[1]Principia Cybernetica Web

                                        Atheism

   Atheism is the philosophy that there are no [2]gods ("a" = without, "theos" =
   god)
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   The simplest argument for atheism follows from [3]Occam's Razor: from different
   equivalent explanations, choose the simplest one. If we cannot explain more
   things by postulating the existence of God than we can without, then we should
   prefer the theory without. The fact that this principle is not sufficient to
   prove that God does not exist, is not very relevant. After all, nobody can prove
   that unicorns, flying toasters or 23-legged purple elephants do not exist, but
   that does not make their existence any more likely. (see also: [externallink.GIF]
   [4]Occam's Razor as justification of atheism)

   This assumes that the existence of God does not explain anything. However, the
   most typical argument for the existence of God is that creation by God is needed
   to explain the complexity of the universe around us. Apart from the fact that
   that same complexity can already be explained by straightforward [5]principles of
   evolution and self-organization, the introduction of God does not in any way
   contribute to explanation, since it just pushes the phenomenon to be explained
   one step away. If God explains the existence of the universe, then what explains
   the existence of God? Since the concept of God is neither simpler nor more
   intuitive than the concept of the Universe, explaining God's origin is not in any
   way easier than explaining the origin of the Universe. On the contrary, since God
   is in principle unknowable, we cannot even hope to explain His coming into being.
   On the other hand, although the Universe may never be grasped in its totality,
   there are definitely many aspects of it that are observable and understandable,
   and lend themselves to ever more complete explanations. In conclusion,
   postulating God as an explanation does not only make the theory unnecessarily
   complicated, it even obscures those phenomena that might have been explained
   otherwise.

   One must note that atheism is not in contradiction with religion. In its
   original, Latin sense, religion means "that which holds together", implying a
   kind of overarching philosophy and system of ethics that guides society as a
   whole, without necessary reference to God. Also in the more practical sense,
   several "religions", including Zen Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, lack any
   idea of God, and thus may be properly called "atheist religions". Also the
   different emotions that typically accompany religous experiences, such as the
   feeling of being part of a larger whole, can very well be experienced by a
   atheists, leading to what may be called "atheist religiosity".

   See also:
     * the [externallink.GIF] [6]alt.atheism FAQ Web
     * [externallink.GIF] [7]Are science and religion converging? by Richard Dawkins
     * [externallink.GIF] [8]more atheism links...
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   [9]Copyright© 1999 Principia Cybernetica - [10]Referencing this page

   Author
   F. [11]Heylighen,

   Date
   Nov 22, 1999 (modified)
   Aug 1993 (created)

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                                    [18]Discussion
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     * [19]humor, Comment by Firstname Lastname
     * [20]NUR, Comment by TOLGA TURAN
     * [21]No God?, Comment by Kow Chai
     * [22]don't do this to Occam, Comment by E. Wieringa
     * [23]Occam's razor doesn't always reflect reality, Illustration by Ann Onymous
     * [24]Atheism, as defined here, is actually Agnosticism!, Comment by Paul Vogel
     * [25]Pray for an illumination on man's (and your own) arrogance:, Illustration
       by Timothy Monicken
     * [26]Proof of God, Comment by Lois Bowers

                                  [27]Add comment...

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References

   1. LYNXIMGMAP:http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ATHEISM.html#PCP-header
   2. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/GOD.html
   3. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/OCCAMRAZ.html
   4. http://www.well.com/user/deanraff/occam.html
   5. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/EVOLUT.html
   6. http://www.mantis.co.uk/atheism/overview.html
   7. http://www.forbes.com/asap/99/1004/235.htm
   8. http://www.google.com/search?q=atheism&num=30
   9. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/COPYR.html
  10. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/REFERPCP.html
  11. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HEYL.html
  12. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/DEFAULT.html
  13. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MSTT.html
  14. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/METAPHYS.html
  15. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/GOD.html
  16. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ATHEISM.html
  17. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/GODEXIST.html
  18. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MAKANNOT.html
  19. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.0-Unintentiona.html
  20. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.2.html
  21. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.3.html
  22. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.4.html
  23. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.5.html
  24. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.7.html
  25. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.8.html
  26. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Annotations/ATHEISM.9.html
  27. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/hypercard.acgi$annotform?

[USEMAP]
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ATHEISM.html#PCP-header
   1. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/DEFAULT.html
   2. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/HOWWEB.html
   3. http://pcp.lanl.gov/ATHEISM.html
   4. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ATHEISM.html
   5. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SERVER.html
   6. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/hypercard.acgi$randomlink?searchstring=.html
   7. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/RECENT.html
   8. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/TOC.html#ATHEISM
   9. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/SEARCH.html