defining "atheism" problem
Channel: CraniumOnEmpty
Date: 2011-07-23

response to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeD8J2Leai4

This is a breakdown to the difficulties of this problem of defining atheism. Let me know how off it sounds.

"Z is a certain idea of something (the existence of god, unicorns fart, what have you)"

"Person A holds Z to be true."

0. "Person B holds true that Z is not true." (I missed this)
1. "Person B finds Z not to be true after coming to a logical conclusion that it's not true."
2. "Person B finds Z not to be true."
3. "Person B finds Z to be not true."
4. "Person B does not find Z to be true."

#2 and #3 are probably close enough to not repeat it in #1. What do you think?
Am I missing one (I added #0)? Should I have left out #2?


It seems the last one would be the better definition, because it includes the previous ones as well and doesn't presuppose action. It's either held true, or it's not. Not saying this is correct. It may be way off.

- Cliteur, Paul. "The Varieties of Atheist Experience". Philosophy Now. 2010. Web. 22 July 2011. http://www.philosophynow.org/issue78/The_Varieties_of_Atheist_Experience
"Nagel puts it as follows in his 'A Defense of Atheism' (1957): "I shall understand by 'atheism' a critique and a denial of the major claims of all varieties of theism." "

- "theism". Dictionary.com. Web. 22 July 2011. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theism
--noun
1.the belief in one god as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation (distinguished from deism).
2.belief in the existence of a god or gods (opposed to atheism).

- Harper, Douglas. "atheist". Online Etymology Dictionary. Web. 22 July 2011. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=atheist
"atheist - 1570s, from Fr. athéiste (16c.), from Gk. atheos "without god, denying the gods; abandoned of the gods; godless, ungodly," from a- "without" + theos "a god" "

- "The Cambridge Companion to Atheism". Cambridge University Press. Martin, Michael. 2007. pg 1.
pg 1 "From this standpoint, an atheist is someone without a belief in God; he or she need not be someone who believes that God does not exist." Although it is pointed out in the footnotes that it's important to distinguish this negative atheism from Edwards sense of atheism in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

- "Is a Bright an atheist?". The Brights' Net. Web. 22 July 2011. http://www.the-brights.net/vision/faq.html#13
"Of course, a great many Brights are atheists by definition (e.g., they are without belief in any gods)."

- "What is Atheism?". American Atheists. Web. 22 July 2011. http://www.atheists.org/atheism
"Atheism is the lack of belief in a deity [...]" 

- Dennett, Daniel. "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon". 2006.  pg 227.
"By definition, one would think, theists believe in God. (Atheism is the negation of theism, after all.)"

- Mills, David. "Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism". 2006. pg 25.
"Essentially, an atheist is a person who rejects the concept of god. [...] ,the derivative for becomes atheist and simply means "without god" just as asexual reproduction means reproduction without sex."

- Harris, Sam. "Letter To A Christian Nation". 2006. pg 17.
"The entirety of atheism is contained in this response. Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle."

- D'Adamo, Arthur. "Science Without Bounds: A synthesis of Science, Religion, and Mysticism". 2004. pg 388.
"The spread of science is often accompanied by a lessening of religious belief or, if you will, by the conversion to the only religion which science, however indirectly , promotes - de facto atheism, an atheism in practice if not in theory."

- Smith, George H. "Defining Atheism". Web. 22 July 2011. http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/smithdef.htm (Note: from his 1990 book Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies)
"According to this reasoning, one who denies God's existence is a legitimate atheist, but he subscribes to a particular species of atheism. If, however, we construe atheism as the denial of God's existence, then the person who merely lacks theistic belief is not a real atheist, but an impostor. This exclusion by definition, it seems to me, is ungracious, and it shows ignorance of what important atheists have argued for many years."