Blackwell Reference Online

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P hilosophy of religion [from Greek a , not + theos , God, the absence of belief in God] The belief that God – especially a personal, omniscient, omnipotent , benevolent God – does not exist. Throughout much of Western history, atheism has been a term of abuse, and atheists have been attacked for impiety and immorality. The non-believers of a particular religion have also been called atheists by the believers of that religion. As a philosophical position, atheism is supported by several arguments. Because science proves that matter is eternal, there is no need for God to be the creator of the material universe. The existence of so many evils and defects in the world is incompatible with the existence of a God with the traditional supreme attributes. God is claimed to exist necessarily, but it is difficult to make sense of the notion of necessary existence. These arguments contest important arguments for the existence of God. Of significant philosophers, Holbach, Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche , and Sartre were all atheists. Atheism should be distinguished from pantheism , which claims to identify God with the world, and from agnosticism , which claims that we do not know whether God exists. In another sense, atheism is the position of not being a theist . God might exist, but does not govern or care for the world. This view, which is faithful to the Greek etymology of the ... log in or subscribe to read full text