Atheism

The atheism can be considered as an attitude which does not conceive the existence or nonexistence of any claims of god , deity or entity supernatural whatsoever, unlike, for example, deism , to theism and pantheism that support these lives, or the agnosticism which considers that one can not answer these questions. It is a philosophical position that can be formulated thus: there is nothing in the universe that closely or remotely to what believers call God.

Summary 1 Etymology Former Uses 1.1 1.2 In French 1.3 Definitions 2 Foundations of Atheism 2.1 The scientific atheism 2.2 The philosophical atheism 2.3 The Spiritual Atheism 3 History of atheism 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Atheism in Ancient Greece 3.3 Scepticism of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance 3.4 Atheism between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries 3.5 Atheism in the Twentieth Century 3.6 Atheism in XXI century 4 Atheism and religion 4.1 Atheism and monotheism 4.1.1 Atheism and Judaism 4.1.2 Atheism and Christianity 4.1.2.1 Atheists and renaming process in Catholicism 4.1.3 Atheism and Islam 4.1.3.1 Policy and Islam 4.1.3.2 Atheism and Islam 4.2 Eastern religions 4.3 Atheism and sects 4.3.1 Scientology 5 Atheism and politics 5.1 Atheist does not mean anti-theism 5.2 Atheism and Marxist regimes 5.2.1 In the USSR 5.2.1.1 Atheism and Stalinism 5.2.1.2 After Stalin 6 Atheism on five continents 6.1 The Anglo-Saxon 7 Estimates of the number of atheists 7.1 Official bodies 7.2 References 7.3 Surveys of opinions and polls 7.3.1 International 7.3.2 In France 8 Annexes 8.1 Defenders famous atheism 8.1.1 Antiquity 8.1.2 Middle Ages 8.1.3 Renaissance 8.1.4 seventeenth century 8.1.5 eighteenth-century Enlightenment 8.1.6 nineteenth century 8.1.7 twentieth century 8.1.8 Contemporary 8.2 Organization explicitly atheist today 9 Notes and references 10 Bibliography 11 See also 11.1 Related Articles 2.11 External Links

/ / Etymology

Uses old

In ancient Greece , the adjective atheos (Greek: , composed of private- + god) means "godless". The prefix "a" indicates an absence of God claimed by Greece from the ^fifth century BC. BC and takes the meaning of "break the relationship with the gods" or "denying the gods" in place of the old sense ASEB (Greek: ), "impious."

"Most , which is not that unbelief or heresy, but impiety or vanity.

There was also the Greek term (atheots), "atheism", as Cicero transcribed by the Latin word, atheos.

Before acquiring its current meaning, the word "atheist" has had many different uses that are most used:

• According to Emile Littre , "the Greeks distinguished the names atheists (eg Plato) and theophorous names (eg Dionysos). A first name "atheist" is simply a first name "secular", which does not refer to religion.

• In 167 AD, at Smyrna , a Christian named Polycarp , refusing to pay tribute to the emperor when deified, was offered the choice of pyre or publicly cry "Death to Atheists". Polycarp complied, but clearly indicating that it was his accusers that he meant well.

In French

The word atheism appears in the sixteenth ^century. The first mention is made in French in the text of Franois de Billon , Le Fort impregnable honor of the female in 1555. It then designates the unbelief of a people.

It derives from the word atheist and the suffix-ism and therefore qualifies "the doctrine of the atheist."

The word atheist (in its French version) also dates back to the ^sixteenth century (first mention: Francois Rabelais in Letter to Erasmus December 1532 ). The word is composed of the prefix "a" private means and without the radical Greek theos meaning god and the meaning comes from Plato 's adjective Greek atheos .

Definitions

Atheism, in its variety materialist , is usually not to believe that "God does not exist, but not to believe, to think that there is no such thing, to ignore and not regarded as the sacred words and written reports of supernatural phenomena and thus by extension, does not recognize the existence of any deity whatsoever. Thinking atheist claims to be based on rational. Nevertheless, there are various forms of atheism based foundation and culture of each individual.

