Scientific atheism
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Scientific Atheism - belief system which consider the existence of gods and other supernatural beings, phenomena and forces as a scientific hypothesis.[1] In other words, it is a scientific skepticism about the supernatural (including the gods). Scientific atheism puts critical analysis of religion and suggests its philosophy, natural science and historical failure of a materialistic point of view. The areas in which "scientific atheism" examines religious beliefs include natural-scientific criticism, justifying the incompatibility of the religious view of the world with scientific knowledge in areas such as, for example, the origin of life and human, philosophical criticism aimed at discrediting religious outlook, as well as historical criticism, explaining the origin and development of religion as a natural social process.
Contents
History
Western Europe
The concept of "scientific atheism" was used at least since the beginning of the XIX century.[2]
Eastern Europe
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The term "scientific atheism" is widely used in the USSR since 1954, when it was used in the decisions of the CPSU Central Committee "On the major shortcomings in the scientific atheist propaganda and measures to improve it" and "Errors in scientific-atheist propaganda among the population" (the term was used in the past[3]). In 1959, the course "Fundamentals of scientific atheism" was introduced in the USSR Universities program. In the USSR in the years 1964-1991 there was the Institute of Scientific Atheism.
In the 1990s, the Department of scientific atheism universities were transformed into the Department of Religious Studies.[4]
«New Atheism»
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«New Atheism» is the journalistic term used to describe the positions promoted by atheists of the twenty-first century. This modern day atheism and secularism is advanced by critics of religion and religious belief, a group of modern atheist thinkers and writers who advocate the view that superstition, religion and irrationalism should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises in government, education and politics. In England and Wales, as of 2011, census figures showed a decrease in respondents citing belief in Christian religion, while the non-religious are the largest growing demographic.
The movement associated with the names of authors such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Victor Stenger. This move, along with other atheistic tendencies both supporters and critics often characterized as "scientific atheism".
Scientific Atheism and academic science
Methodology of scientific atheism
According to the definition of science, it can neither prove nor disprove supernatural phenomena and the gods, because it does not deal with such matters. However, some of the statements that follow from religious beliefs can be verified by scientific methods.[5]
Supporters of scientific atheism argue that it is based on scientific progress, in their studies of the existence / absence of the gods is based on its results, and uses the scientific method to refute some religious statements
Some of the arguments of scientific atheism
These natural sciences contradict notions about the origin and structure of the world adopted in most religions. For example, the age of the earth, creationist calculated on the basis of the Bible[6] (less than 10,000 years), does not meet the scientific data (about 4.6 billion years old). The most important basis for scientific reasoning atheism is the theory of evolution, which does not require any "superior intelligence" to explain the origin and development of life on Earth. Also important is the explanation of psychic phenomena based solely on physiology without the involvement of supernatural concepts, such as the soul, - it is necessary for a naturalistic interpretation of the phenomenon of consciousness. These historical sciences and religious studies reveal evolutionary history of religions and point out that their sacred texts are created by people and changed over the history of the peoples professing the religion.[7] It emphasizes the role of the so-called "Methodological atheism" and outgoing from the principle of exclusion of transcendence in religion.
Criticism of Scientific Atheism
Theological criticism
- According to some theologians, the criticism of "scientific atheism" is not based on a dispute over a limb or infinity of the world in space and on the theological contradiction allegations of human infinity and approval of "scientific atheism" of the human being in this world is the limb. Also, some scholars criticized the direction of theistic atheists statement about God is not observable on the ground that "God is not a servant, to appear on the first request of the person." According to them, for a meeting between God and man is necessary to satisfy the conditions stipulated by each of theistic religious teachings of the world.[8][9][10]
- Among the representatives of different confessions is widely believed that the "scientific atheism" is a religion because, in their opinion, atheists take for granted unproven assertion that God does not exist.[11] Due to the fact that science does not see in the scientific unfounded, unsubstantiated approval postulates, A.I. Osipov concludes that the anti-scientific and dubiousness of the term "scientific atheism".
See also
- League of Militant Atheists
- Marxist-Leninist atheism
- State atheism
- Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ von Schlegel F., Duckett W. Histoire de la littérature ancienne et moderne. Т.1.— F. Michel, 1829.
- ↑ См., например, Александров Г. Ф. История западноевропейской философии, 1945.
- ↑ Орлова Л. «Религиоведов пока недооценивают». Интервью с Николаем Шабуровым // Независимая газета, 07.09.2011.
- ↑ Крайнев А. М. Атеизм — не вера, богословие — не наука
- ↑ Kryvelyov Joseph Aronovich «Библия: историко-критический анализ» — М.: Политиздат, 1985
- ↑ Kryvelyov Joseph Aronovich Книга о Библии. — М.:Соцэкгиз, 1958
- ↑ Alexei Osipov Атеизм и религия, ч.1 (Основное богословие, 5 курс МДС 1998—1999)
- ↑ Osipov, Alexander Откровенный разговор с верующими и неверующими
- ↑ Belomorsky A.. Правы ли отрицатели религии?
- ↑ Атеизм — религия лжи // газета «Вера», 8, 1996.
Literature
- Крайнев А. М. Итак, атеизм — это…
- Laurentie P. S. L'athéisme scientifique.— Lagny Frères, 1862.
- Marxist-Leninist "Scientific Atheism' and the Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR" Walter de Gruyter Religion and Reason ISBN 9783110838589
- Lukachevsky, Alexander «Очерки по истории атеизма», «Марксизм-ленинизм как воинствующий атеизм».
