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Atheism for Beginners

Other Titles by Michael Palmer from The Lutterworth Press

Title

The Atheist’s Creed

Contents

Introduction

1. THE MEANING OF ATHEISM

i. Definition of Atheism

ii. The Christian Theory of Creation

iii. The Re-emergence of Atheism

iv. Hume on the Argument from Cause

v. An Infinite or Finite Universe?

3. THE DESIGN OF THE WORLD

i. Two Monkey Trials

ii. The Argument from Design

iii. Hume’s Criticisms of the Design Argument

iv. Darwin’s Criticisms of the Design Argument

v. Post-Darwinian Criticisms of the Design Argument

4. THE ARGUMENT FROM EVIL

i. Moral and Non-Moral Evil

ii. Evolution as a Non-Moral Evil

iii. The Problem of Evil: A Logical or Evidential Problem?

iv. The Problem of Evil: The Logical Argument

v. The Problem of Evil: The Evidential Argument

5. THE MORAL ARGUMENT

i. Moral Relativism and Religion

ii. Criticisms of the Moral Argument

iii. Nietzsche’s Critique of Religious Morality

6. MIRACLES

i. Some Miracles

ii. Definition of a Miracle (1)

iii. Definition of a Miracle (2)

iv. Hume’s Critique of Miracles: Are Miracles Impossible?

v. Hume’s Critique of Miracles: Are Miracles Improbable?

vi. Conclusion

7. THE IMPULSE TO BELIEVE

i. The Experiences of Faith

ii. Ludwig Feuerbach’s Projection Theory

iii. Marx’s Projection Theory: Religion as the Opium of the People

iv. Freud’s Projection Theory: Religion as a Universal Obsessional Neurosis

v. Conclusion: Is Atheism Pessimistic?

8. DISPROVING GOD

i. The Logic of God’s Attributes

ii. Arguments from Incoherence

iii. Two Theistic Defences

iv. Some conclusions

APPENDIX - SELECT BIOGRAPHIES

Epicurus (342-270 BC)

Jean Meslier (1664-1729)

David Hume (1711-1776)

Baron d’Holbach (1723-1789)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)

Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891)

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)

A.J. Ayer (1910-1989)

Richard Dawkins (b. 1941)

Glossary

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