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"Atheist" redirects here. For the music group, see Atheist (band).

Atheism is the condition of lacking theistic belief.

1 Etymology

The term atheism (French athéisme, from athée, meaning atheist, from Greek 'Αθεος, atheos, meaning godless : a-, without; + Θεός, theos, meaning god; it has Indo-European Roots) is formed of the Greek prefix α- (a-), meaning "without" or "not," and the Greek-derived theism (from Θεϊσμός, theismos), meaning a belief in a god. The literal meaning of the term is therefore "lack of belief in a god."

2 Types of atheism

Atheism is generally defined by most dictionaries and encyclopedias as the "disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of God or gods." [1]

Some atheists [2] [3] distinguish between two variants:

Weak atheism, sometimes negative atheism, is the position that there lacks reason to assert the existence or nonexistence of gods. A weak atheist abstains from positive judgment and retains tolerance of the possibility of the existence and nonexistence of gods. Weak atheism is not equivalent to agnosticism, although there is often an overlap. A weak atheist maintains that there lacks sufficient evidence to certainly claim the existence or nonexistence of gods.

Strong atheism, or positive atheism, is the belief that gods do not exist, which is different from a lack of theistic belief. Strong atheists often cite logical impossibilities and other a priori arguments intending to demonstrate theistic concepts of godly omnipotence, omniscience, and/or transcendance are contradictory and/or internally inconsistent.

Critics of strong atheism contend that atheism requires faith due to a supposed impossibility of proving negatives; an assertion that there are no gods requires omniscience to be certain there are no gods in the universe. Strong atheists counter that for most mainstream concepts of gods this is a straw man fallacy, since strong atheism is based on a priori, rather than a posteriori arguments. Strong atheists consider it irrational to assert the existence of a god whose existence transcends human logic and/or the, albeit incomplete, laws of physics. Other strong atheists, who rely on evidential grounds, maintain the case for the nonexistence of gods is supported by more evidence than the case for the existence of gods, and that negatives are possible to prove. [4] [5] [6]

3 Philosophy of atheism

Atheism does not prescribe a system of values, which is present in other categories of atheistic thought including, but not limited to, Secular HumanismSecular humanism is a branch of humanism grounded in secularism, which attempts to avoid the dogmatic aspects of traditional religious cultures. Secular humanists may be atheists who reject all supernaturalism, or simply anti-dogmatists who see existing l, UniversismUniversism (prounounced "universe-ism") is a religious philosophy which aims to unite freethinkers, whether they use the term atheist, agnostic, deist, transcendentalist, pantheist, scientific materialist or other to describe their beliefs. Universism pos, RationalismThis article is not about continental rationalism. Rationalism also known as the rationalist movement is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth should be determined by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teachi, and Objectivist philosophyObjectivism (capitalized) is the name chosen by Ayn Rand for her philosophy. She characterized it as a philosophy "for living on earth"; that is, grounded in objective reality and aiming to facilitate moral interaction among humans, as well as between hum.

Most religions include a moral code (e.g., the Ten CommandmentsThis article is about the list of religious and moral imperatives. For the 1956 film with Charlton Heston, see The Ten Commandments (1956 movie The Ten Commandments or Decalogue are a list of religious and moral imperatives that feature prominently in Jud) and teach that morality derives from their deity or deities. Their followers, therefore, often believe that to fail to believe as they do is to be without morals—or even, in the absence of a protective religious belief, to be defenseless against the corrupting influence of agents of evil. Atheists deny charges of amorality and accept personal responsibility for determining the morality of behavior.

Atheistic organizations of certain worldviews, such as Secular Humanism, provide examples of atheistic moral codes. Atheists accept that enrollment in a religion is unnecessary for a values orientation. Francis BaconFor others individuals named Francis Bacon see: Francis Bacon (disambiguation Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans ( January 22, 1561 April 9, 1626), more commonly known as Sir Francis Bacon achieved fame as an English philosopher, statesman, and essayis explains: "Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men." [7]

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