2F New atheism

who was regarded as the first atheist

diagrams of Melos
5th century BC
greek poet and atheist

origins of the word atheist

from greek 'atheoi' meaning godless or disrespecting the local gods

what does older atheism suggest about atheist beliefs

implies god exists as truth and atheists are disrespecting it

who was the last person to be jailed for being an atheist in the UK

George Holyoke in 1842

explain the case of Charles brad laugh

elected MP but unable to tale his seat after refusing to take the parliamentary oath of allegiance on the bible - wanted a non-religious bias oath
became first openly atheist MP in 1886

how was atheism used as an insult

to be an atheist is to be without moral restraint

how did the enlightenment change attitudes towards atheism

philosophical and scientific movements promoted reason and scientific endeavour as means of testing and proving things
atheist took on a modern meaning of a denial of god

explain the 1960s christian movement

by this point their was an increase in the belief that it was no longer an assertion to say that an objective god was 'out there' in reality, some moved to the belief that god was a very powerful and internal symbol

who is John Robinson and his ideas

an anglican bishop
says god is by definition an ultimate reality and one cannot argue whether ultimate reality really exists but only ask what ultimate reality is like
rejects being able to prove existence of god empirically

define negative (weak) atheism

no positive claim is made that god does not exist
they believe the theist, making the positive claim, has the burden of proof
eg. I don't believe that god exists, why do you believe?

define positive (strong) atheism

both atheist and theist provide reasons for their views
atheist asserts that god does not exist and provides evidence
eg. I don't believe in god and neither must you

define protest atheism

revolt against god on moral grounds
rejection on nature of god rather than existence
eg. even if god did exist, I could not morally accept god

define new atheism

antitheism
belief that religion and faith is a threat to society and human race

which scholar can be linked to protest atheism

William Rowe and the evidential problem of evil

who first coined agnosticism and origins of the word

Thomas huxley in 1869
greek agnsotos meaning 'unknown' or 'without knowledge'
the existence of god Is unknown

define strong agnosticism

it is impossible to know whether or not god exists
limited by our experiences and we cannot experience the ultimate reality
evidence may be there but we can never get to it
eg. I don;t know whether god exists and you don't either

define weak agnosticism

existence of god currently unknown, but it isn't necessarily unknowable
we can't make firm judgments either way until there is evidence available

what is Dawkins scale of theistic probability

scale of probability that god exists
treats gods existence like a scientific hypothesis
scale between 1 (strong theist) and 7 (strong atheist)

who are the four horsemen

sam harris
Christopher Hitchens - journalist
Daniel dennet - biologist
Richard dawkins - biologist

what does William lane kraig call the four horsemen

'pop' philosophers

what are the three attacks from new atheism

non-thinking
infantile world-view
impedes scientific knowledge

explain non-thinking

perfectly rational and reasonable people believe irrational and unreasonable things
faith opposes evidence therefore intellectually irresponsible
religious are 'non-thinking' and use faith as a cop out
people raise to not question faith
no different to belief in Santa or tooth fairy which can lead to fanaticism

why do people 'do' non-thinking

taboo to criticise religion - seen as disrespectful possibly due to the historical power it has

what is the impact of this non-thinking attitude

leads to religious extremism
absolute evidence of the danger and destruction caused by non-thinking eg. neurosurgeons involved in the London 7/7 bombings
accepting unfounded beliefs in angels and afterlife is no different than having to accept the beliefs of a suicide bomber

what synoptic links can be made from non-thinking

logical positivism and falsification
secularisation and science against religion

explain infantile view of the world

'puny, poky view of the world'
god is creator and made humans special - this makes us feel good
afterlife = happy ending for all
god of the gaps to avoid facing the unknown
convenience of having answers with no evidence than lack knowledge

what synoptic links can be made from infantile world view

freud wish fulfillment
problem of evil
religious language

explain impedes scientific knowledge

church preventing medical advancements eg. stem cell research because sanctity of life
blood transfusions - jehvohas witnesses
creationism in schools across America
abortions and contraceptions

what synoptic links can be made from impedes scientific knowledge

falsification
secularisation - no such thing as a christian scientist dawkins

what are religious apologists

people who speak in defence of a belief system such as religion

what are some defences from religious apologists

- new atheists concentrate on the misuse of religion rather than pn the content of religion itself, ignore all the good its done eg. charity work and food banks
- overlook centuries of scholarly study and philosophical thoughts, tend to criticise christian believers as if they all reject evolution and have a literal view of the bible
- argues human society would be arguably worse off without religion

who is Paul Kurtz

a secular humanist who argued new atheism was an 'aggressive and militant phase' in the history of atheism that was detrimental to the movement
'atheist fundamentalism'

which two key features did Julian Baggini (atheist) point out is his refute against new atheism

bishop bashers and reason

explain bishop bashers

new atheism is characterised by its attack on religion rather than its positive beliefs
simply reinforces the myth that 'an atheist without a bishop to bash is like a fish without water'
has no real debate

explain reason

gives the impression that only through stupidity or crass disregard for reason could anyone be anything other than an atheist

what distinction demonstrates science and religion may be compatible

total absence of supporting evidence and absence of totally supporting evidence

rise of fundamentalism

unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs - X is wrong no matter what
fundamentalist views can be applied to gay marriage, abortion, contraception etc.