It should also distinguish atheism of agnosticism and the anticlericalism. Fourest Carolina supports the hypothesis that in a majority of French atheists, anti-clericalism is necessary, for historical reasons, and that they lay claim to this right. That is to say, in this sense, activists secularism .

The authors have difficulty in defining the best possible way atheism and to classify, since it can both mean the mere absence of belief and a real and conscious rejection of religion . Several categories have been proposed to try to distinguish these different forms of atheism, most defining it as "lack of belief in one or more deities," thereby covering the variety of non- theism .

Moreover, the diversity of possible definitions of the deity creates ambiguities in the scope of the concept of atheism: a belief or not will be compatible with atheism as its object or will not be considered a deity. Phenomena rejected by atheists can go to the figure of God personified, like the Christian religion, the existence of any reality spiritual , supernatural or transcendental.

Foundations of Atheism

Atheism is a philosophical position that accepts various foundations according to the authors.

Scientific Atheism

The progress of science , including Copernicus at the time of the Enlightenment , can explain the world in an increasingly well without recourse to any kind of biblical god, as shown in the famous exchange:

Napoleon : Monsieur de Laplace, I can not find your system in reference to God?

Laplace : Sire, I did not need this assumption.

Less is known more: other scholars have lamented that Laplace's economy makes an assumption that they said had "the merit of explaining everything," Laplace replied, this time to the emperor:

This hypothesis, Sire, does explain everything, but predicts nothing. As a scientist, I must work to provide you with predictions . He might have added that the religious explanation is not a real explanation because it uses a cause without a cause .

Called "scientific atheism" the process by inferring that the role of religious belief in the explanation of the world is obsolete ^{L'athisme philosophique}

With some variations, the Western philosophical thinking in general tends to naturalize the divine, to bring in the world, as in Spinoza , quote Prosper Merimee attributed to Stendhal ). Nietzsche resume the sentence in Ecce Homo regretting that Stendhal had the idea to him before . There are no valid arguments to support belief in the existence of any god, whether designed by humans (anthropomorphic) or is an abstract metaphysics.

From the Humanism and the Enlightenment , inspired by ancient Greco-Roman, and even today many philosophers managed to chatting with freedom on the assumption of the existence of God or gods or to fully recover in question or to rephrase it. Spinoza's work is one of the criticisms most remarkable religious phenomenon .

The Galileo affair is without doubt one of the sources, if not the main, philosophical atheism ^seventeenth century and following centuries, as it put into question the foundations and the classification of knowledge posed by Scholasticism in the thirteenth ^century .

In the drama of atheistic humanism ( 1944 , reissued 1998 ), Henri de Lubac identifies four philosophers who, according to him, the more radically denied the existence of God in the nineteenth ^century:

• Auguste Comte , with its philosophy and religion positivists , whose law of three states leading to a world without religion, and even without metaphysics ;
• Ludwig Feuerbach , "Man created God in his image" , God as a projection of man's desires;
• Karl Marx , who sees all religious beliefs as "opium of the people";
• Friedrich Nietzsche , with his concepts of free spirit and will of superhuman power.

The philosophical atheism can range from a radical critique of religion to an attitude of constructive research or questioning the existence of God, which is part of the legitimate philosophical speculation. It may also be mere indifference or nihilism.

In Europe, the philosophical atheism is the first form of atheism which was tolerated by the Catholic authorities and the first recognized by scholars as a "positive atheism" ^{Spiritual Atheism}

The spiritualism and atheism are not necessarily opposed. Indeed, systems atheists can not jeopardize the character transcends the spiritual , and keep other forms immanent. One can cite the example of Darwinist vision of market intelligence planner.

Atheism does not preclude belief in other forms of abstract thought or mystical emotions . Thus, the religions such Buddhism , whose doctrines does not involve the concept of divinity , may, to some extent, be regarded as atheists. There are also figures such as theologian John Shelby Spong , who define themselves as both Christians and atheists.

History of atheism

According to Michel Onfray , Philosopher and founder of the Popular University of Caen , "There is no atheism in the contemporary sense of the term before the eighteenth ^century" . Later in his introductory lecture, he explains that the ancient philosophers that we today call "atheists" are actually several variants of skepticism .

