties so we become less susceptible to tales of myths and miracles and learn how, ultimately, to evaluate claims regarding vastly improbable events on our own. Shapiro acknowledges that belief in miracles could be harmless, but cautions against allowing such beliefs to guide how we live our lives. His investigation reminds us of the importance of evidence and rational thinking as we explore the unknown.Less
There are many who believe Moses parted the Red Sea and Jesus came back from the dead. Others are certain that exorcisms occur, ghosts haunt attics, and the blessed can cure the terminally ill. Though miracles are immensely improbable, people have embraced them for millennia, seeing in them proof of a supernatural world that resists scientific explanation.
Helping us to think more critically about our belief in the improbable, The Miracle Myth casts a skeptical eye on attempts to justify belief in the supernatural, laying bare the fallacies that such attempts commit. Through arguments and accessible analysis, Larry Shapiro sharpens our critical faculties so we become less susceptible to tales of myths and miracles and learn how, ultimately, to evaluate claims regarding vastly improbable events on our own. Shapiro acknowledges that belief in miracles could be harmless, but cautions against allowing such beliefs to guide how we live our lives. His investigation reminds us of the importance of evidence and rational thinking as we explore the unknown.
