What is atheism?

[ronan]

Hello , long time I have not been here, Let me ask you a question

I would like to know what is atheism from all of you

Both self-attested atheist and theist and other are welcome to contribute

The question does expect more complete answer than: Atheism = Non-belief in god.

I agree on this definition but it tell me nothing until the word "god" is defined.

In other word, what is the definition of god for atheist?

But lets first keep in mind the first question,: What is atheism ?
This question formulated this way give more freedom of expression, it probably also lead to the social aspect of being atheism (What does it imply in our society?)


Concenrign myself, atheism is indeed a social status

It is a social status in oposition with religion as a whole

Atheism is a stand by which atheist proclame their independence regarding the diufferent religious system.

In other words this more like a rebelion against a system. I think that nowdays, while many still claim their atheism, they do not much care

Atheism have thus probably change in the last times probably due to the degradatiuon fo power of religion at leats in the western world. Scienc played a big role for that and probably influence their belief system. Atheism is thus in some way a belief in science. a belief in big-bang.

I have to go now, that was my thought for the moment

Let see what you have to say.

 

[S.A.M.]

Atheism is the belief that there is no God.

 

[cosmictraveler]

To let those who want to believe in myths and legends do so knowing all along they are misled to believe in such nonsense. Anyone who can actually think for themselves will understand that there's no invisible being controlling everything. But then again many humans are just so gullible they believe in anything. I have nothing against those who believe in a supreme being if that is what gets them through life but just do not force me to believe in such mythology for I never will.

 

[(Q)]

Atheism is the belief that there is no God.

Just like Aleprechaun is a belief that there are no leprechauns.

Actually, it's more along the lines of not accepting the wild, unfounded claims of those who live their lives in supernatural fantasies, buried in myth and superstitions.

 

[Tyler]

Atheism is the belief that there is no God.

No, it's not. It's "lack of belief in god(s)". Do you never pay attention when people answer you on this question?

To the original poster: I can't really give you any more of an answer than the one you know. Atheism doesn't necessarily come with any other baggage; rather, it flows from other philosophical positions.

 

[S.A.M.]

Just like Aleprechaun is a belief that there are no leprechauns.

Sure. Anything without evidence to falsify it is just belief, no matter what.

Actually, it's more along the lines of not accepting the wild, unfounded claims of those who live their lives in supernatural fantasies, buried in myth and superstitions.

Don't underestimate the power of imagination in deriving the understanding of reality.

"lack of belief"

meaningless phrase. Or rather I don't believe you. Get it?

 

[Tyler]

Sure. Anything without evidence to falsify it is just belief, no matter what.

No, it's not. At least not without seriously changing the meaning of 'belief'.

You do not have a 'belief' that there are no giant elephants living under the earth, you simply have no belief in such things.

I would not assert: "there is no god". Believing there is no god = "I would assert there is no god". Yet I would not do that. Do you see the difference?

 

[(Q)]

Sure. Anything without evidence to falsify it is just belief, no matter what.

Don't underestimate the power of imagination in deriving the understanding of reality.

meaningless phrase. Or rather I don't believe you. Get it?

I don't underestimate your power of delusion.

 

[Tyler]

meaningless phrase. Or rather I don't believe you. Get it?

Why is it meaningless?

Do you believe there are alien elephants living on a planet 5 million light years away?

 

[S.A.M.]

No, it's not. At least not without seriously changing the meaning of 'belief'.

You do not have a 'belief' that there are no giant elephants living under the earth, you simply have no belief in such things.

I would not assert: "there is no god". Believing there is no god = "I would assert there is no god". Yet I would not do that. Do you see the difference?

You accept cognitive content as true without evidence = belief

You lack acceptance of cognitive content as true without evidence =meaningless, since you are accepting that cognitive content as true without evidence.

Why is it meaningless?

Do you believe there are alien elephants living on a planet 5 million light years away?

I believe there are no alien elephants living on a planet 5 million miles away = I do not believe there are alien elephants living on a planet 5 million miles away.

 

[Tyler]

You accept cognitive content as true without evidence = belief

But this is exactly your error, Sam. I hope you'll get it this time.

The cognitive content in question for a theist is "the assertion that there is a god".

The cognitive content in question for a strong atheist is "the assertion that there is no god".

There is no cognitive content in question for a weak atheist. I hold neither of those two assertions.

If you do not understand how this is possible, then you do not understand very much about your own mind. There are literally an infinite number of assertions that will never pass through your head in your lifetime. You hold no cognitive content on those assertions. The exact same way I hold no cognitive content on god.

 

[S.A.M.]

weak atheist.

You weakly believe there is no God. You weakly do not believe there is a God.

Thats like being almost pregnant. Either you accept the cognitive content that there is a God or you accept the cognitive content that there is no God or you abstain from any position on God [idk].