The written oldest known which proves that atheism is at least as old as Judaism is in the Bible (Old Testament, Psalm 14 '). Atheism, in all its forms, is at least as old as the belief in the historical field. As for the time prehistoric (which represent a period much greater than that of history), the absence of any written record makes random computation on the metaphysical nature of any concerns of men, and the appropriateness of transposing modern notions religious belief and atheism.

Introduction

The anthropology , the ethnography and more generally all the human sciences argue in most eras known, the systematic association of extremely diverse religious concepts in the birth of the companies examined, the religious principle and the principle politics do when a .

Conversely, atheism, which presupposes a critique, then possibly a rejection of religious concepts, emerges over the centuries, from religious system that does more account of the society that has secreted. To the west is the eighteenth ^century .

These facts gave birth to Protestantism , but also versions increasingly dissenting or critical of the dominant Christian doctrine ( pantheism , agnosticism , deism ). Moreover, all these protest movements have been pursued, sometimes very violently ( Inquisition ), in defiance of the values of tolerance , yet advocated by these dominant religious movements.

The religious wars between Catholics and Protestants have led many intellectuals in the wake of Pierre Bayle , against the dominance of religion in human affairs, and religious tolerance, which also benefited the atheists.

Atheism in Ancient Greece

In ancient societies, such beliefs are not imposed, but the observation of public worship. We must revere the gods through rituals very precise, festivals and offerings, but not profess a doctrine about their existence or their role. Theories of rational philosophers, and metaphysical, are never checked against the improbabilities of mythology to show contradictions. These companies do not condemn the heretical , heterodox promoters of the design world and its history, but impious or sacrilegious.

There is therefore no question of atheism in these societies. And philosophers are considered atheists probably believed their deities mentioned, as well as the legends and powers granted to them. There is no known text seeking to prove the nonexistence of Zeus or Athena, or the improbability of their history which was increasingly seen as a beneficial and inexhaustible corpus of metaphors and wisdom, than as a dogmatic truth, to give him the sense that Judaism , then Christianity.

The philosopher, poet and politician Greek Critias religion justifies the role it plays, it should be a historical institution, used to inspire the virtue to the people, to establish the culture .

The philosopher Diagoras , who four centuries BC, so severely criticized the religion and mysticism , is often seen as the "first" atheist .

The atomic scientists such as Democritus attempted to explain the world in strict materialist , without reference to spiritual or mystical : if the world consists of atoms, they combine at random, sometimes giving stable forms, or even reproducing, but no intervention of God . This position irritates Plato , which makes no room for ideas of Democritus in his writings - not even to refute them - do not mention his name.

Other philosophers before Socrates , also had views skeptical , as Prodicus and Protagoras. In the third century BC, the Greek philosophers Theodore and Strato of Lampsacus did not believe either to the gods, which is not equivalent to saying that they knew or felt no transcendence .

Socrates (-471 to -399) was accused of being an atheist because of his impiety because he had questions about the nature and existence of gods . Although he denied the accusation as "complete atheist" , he was sentenced to death.

Euhemere (-330 to -260) presented the idea that the gods were merely leaders and conquerors of the past, and their cults and religions were but the continuation of annihilated kingdoms and political structures of another time . Euhemere was later criticized for having "widespread atheism on all lands by designating them as gods of old concepts" .

Epicurus (-341 to -270) was highly critical of the religious doctrines of his time, including the concept of existence of life after death or the physical existence of deities, he considered the material and mortal mind completely.

If the Epicureans do not question the existence of gods, they deny any involvement on their part in human affairs . In the Letter to Menoeceus , Epicurus sets out four principles to follow to lead a blessed life. The first of these principles is not to fear the gods, since they do not care about us.

Others openly deny the existence of gods, as Theodore the Atheist who is said he had shown in his writings the nonexistence of gods. (C. - 320 BC. JC).

The Roman poet Lucretius (-99 to -55) indicated that if there were gods, they were not concerned about humanity and unable to influence the natural world. For this reason, he believed that humanity had no need to fear the supernatural. He expounded his views of the Epicurean cosmos , of atoms , spirit, mortality, and religion in the book De rerum natura (On the Essence of Things) , which made him popular Epicurean philosophy in ancient Rome .

