The 20th Century
editAtheism in the 20th century advanced in many societies. Atheistic thought found recognition in a wide variety of other, broader philosophies, such as existentialism, Objectivism, secular humanism, nihilism, logical positivism, Marxism, feminism,[1] and the general scientific and rationalist movement.
Logical positivism and scientism paved the way for neopositivism, analytical philosophy, structuralism, and naturalism. Neopositivism and analytical philosophy discarded classical rationalism and metaphysics in favor of strict empiricism and epistemological nominalism. Proponents such as Bertrand Russell emphatically rejected the existence of God. In his early work, Ludwig Wittgenstein attempted to separate metaphysical and supernatural language from rational discourse. A. J. Ayer asserted the unverifiability and meaninglessness of religious statements, citing his adherence to the empirical sciences. Relatedly, the applied structuralism of Lévi-Strauss sourced religious language to the human subconsious in denying its transcendental meaning. J. N. Findlay and J. J. C. Smart argued that the existence of God is not logically necessary. Naturalists and materialistic monists such as John Dewey considered the natural world to be the basis of everything, denying the existence of God or immortality.[2]
The 20th century also saw the political advancement of atheism, spurred on by interpretation of the works of Marx and Engels. Following the 1917 Revolution, communists in Russia made war against followers of religion. The Soviet Union and other communist states promoted state atheism and opposed religion, often by violent means;[3] Enver Hoxha went further than most and officially banned religion, declaring Albania the world's first Atheist state. These policies renewed the negative associations of atheism, especially where anti-communist sentiment was strong, despite the fact that many prominent atheists, such as Ayn Rand, were anti-communist.[4]. In 1966 TIME Magazine asked on its cover "Is God Dead?"[5] On some estimates half the world's population was then nominally atheist, and many in the West were predicting that scientific progress would eliminate religious belief altogether by the 21st century[6].
However, since the fall of the Berlin Wall the number of actively atheist regimes has reduced considerably, and it is estimated that about 2.8% of the world's population is now explicitly atheist[7]. Religion is booming in many countries and the political influence of religious leaders and movements has grown[8]. Alister McGrath suggests, controversially, that atheism is in its "twilight"[9], and organsiations like the Society of Christian Philosophers and the International Society for Science and Religion have grown appreciably. By contrast books like The God Delusion have campaigned vigorously for atheism and there is a widespread perception that the religious right has lost influence in the USA in the last few years.
Notes & Refs
edit- ^ (Martin 2007, pp. 233–246)
- ^ Smart, J.C.C. (2004-03-09). "Atheism and Agnosticism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
- ^ Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr I. The Gulag Archipelago. Harper Perennial Modern Classics. ISBN 0-06-000776-1.
- ^ Rafford, R.L. (1987). "Atheophobia—an introduction". Religious Humanism. 21 (1): 32–37.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|quotes=(help) - ^ Time cover Is God Dead
- ^ Jane Leapmann in the Christian Science Monitor A funny thing happened on way to disbelief
- ^ Encyclopedia Brittanica article cited above
- ^ Timothy Samuel Shah & Monica Toft, “Why God is Winning,” Foreign Policy, July/August 2006, pp. 38-43 see also interview here and expression of concern here
- ^ [Alister McGrath] The Twilight of Atheism