834:"If so many atheists and some of their critics have insisted on the negative definition of atheism, why have some modern philosophers called for a positive definition of atheism β atheism as the outright denial of God's existence? Part of the reason, I suspect, lies in the chasm separating freethinkers and academic philosophers. Most modern philosophers are totally unfamiliar with atheistic literature and so remain oblivious to the tradition of negative atheism contained in that literature. (see Smith (1990, Chapter 3, p. 51β60))
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some particular creed of a religious group. Thus, a child who has received no religious instruction and has never heard about God, is not an atheist β for he is not denying any theistic claims. Similarly in the case of an adult who, if he has withdrawn from the faith of his father without reflection or because of frank indifference to any theological issue, is also not an atheist β for such an adult is not challenging theism and not professing any views on the subject. I propose to examine some
741:"Implicit atheism" is "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it". "Absence of theistic belief" encompasses all forms of non-belief in deities. This would categorize as implicit atheists those adults who have never heard of the concept of deities, and those adults who have not given the idea any real consideration. Also included are agnostics who assert they do not believe in any deities (even if they claim not to be atheists), and children. As far back as 1772,
31:
643:
1755:
655:
667:
871:, also known as "negative atheism" and "positive atheism", are usually used by Smith as synonyms of the less well-known "implicit" and "explicit" categories. "Strong explicit" atheists assert that it is false that any deities exist. "Weak explicit" atheists assert they do not believe in deities, and do not assert it is
875:
that deities do not exist. Those who do not believe any deities exist, and do not assert their non-belief are included among implicit atheists. Among weak implicit atheists are included the following: children and adults who have never heard of deities; people who have heard of deities but have never
749:
The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would also include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved, but who is still unaware of those issues. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as
795:
I must begin by stating what sense I am attaching to the word "atheism," and how I am construing the theme of this paper. I shall understand by "atheism" a critique and a denial of the major claims of all varieties of theism. atheism is not to be identified with sheer unbelief, or with disbelief in
776:
the view usually expressed by the statement "I do not believe in the existence of a god or supernatural being" after "the failure of theism to provide sufficient evidence in its favor. Faced with a lack of evidence, this explicit atheist sees no reason whatsoever for believing in a supernatural
763:
The most significant variety of atheism is explicit atheism of a philosophical nature. This atheism contends that the belief in god is irrational and should therefore be rejected. Since this version of explicit atheism rests on a criticism of theistic beliefs, it is best described as
729:, "implicit atheism" is defined as "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it", while "explicit atheism" is "the absence of theistic belief due to a conscious rejection of it". Explicit atheists have considered the idea of
780:
the view usually expressed by the statement "God does not exist" or "the existence of God is impossible" after "a particular concept of god, such as the God of
Christianity, is judged to be absurd or contradictory";
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745:
said that "All children are born
Atheists; they have no idea of God". Smith is silent on newborn children, but clearly identifies as atheists some children who are unaware of any concept of any deity:
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and have rejected belief that any exist. Implicit atheists, though they do not themselves maintain a belief in a god or gods, have not rejected the notion or have not considered it further.
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So, sometimes in philosophy (Flew, Martin and Nagel notwithstanding), only the explicit "denial of theistic belief" is examined, rather than the broader, implicit subject of atheism.
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68:" atheists who lack a belief in God without explicitly denying the concept, includes very young children, those who are unacquainted with the concept or are truly undecided.
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there are for or against God's existence, and no light is thrown on that question by discovering people who hold their beliefs without having good reasons for them.
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taken by some professional philosophers like Nagel on the one hand, compared with the scholarship on traditional negative atheism of freethinkers like
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Everitt (2004) makes the point that professional philosophers are more interested in the grounds for giving or withholding assent to propositions:
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and Smith on the other has been attributed to the different concerns of professional philosophers and layman proponents of atheism,
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given the idea any considerable thought; and those agnostics who suspend belief about deities, but do not reject such belief.
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the view which "refuses to discuss the existence or nonexistence of a god" because "the concept of a 'god' is unintelligible".
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enquiry into whether there are any good reasons for either belief or unbelief... We are interested in the question of what
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Smith observes that some motivations for explicit atheism are rational and some not. Of the rational motivations, he says:
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chose to attach only the explicit atheism definition for his examination and discussion:
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Note: Areas in the diagram are not meant to indicate relative numbers of people.
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For Smith, critical, explicit atheism is subdivided further into three groups:
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Implicit theism in the social science of belief and nonbelief
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1064:. pp. 51β60. Archived from the original on 2008-07-13.
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For the purposes of his paper on "philosophical atheism",
98:" atheists who do not believe that God exists necessarily.
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Basic
Beliefs: The Religious Philosophies of Mankind
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1586:Antireligion
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1230:Demographics
1153:Antireligion
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1018:. Retrieved
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992:. Retrieved
987:the original
966:
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858:good reasons
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848:sociological
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844:biographical
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469:Jean Meslier
409:Albert Camus
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1686:Panentheism
1666:New Thought
1611:Esotericism
1576:Agnosticism
1289:Agnosticism
1168:Freethought
896:Ignosticism
886:Agnosticism
804:In Nagel's
798:philosophic
671:WikiProject
594:Freethought
589:Agnosticism
404:Mario Bunge
344:Poor design
200:New Atheism
1770:Categories
1711:Shramanism
1691:Polytheism
1671:Nondualism
1646:Monotheism
1626:Henotheism
1621:Gnosticism
1566:Abrahamism
1280:Antitheism
1203:Secularity
1198:Secularism
1145:Irreligion
1137:Irreligion
1020:2010-05-12
1014:Good Sense
994:2019-12-17
941:References
867:The terms
580:Irreligion
439:Sam Harris
243:Secularism
167:Naturalism
1706:Shamanism
1681:Pantheism
1651:Mysticism
1641:Monolatry
1631:Immanence
1338:Humanists
1333:Agnostics
1312:Apatheism
1255:Criticism
1070:cite book
901:Nontheism
891:Apatheism
828:d'Holbach
464:Karl Marx
324:Nonbelief
297:Free will
265:Arguments
1760:Religion
1676:Pandeism
1601:Dharmism
1571:Acosmism
1328:Atheists
1235:Religion
1011:(1772).
926:Archived
880:See also
647:Category
156:Concepts
116:positive
112:Explicit
108:on right
88:negative
83:Explicit
78:on right
58:negative
53:Implicit
1661:New Age
1606:Dualism
1591:Atheism
1581:Animism
1240:History
1223:Atheism
777:being";
731:deities
719:atheism
635:Outline
212:Society
184:History
148:Atheism
48:on left
1746:Portal
1721:Theism
1636:Monism
1321:People
1297:Strong
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377:People
120:strong
104:
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1596:Deism
1348:Books
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510:Books
1732:more
1302:Weak
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1076:link
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