The meaning of "atheist" changes during antiquity. The early Christians were called atheists by non-Christians for their belief in non- Roman gods . When Christianity became the state religion in Rome in 381, the heresy became liable to conviction .

Scepticism of the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

Views claimed atheists were rare in Europe during the Middle Ages , especially during the Inquisition , the metaphysical , the religious and theological matters were then brought to the dominant quadrivium . However, during this same period, new conceptions of God Christian have developed, such as different views of the nature, transcendence , and the intelligibility of God. Theologians such as David of Dinant and Amaury de Chartres have kept the Christian religion while adopting views pantheistic.

The French Jean de Mirecourt and Nicolas of Autrecourt , nominalist philosopher , favored the position that knowledge is limited to human material objects, and that the essence of a divine being could not be apprehended intuitively or rationally, the human intellect.

The Renaissance led to the expansion of freedom of thought and skepticism. We can then cite example Leonardo da Vinci , which indicated that the explanation came from experimentation, and arguments opposed to religious. Other critics of religion and the Catholic Church have also been made by Nicolas Machiavelli , Bonaventure des Periers and Francois Rabelais . However, an apology for Raymond Sebond of Michel de Montaigne , remains unmatched in the skepticism that time.

There was talk then of disbelief to denote any form of dissent against the religion in its official form as evidenced by Lucien Febvre .

Atheism between the ^seventeenth and ^nineteenth centuries

The Renaissance and the Reformation can see a resurgence of religious fervor, as evidenced by the proliferation of new religious orders, confraternities , popular devotions in the Catholic world, and the emergence of sects Protestant Calvinists. This time of interdenominational rivalry allowed a broadening of theological issues and openness to philosophical arguments, most of which will later be used to promote a skeptical view of the religious world.

Criticism of Christianity has become increasingly common during the ^seventeenth and ^eighteenth centuries, particularly in France and England , with a "religious malaise," according to sources, some Protestant thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes. The latter adopts a materialist philosophy and skeptical of supernatural events. At the end of the seventeenth ^century,deism is openly embraced by intellectuals such as John Toland, and virtually all philosophers of the eighteenth ^century, France and England.

The first known atheist who openly rejected the deism of coverage, to deny the existence of gods, was Jean Meslier , a French priest who lived in the early eighteenth ^century . It was followed by other openly atheistic thinkers like Baron d'Holbach , manifested in the late eighteenth ^century, when expressing disbelief in God has become a less dangerous .

The French Revolution brought out the atheism of the intellectual circles and brought him into the public sphere. Many measurements have then integrated the secular law French at that time. Some of the revolutionary era have also tried dechristianize France, promoting both deism (including Robespierre and his Cult of the Supreme Being ) and atheism ( Cult of Reason ).

Under the Napoleonic era, the secularization of French society has been institutionalized.

Finally, in the second half of the nineteenth ^century, atheism is growing under the influence of philosophers, both rationalist philosophers and freethinkers. Many German philosophers of this period were convinced of the absence of gods and were critical of religion ; be mentioned among the most famous Arthur Schopenhauer , Karl Marx or Friedrich Nietzsche .

Atheism in the Twentieth ^Century

Atheism in the twentieth ^century advances in many societies . Thinking atheist is recognized in a wide variety of philosophies, such as the existentialism , the objectivism , the secular humanism , the nihilism , the logical positivism , the Marxism , the feminism , and movement science and rationalism to large.

This new vision has paved the way for analytic philosophy , in structuralism , and naturalism. Their promoters, such Bertrand Russell , have strongly denounced the misdeeds and illusions from the belief in God.

In his early work, Ludwig Wittgenstein attempted to separate metaphysical language and supernatural in rational discourse. AJ Ayer said the invrifiabilit and futility of religious arguments, and claims his adherence to science empirical.

JN Findlay and JJC Smart argued that the existence of God is not logically necessary .

Materialists and naturalists like John Dewey , considered the natural world, according to them at the base of everything, and denied the existence of God or the concept of immortality .

