Atheism

Michael Martin is Professor of Philosophy at Boston University and author of several books, including The Legal Philosophy of H.L.A. Hart: A Critical Appraisal and The Case Against Christianity (both from Temple).

"Thousands of philosophers-from the ancient Greeks to modern thinkers-have defended atheism, but none more comprehensively than Martin. His lengthy arguments, detailed and incisive, are sharpened by modern developments in logic and inductive reasoning and by special attention to contemporary thinkers whose subtle writings are unknown to the general public.... Atheists should read it to bolster their creed, and theists should read it to test their faith against the deadly force of Martin's attack."-Martin Gardner, The Humanist "A tour-de-force for the mind.... This is a book to be read several times and savored while being slowly digested.... If one follows Martin's reasoning throughout this book, one will have gone through the most thorough and vigorous examination of the logical arguments surrounding atheism and theism that has ever been offered."-Gordon Stein, American Rationalist"[This book] has the impact of a runaway train. It is certainly the best philosophical justification of atheism that I have ever read.... Even readers with little philosophical background will find themselves richly repaid."-Free Inquiry

• Preface Introduction The Scope of Nonbelief * A Brief Defense of Atheism Against Some Common Criticisms * Purpose Part I: Negative Atheism 1. The Justification of Negative Atheism: Some Preliminaries A Presumption of Atheism * The Ethics of Belief * The Evil Demon and Objectivist Epistemology * Conclusion 2. The Meaningfulness of Religious Language Overview of the Problem * Incoherence and Meaninglessness * Nielsen's Critique of God Talk * Swinburne's Defense * The Choice of an Observational Language * Attempts to Show the Confirmability of Theological Statements * Conclusion 3. The Ontological Argument Anselm's Ontological Argument * Malcolm's Ontological Argument * Hartshorne's Ontological Argument * Kordig's Ontological Argument * Plantinga's Ontological Argument * Conclusion 4. The Cosmological Argument Traditional Deductive Cosmological Arguments * Three Contemporary Defenses of the Cosmological Argument * General Conclusion 5. The Teleological Argument Background lo the Teleological Argument * Tennant 's Cosmic Teleology * Schlesinger's Teleological Argument * Swinburne's Teleological Argument * Taylor's Teleological Argument * General Conclusion 6. The Argument from Religious Experience Religious Experience Defined * Types of Religious Experience * Mystical Experience * Swinburne's Principle of Credulity and Religious Experience * Conclusion 7. The Argument from Miracles The Argument in General * The Concept of Miracles * The Probability That God Exists, Given the Existence of Miracles * Naturalism versus Supernaturalism and the Existence of Miracles * The Difficulty of Showing the Existence of Miracles * Evidence of Miracles in One Religion as Evidence Against Contrary Religions * Miracles at Lourdes * Indirect Miracles * Conclusion 8. Some Minor Evidential Arguments for God The Argument from Common Consent * The Moral Argument * The Argument from Reward * The Argument from Justice * Arguments from Scripture * The Argument from Consciousness * The Argument from Providence * The Argument from Cumulative Evidence 9. Beneficial Arguments for God Pascal's Argument * William James and the Will to Believe * Conclusion 10. Faith and Foundationalism A Traditional Concept of Religious Faith * Existential Faith * Wittgensteinian Fideism * Are Avowals of Religious Faith True or False? * Could an Atheist Have Faith in God? * Religious Beliefs and Basic Beliefs * Conclusion Part II: Positive Atheism 11. The Justification of Positive Atheism: Some Preliminaries The Justification of Negative Atheism as a Justification for Positive Atheism * The Strength of the Case Needed for A Posteriori Arguments * The A Priori Arguments and the Possibility of Rebuttal 12. Divine Attributes and Incoherence Omniscience * Divine Freedom * Omnipotence * Conclusion 13. Atheistic Teleological Arguments Salmon 's Argument * Expansion of the Argument * The Universe as a Created Object * Conclusion 14. The Argument from Evil A Direct Inductive Argument from Evil * An Indirect Inductive Argument from Evil * Criticisms of a Probabilistic Argument from Evil * Conclusion 15. The Free Will Defense Background * The Justification in General * The Assumption of the Importance of Freedom * Free Will und Contracausal Freedom * Contracausal Freedom and Statistical Laws * Compatibilism and World Preference * Free Will and Evil * Possible Worlds and God's Ignorance * The Responsibility of God * Is the Free Will Defense Relevant to the Problem of Moral Evil? * Conclusion 16. Natural Evil Three Contemporary Attempts to Solve the Problem of Natural Evil * Conclusion 17. Soul Making Theodicy Some General Problems with the Soul Making Defense * Hick's Soul Making Theodicy Explained * Hick's Soul Making Theodicy Evaluated 18. Some Minor Theodicies The Finite God Theodicy * The Best of All Possible Worlds Theodicy * The Original Sin Theodicy * The Ultimate Harmony Theodicy * The Degree of Desirability of a Conscious State Theodicy * The Reincarnation Theodicy * The Contrast Theodicy * The Warning Theodicy * Conclusion Conclusion Appendix: Atheism Defined and Contrasted Atheism Defined * Atheism Distinguished and Contrasted * Conclusion Notes Index