Perhaps, the word you are seeking is ignostic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

 

[Tyler]

I believe there are no alien elephants living on a planet 5 million miles away = I do not believe there are alien elephants living on a planet 5 million miles away.

That is not true. In fact, it's not even true in logic or mathematics or science, let alone in some strange philosophy.

I'll show you why, and I really hope you understand.

I do not believe there are alien elephants living on a planet 5 million miles away.
- You could have never heard or entertained in your life the notion of alien elephants on a planet 5 million miles away, and this sentence would still be true of you. (In fact, my guess is you've never thought about this specific sentence before.)

I believe there are no alien elephants living on a planet 5 million miles away.
- You could not have never heard this content in your life and still have this sentence be true of you. (N.B. Unless you had a more general belief behind it like "I believe there is no life outside of this planet." But then I can just step back even further and say this sentence can't be true of you if you've never heard of anything outside of your own backyard. And so forth.)

The two are fundamentally different. Sentence (2) cannot be applied in all the situations that Sentence (1) can, therefore they are not equal.

 

[Tyler]

You weakly believe there is no God. You weakly do not believe there is a God.

Thats like being almost pregnant.

No, it's not. And your failure to understand rudimentary logic is mildly upsetting.

 

[S.A.M.]

You could have never heard or entertained in your life the notion of alien elephants on a planet 5 million miles away, and this sentence would still be true of you

Thats where we differ, I believe you have to entertain a concept before having a position on it.

 

[Tyler]

No Sam, that's exactly what I said.

That's exactly why those two sentences are different! Not believing in something is not a position. It's a lack of position. Disbelieving in something is a position.

I'm pretty sure English is your first language. You should know this. Don't try to change the very normal use of words just to suit your own philosophy. This is the exact reason we have two different phrases.

 

[S.A.M.]

Sam said to Tyler: "I believe you."

Sam said to Tyler: "I don't believe you"

Sam looked at Tyler in sheer disbelief.

Which one is not a position?

 

[wynn]

There is no such thing as 'atheism'.

Those who declare themselves to be 'atheists' in fact do not believe in any other god but themselves.

Yes, 'atheists' deify themselves. It is their distinguishing characteristic.

 

[John99]

that doesnt make sense either.

 

[Pete]

Hello , long time I have not been here, Let me ask you a question

Hi ronan, and welcome to sciforums.

I would like to know what is atheism from all of you

Both self-attested atheist and theist and other are welcome to contribute

The question does expect more complete answer than: Atheism = Non-belief in god.

"Atheism" is a label that is applied to ideas/thoughts/beliefs/opinions/etc in different ways by different people.
Some of the ideas that it is applied to are:

• The absence of a conviction in the existence of a powerful supernatural intelligence.
• The strong suspicion that there is no supernatural intelligence that cares about what people do.
• The belief that it is wrong to believe in god
• ...

I agree on this definition but it tell me nothing until the word "god" is defined.

In other word, what is the definition of god for atheist?

The definition of "god" that matters is the one used by the person who applies the 'atheism' label. For example, when you say that atheism is a social status, no one knows what you mean by atheism without first knowing what you mean by "god".
And again, there is no absolute-standard definition used by all people who call themselves atheists, just as there is no absolute-standard definition used by all people who do believe in god.
Further, attempting precise definitions of 'god' tend to lead to argumentative hair-splitting. So I think that it's usually best sense to go by a very broad commonly understood meaning of "god":
God is usually understood to be an immortal being (or sometimes one of a group of beings) that created the world, and that has unlimited power to affect the world. A very common extension is that god invokes a moral code that people should follow, with consequences (good and bad) before and after death.

But lets first keep in mind the first question,: What is atheism ?
This question formulated this way give more freedom of expression, it probably also lead to the social aspect of being atheism (What does it imply in our society?)

Concenrign myself, atheism is indeed a social status

It is a social status in oposition with religion as a whole

Atheism is a stand by which atheist proclame their independence regarding the diufferent religious system.

In other words this more like a rebelion against a system. I think that nowdays, while many still claim their atheism, they do not much care

Atheism have thus probably change in the last times probably due to the degradatiuon fo power of religion at leats in the western world. Scienc played a big role for that and probably influence their belief system. Atheism is thus in some way a belief in science. a belief in big-bang.

I see that you are applying 'atheism' as a label for a particular anti-religious ideology. That's not uncommon, but I don't think it's a good thing - it leads to confusion and stereotyping.

For example:
If someone said "I don't believe in God", then would you then conclude that they are atheist?
And would you then them to have that particular social status you just described, including opposition to religion and strong belief in 'Science'?

There are people who do adhere to that ideology. But, not all atheists do. Just as not all atheists adhere to other ideologies which often involve atheism, such as darwinism, libertarianism, communism, secularism, nazism, humanism, pluralism, maoism, and more.