The twentieth ^century was also marked by the resumption of atheism for political purposes. Under the impetus of a misleading interpretation of the works of Marx and Engels even some political movements have poured into the anti-theism. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, freedom for religious minorities have survived for some years. Revolutionary Russia was living in a climate of relative tolerance towards the religious phenomenon, although the Bolshevik Party luttt actively against religion by strictly peaceful means, defined by Lenin in 1905 . Its policy was based in effect on the definition of the young Marx: the State and society as a whole "produce religion, an inverted world consciousness, because they are themselves a world turned upside down. " . The religious issue was therefore not placed in the foreground, because it was primarily seen as the ideal product of oppression and material practice of the proletariat. In this context, transforming the social and economic base of the country was returning to fight the very source of religious practice without direct repressive and violent towards her. Bolshevism was then promoted, first, a secular state, which is not involved to recognize any religion nor prohibit , on the other hand, a party ideologically atheist who sought to touch the masses through information science, the press, literature etc.. Later, Stalin broke with this policy and launched a fierce repression against religions. In Stalin's USSR, numbers of religious places were transformed, destroyed or closed, and population control in this area promoted an atmosphere of accusation against believers. The Soviet Union and other communist states from there promoted a state anti-theism and opposed to religions, sometimes using violence against them by Solzhenitsyn . In 1967, the Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha , when the government announced the closure of all religious institutions in the country, saying Albania "first officially atheist state" . Reactions to anti ensued United States of America , although most atheists are anti-American .

In 1966, the magazine Time asked "Is God dead? " in response to the dissolution of a Christian religious movement, citing estimates that nearly half of Earth's inhabitants live in a detached power of religion, and millions more in Africa, Asia and South America are not interested in the Christian God .

Atheism in the XXI ^century

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall , the number of active anti-religious movements has declined considerably.

The late twentieth ^century and early ^twenty-first century have seen a resumption of theoretical atheism by some philosophers (see Andre Comte-Sponville or Michel Onfray ). Note that Comte-Sponville insists he does not adhere to the beliefs of Catholicism, but does not sacrificing a certain portion of its securities that it considers relevant

Atheism and religion

Atheism and monotheism

Atheism and Judaism

Atheism and Christianity

l'poque o le christianisme dominait la vie sociale (spirituelle, politique, intellectuelle, scientifique, etc.) d'une grande partie de l' Europe , l'athisme tait gnralement considr comme le rejet de cette religion en particulier.

Bien que cela ait t le cas de certains athes humanistes (en opposition notamment aux croisades et l' Inquisition ), l'antichristianisme ne reprsente qu'une petite frange des athes.

Il existe d'ailleurs un lien historique troit entre christianisme et athisme, puisque c'est dans les pays de tradition chrtienne que s'est dveloppe le plus largement la pense athe et la lacisation des institutions publiques.

Athes et dmarche de dbaptisation dans le catholicisme

La dbaptisation n'est nullement ncessaire aux athes puisque ces derniers n'attachent pas d'importance au baptme.

Son seul objectif est, pour la personne athe, purement symbolique, et exprime le dsir de ne plus se voir recense parmi les fidles de l' glise catholique , et marquer ainsi son dtachement officiel cette dernire.

En Allemagne , Autriche et Suisse , ou l'tat prlve un impt religieux revers certaines glises, il existe une procdure lgale de sortie de l'glise ( ) obligatoire pour quiconque, ayant t baptis ou ayant autrement dclar son appartenance une glise, souhaite tre libr de l'impt religieux.

Athisme et islam

Politique et islam

Dans la plupart des pays majorit musulmane, l' islam est intgr au tissu mme de l'tat et de la socit. En revanche certains d'entre eux, comme la Turquie , revendiquent une lacit forte qui provoque des polmiques nombreuses chaque fois qu'elle est remise en cause. Cependant, dans ce dernier cas, la lacit consiste en une sparation des institutions politiques et religieuses et n'a souvent rien voir avec l'athisme, trs peu de Turcs se dclarant athes .

