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The Cambridge Companion to Atheism

Michael Martin, ed. (Cambridge University Press: Oct 30, 2006), 352 pages.

In this volume, eighteen of the world’s leading scholars present original essays on various aspects of atheism: its history, both ancient and modern, defense and implications. The topic is examined in terms of its implications for a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, religion, feminism, postmodernism, sociology and psychology. In its defense, both classical and contemporary theistic arguments are criticized, and, the argument from evil, and impossibility arguments, along with a non religious basis for morality are defended. These essays give a broad understanding of atheism and a lucid introduction to this controversial topic. Michael Martin is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Boston University. He is the author of over 150 articles and reviews as well as several books including Atheism, Morality and Meaning, The Impossibilty of God with Ricki Monnier, and Atheism: A Philosophical Justification ~ Publisher’s Description

Table of Contents

  • Part I. Background:
    • 1. Atheism in antiquity by Jan Bremmer
    • 2. Atheism in modern history by Gavin Hyman
    • 3. Atheism: contemporary rates and contemporary patterns by Phil Zuckerman
  • Part II. The Case Against Theism:
    • 4. Theistic critiques of atheism by William Lane Craig
    • 5. The failure of classical theistic arguments Richard Gale
    • 6. Some contemporary theistic arguments by Keith Parsons
    • 7. Naturalism and physicalism by Evans Fales
    • 8. Atheism and evolution by Daniel Dennett
    • 9. The autonomy of ethics by David Brink
    • 10. The argument from evil by Andrea Weisberger
    • 11. Kalam Cosmological argument for atheism by Quentin Smith
    • 12. Impossibility arguments by Patrick Grim
  • III. Implications:
    • 13. Atheism and religion by Michael Martin
    • 14. Feminism and atheism by Christine Overall
    • 15. Atheism and the freedom of religion by Steven Gey
    • 16. Atheism, a theology and the postmodern condition by John Caputo
    • 17. Anthropological theories of religion by Stewart Guthrie
    • 18. Atheists: a psychological profile by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi