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Western Atheism: A Short History

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"There is...a way of looking at and interpreting events in the world, whose origins...can be seen as early as the beginnings of speculative thought itself, and which I shall call naturalistic...in the sense that it is incompatible with any and every form of supernaturalism." --James Thrower, Introduction to Western Atheism

James Thrower, currently Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, originally published his book with Pemberton Books in 1971. To its republication, he has added a Preface, Afterward, and updated Bibliography. The main text and indexes, however, are unchanged from the original. The book's focus is broad, not only discussing individuals who were outright atheists, but also thinkers and schools whose thoughts have contributed to the naturalistic outlook. But while the book is conceptually broad, it is geographically narrow, that is, borrowing a term from non-European academia, almost entirely "Eurocentric." One of the thinkers covered in Thrower's book who astonished me was the Greek Skeptic, Carneades of Cyrene (214-129 BC).

Carneades anticipated by more than two thousand years much of the subsequent thinking in the debate between theism and atheism. He criticized in numerous ways Stoic theology's support of theism. He asked why theists find it necessary to support theism with logical arguments if it is really universally believed. Even if theism was universally believed, Carneades pointed out that popularity of a belief does not prove the belief to be true. He accused the Stoics of the hypocrisy of considering most of humanity to be fools while at the same time utilizing these fool's beliefs as evidence for theism. He dismissed reports of divine visitations as being old wive's tales. He criticized divination, saying that it was arbitrary, inexact, and does not rest on rational principles. He suggested that the origin of theistic belief was from the human propensity to deify awesome acts of nature, but also pointed out that knowing a belief's origin does not, in and of itself, either prove or disprove a belief. He also criticized the Stoic's conception of god as being incoherent and meaningless.

Carneades saw that personal attributes necessarily limit god's nature. For example, if god is omnipotent, he cannot also possess courage because, being omnipotent, he cannot be endangered, etc. Carneades also punched holes in the design argument for theism, pointing out that the evidence of design in the world is inconclusive, because evils like poisonous snakes, natural disasters, and disease are evidence against design.

Thrower's book is divided into three parts:"ATHEISM IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY," "WESTERN ATHEISM TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY," and "MODERN ATHEISM." Thrower starts with the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers and ends with the British philosopher Sir A. J. Ayer. Excluding his page-long "Note on Atheism and Agnosticism within Jewish Thought in the period before the Fall of Jersusalem in AD 71" and his half-page mention in his Afterward of "radical Americal theologins" who have "sought to develope a Christian atheism," there is virtually nothing in Thrower's history of Western atheism that comes from outside of Europe. He is aware that this is a limitation, for in his Afterward, he highlights the global scope of atheism and then concludes that a "comparative history of atheism remains to be written." However, even a book intended to discuss only Western atheism should cover more than just Europe, because Western thought encompasses the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, etc. Even in a short history, I would like to know what if anything relevant to atheism has been happening in Western culture outside of Europe. Surely, in his section on "MODERN ATHEISM," Thrower might have found something of note outside of Europe to include in his book. Nevertheless, although I find his short history too short -- the entire book including the index is a mere 157 pages -- Thrower's book is necessarily of value to the general reader, because what it does cover is well written and informative, and because there is little else as a general introduction the the history of atheism to take its place.

James Thrower has tried to write a quick overview of western atheism. It's an ambitious scheme, and he's to be congratulated for his efforts. In the first seven chapters, he moves from the classical to the hellenistic ages, showing that although naturalism, the general worldview endorsed by most atheists, has an ancient lineage, atheism proper is much less spotty. There are some exceptions--Carneades, for example--but not many. The medieval and renaissance periods are also relatively free of atheists, although the "double truth" split between faith and reason endorsed by many medieval philosophers, as well as the rise of science and the steady retreat of theological explanations of the world in the later renaissance, paved the way for the fullblown appearance of atheism in the 18th century.

Given this historical paucity of atheism up to the Enlightenment, it's rather remarkable that 80% of Thrower's book is devoted to the pre-1800s. When he finally gets to the modern era, he does a decent job of summarizing some of the highpoints of Enlightenment free-thought, but his discussions of the 19th and 20th centuries are, respectively, spotty and spottier. He interestingly concludes with the claim that linguistic analysis is the most important challenge to God belief today. Although many philosophers might take this to be an antiquated claim (believing that we're long past the days of bliks and verificationism), I think it's still relevant. Unfortunately, Thrower doesn't explore it.