Athisme et religion musulmane

Le Coran condamne les mcrants ainsi que les faux croyants , nomms les hypocrites , mais pas spcifiquement les athes ^{Eastern religions}

For someone removed geographically and culturally from the Far East and Indian subcontinent, the figure of the deity does not appear in the religions of these regions ( Buddhism , Jainism , Taoism , Vedanta , etc..) clearly and homogeneous. Some propose to them rather philosophies, and qualify (especially Buddhism) atheists ^{Atheism and sects}

The position of atheism against sects is variable, some of them claiming ownership and non-theistic philosophy. However, as a spiritual movements, sects are often opposed by rationalist atheists and freethinkers.

In its classic definition of atheism can not exclude the sect, if that is not based on a belief in one or more deities.

Scientology

Not being a theist, the Scientology claims to be an atheist religion , although these two concepts seem a priori incompatible. In its "sacred" texts of this sect claims that the classical religions are merely the result of the implementation of these beliefs by outside powers. But the belief in the existence of "body thetans", in an alternative history of the Universe, some characters such as Xenu and the highlighting of a Supreme Being who governs the entire universe (which the Scientology calls the "eighth dynamic") disprove atheism.

Atheism and politics

Atheist does not mean anti-theism

Most atheists accept coexistence with believers of different religions:

• either out of respect: the idea that the messages attributed to God or gods synthesize anthropological and social reality, and that even if the cause assigned, the deity is missing and false, the effect is none the less real and therefore values promoted by religions are worthy of interest (eg, religious prohibitions may originate in previous health problems and the Christian message was retained by Western societies).
• either tolerance: in a spirit of reciprocity so that its own non-belief is tolerated or the idea that religions will disappear on their own without any confrontation is necessary.
• or by pragmatism : the religion could be regarded as a social tool to maintain national unity, national identity, etc.. This is the case of Charles Maurras , of Napoleon in its implementation of the Concordat of 1802.

Atheism and Marxist regimes

Conversely, atheism was established as official state doctrine ^twentieth century especially in the Socialist Republic of Albania of Enver Hoxha , where the exercise of any religion was repressed and where all religious symbols were banned. The religious monuments were either destroyed or converted voluntarily. This situation is not directly linked to Marxist philosophy itself, but the practice of totalitarian Marxist regimes or alleged. By definition, a totalitarian regime (which may be the doctrines of which he claims) regards as subversive any belief in a higher authority than the state or ruling party, his own ideological system, which is never called religion , serves as the official religion. Accordingly, religious practices, seen as deviant behavior, are either altogether prohibited or tolerated so precarious.

In the USSR

The Soviet Union and its satellite states have also made the antitheism a cornerstone of their ideology. With varying degrees of force, they persecuted the believers (bullying, surveillance, imprisonment, shelved, etc..) Confining to semi-clandestine clergy ^{Atheism and Stalinism}

The accession to power of Stalin put an end to this relative tolerance. Until 1932 , the regime pursued a policy of repression, marked by widespread destruction of religious buildings and persecution against the clergy and their families. The thirties saw a slow resurgence of the religious organization, slowed by a short renewed repression during the Great Purges (1937-1938). The policy change was complete during the Great Patriotic War ( 1941 - 1 945 ), which ushered in a period of ideological relaxation. An official clergy was authorized and paid by Metropolitan , abolished since 1925 , restored, while Muslims were fed four Spiritual Directorates, authorized to train mullahs and to publish regular fatwas. Post-war policy of promoting atheism again, but more importantly, it was combined with a hardening of official churches (the Uniate of Ukraine were the first to suffer). This discrepancy led to the creation of an informal hierarchy, the "underground churches" and "parallel Islam" composed of religious brotherhoods Sufi.

After Stalin

Despite the constant assertion of his atheism, the USSR ceased to borrow from the Orthodox liturgy. Stalin inaugurated the practice by giving the funeral of Lenin ( 1924 ) in the care of Krasin, the sect of " Builders of God. " The embalming of the deceased had a strong resonance Orthodox: there was a direct reference to rot the body of the saint.

Practices such as parallel official cults were the target of Khrushchev from 1959 , which positioned itself well in the Leninist tradition Sentry face of Stalinist wanderings. The era of Brezhnev was a lull: a compromise was found which was based on the role of religious on the outside, especially in relations with Arab countries. However, Gorbachev revived an enforcement policy on ideological grounds similar to those of Khrushchev.

