Atheism — Neither Here Nor There
Good Fit
- Readers of the Agnosticism volume who want to see the same series' "denying" counterpart
- Anyone who wants to understand that atheism isn't just "disbelief" but rests on philosophical grounds like materialism and evolutionism
- Readers curious about fine distinctions like "absolute atheism" versus "theoretical atheism"
- Fans of short, dense philosophy primers (110 pages)
Not a Fit
- Readers looking for an emotional or apologetic case against atheism
- Anyone who won't patiently read through to topics like the problem of evil (chapter 6)
- Readers bothered by some dated philosophical terms carried over from the Turkish translation
The book starts from the term's origin: 'atheism' is formed by adding the negating Greek prefix 'a-' to 'theos,' meaning 'belief in God' — as a philosophical term, it's defined as disbelief in a supernatural being who created and intervenes in the universe.
The author draws a key distinction: 'absolute atheism' is a stance that holds no concept of God at all, and thus feels no need to even deny one (since God's existence was never proven in the first place); 'theoretical atheism' is a more active stance that offers concrete arguments to reject God's existence and refute theism's claims.
It's noted that 'atheism' isn't a native Turkish term — historically, words like 'ilhad,' 'zındıklık,' and 'dehrilik' were used instead — showing the book's attentiveness to its translation/language context.
Chapter 1 turns to atheism's philosophical grounds: materialism holds the universe consists of matter alone, sensationalism holds that belief in God arises from experience rather than the senses themselves, and evolutionism holds that nature's order can be explained through evolution alone, without God.
The chapter closes by noting that while atheism's history isn't as long as theism's, it stretches back quite far, typically examined across three periods: Antiquity, the Early Modern era, and the Modern age.
- Same format and author as the Agnosticism volume — the two books complement each other when read together
- Each chapter is devoted to a concrete argument (materialism, the problem of evil, atheist religions)
- Historical context is given via Turkish philosophical terminology (ilhad, zındıklık)
- A tight, pocket-sized 110-page length
From the same series, an ideal pairing to compare atheism against the 'undecided' stance
A more popular and polemical atheist classic referenced in the book's later chapters
The chapter ends by noting that the history of atheism, though not as long as that of theism, is old enough, and is usually studied in three periods: Antiquity, the Early Modern and the Modern era. What follows is outside the scope of this review.
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