What especially disturbs me is that Thrower rarely cites original sources, but instead relies heavily--almost exclusively, as a matter of fact--on secondary ones. This is strange. Why would I want to read quotations from secondary sources in a source that's already secondary--or now, I suppose, tertiary?

So we're badly in need of a good history of western atheism. Until one comes along, more specialized studies will have to do: for example, Jennifer Michael Hecht's Doubt, Susan Jacoby's Freethinkers, and Michael Buckley's At the Origins of Modern Atheism.

Another book recommended by my good friend and mentor, Dr. Gus Rath, and another winner. This small volume gives a wonderfully concise synopsis of the history of Western Atheism. It gives some hope to those who want to understand that they are not alone in their humanist or agnostic view of the world. They in fact are part of a long history and associated with some of the most powerful "thinkers" of our species.

Comfort can be taken in the acknowledgement that many "theologians and religious philosophers now openly state, that religion is a 'blik', a perspective, an attitude, a way of looking at the world, rather than a descriptive account of how reality actually is." Thrower also clarified for me the thought that I have always had that "atheism" is not a satisfactory description of my own philosophy of life. "For if the assertion that there is a god is nonsensical, then the atheist's assertion that there is no god is equally nonsensical, since it is only a significant proposition that can be significantly contradicted." Which implies that agnosticism is also ruled out. Instinctively, I have referred to myself as a non-theist rather than atheist. After reading Thrower, I am even more comfortable referring to myself as an unbeliever or Humanist without any further qualifications.

I highly recommend this book for those who are either theist or humanist in their belief because it gives a wonderful overview of the history of these two different views of our human awareness. For the theist, it provides a fresh look at the "old arguments" against religion and will help to sharpen or deepen your faith (since I doubt those of true faith will be persuaded against their faith by a review of atheism's history). For the humanist, it will provide roots for your own life philosophy. An excellent addition to both libraries!

Comfort can be taken in the acknowledgement that many "theologians and religious philosophers now openly state, that religion is a 'blik', a perspective, an attitude, a way of looking at the world, rather than a descriptive account of how reality actually is." Thrower also clarified for me the thought that I have always had that "atheism" is not a satisfactory description of my own philosophy of life. "For if the assertion that there is a god is nonsensical, then the atheist's assertion that there is no god is equally nonsensical, since it is only a significant proposition that can be significantly contradicted." Which implies that agnosticism is also ruled out. Instinctively, I have referred to myself as a non-theist rather than atheist. After reading Thrower, I am even more comfortable referring to myself as an unbeliever or Humanist without any further qualifications.

I highly recommend this book for those who are either theist or humanist in their belief because it gives a wonderful overview of the history of these two different views of our human awareness. For the theist, it provides a fresh look at the "old arguments" against religion and will help to sharpen or deepen your faith (since I doubt those of true faith will be persuaded against their faith by a review of atheism's history). For the humanist, it will provide roots for your own life philosophy. An excellent addition to both libraries!

This book is easy to read even for them who - like me - have English as second language. The book starts already before Socrates with a very good overview of the objections to religion in general and gods in particular. Thrower follows the chronological order over antiquity, Rome, medieval time and up to our own time. The book never looses the perspective of the first ideas against religion and it show clearly how counter-arguments refines when theology get more advanced.

It gives numerous references and is obvious very interesting for both believers and non-believers who want to structure the ideas of atheism and put the different ideas in a proper time perspective.

Anyone who lives with the conception that atheism is a new invention should read the book. All the important objections are there from the start.

In "Western Atheism, a Short History", James Thrower, of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, begins by observing that "what we are witnessing and living through today is the rise of a secularism more widespread and pervasive than has ever existed before." He makes the important point that it is to be distinguished, not only from ages of Faith but also from Paganism with which it is often confused. "A post-Christian man," he says, "is not a Pagan since he is cut off from the Christian past and doubly from the Pagan past. The ancient Paganisms, the Bible and the Christian Church all have this in common, that they hold the source of all things to be divine reality which transcends the world as well as operating within it. The secularisms of today have this in common that they hold the meaning of the world to lie within itself."

This book is surprisingly complete for its size - less than 150 pages, although it is not the definitive book on the subject of modern atheism which has yet to be written.

He concludes by observing that the debate between those who see the world and understand it naturalistically and those who, however vaguely, feel dissatisfied with this and discern that there is more beyond, behind or within nature and the being of man, and which they more often than not call "God" or the "Divine", will continue for a long time to come.