After the fall of the Eastern bloc and the USSR, cults Orthodox ( Russia , Ukraine ), Catholic ( Poland ) and Muslim (Central Asia, Caucasus and Tatarstan) perked up. The expression of religiosity increased, and those born into families converted atheists.

Some political regimes from the fall of the eastern bloc, however, continue the religious policy established by the USSR, or at least, as of Uzbekistan , have preserved methods.

Atheism on five continents

The Anglo-Saxon

Of philosophers such as Antony Flew and Michael Martin described the differences between strong atheism (positive) atheism and low (negative). Atheism is very explicit affirmation that gods are human inventions. Atheism includes all other low forms of non- theism. According to this distinction, any person who is not theist is either an atheist or an atheist very low . The terms "low" and "strong" are relatively new, but equivalent terms "positive" and "negative" were used in the philosophical literature . In considering this definition of atheism, most agnostics can then qualify for low atheists.

While the agnosticism can be seen as a form of atheism low , most agnostics see their view as different from atheism. The inability to know the truth about the absence or presence of gods supposed to encourage agnostic skepticism further that atheists, they deny the existence of gods. The usual response of atheists This argument of a need for skepticism is that religious dogmas are worth so little unfounded beliefs and recognition than any other dogma unfounded, and that the inability to prove the existence of gods does not an argument of equal value for both parties .

Some popular writers like Richard Dawkins prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic and atheist, by the probability given to the proposition "God exists" .

Estimates of the number of atheists

Various estimates of the number of atheists have been issued:

Official Organizations

• The World Fact Book of CIA estimated in 2007 , the number of people without religion to 11.77% of the world population, to which she adds 2.32% of atheists . However, these results are qualified: the CIA figures are often far from reality (the number of Catholics in France is estimated at 88% by the CIA, while several polls show figures around 60%) .
• In a survey by the Eurobarometer in June 2005 , 52% of Europeans claim to believe in a god, and 18% say they do not believe in any kind of deity, spirit or higher power (the highest rate being reached France, with 33% of atheists). People indicating that they believe in a god are a minority in 15 countries of Europe of 25. In addition there is a correlation between belief in a god and age, an inverse correlation with the level of education and women would be more likely to believe in a god than men (p. 10) .

References

• The World Christian Encyclopedia 1071 announcement million agnostics and atheists 262 million worldwide in 2000 .
• According to the book by Jean Bauberot (ed.), Religion and Secularism in the EU-12, 1994, page 259: at the time of publication of the book, one quarter of the population of the European Union was "not religious. "5% of Europeans were convinced atheists.

Surveys and opinion polls

International

• A survey conducted in 21 countries on 21,000 people and published in December 2004 announced that 25% of Western Europeans say they are atheists against 12% in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Also according to the survey published in The Wall Street Journal (European version), 4% of Romanians and 8% of Greeks claim to be atheist. In contrast, 49% of Czechs and 41% of Dutch people say they are atheists : according to a poll Pew Forum in August 2007, 8% of Americans are atheists, or 24 million people. It also indicates that Americans agnostic , doubting the existence of God, constitute 21% of the population or 63 million people . According to an April 2009 survey of American Religious Identification Survey (en) , the number of Americans without religion would amount to 15% . American Atheists organized into associations, including the secular Coalition for America is the most powerful. In universities, the Student Alliance Lay has some 146 offices on campuses across the country .

• The latest survey in Canada was held between 22 and 26 May 2008, and was conducted on a sample of 1,000 people by The Canadian Press Harris-Decima. It indicates that 23% of Canadians are atheists. The percentage of agnostics is 6% . A previous survey in 2001 were 16 5% of atheists in the population .

France

• According to a survey by the polling institute CSA on the beliefs of the French conducted in March 2003 , 26% of respondents reported "no religion", and 33% of respondents believe that the term "atheist" defines "very well" or "fairly well" .
• In a survey FIFG 12 April 2004 , 55% of the French announced believe in a god, 44% said they did not believe in god and 1% did not comment.
• A survey by the Institute Harris Interactive , published by the Financial Times , dated December 2006 , are 32% of atheists and agnostics to 32% in France (poll on the U.S., Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) .

Notes