An In-Depth Discussion on Atheism - Research Paper Example

This paper seeks to provide an in-depth discussion on atheism, with reference to Julian Baggini argument on atheism and the concept of life after death and immortality. The term atheism refers to the denial of theism, the belief of the existence of a single deity. There are many types and shades of atheism, with some atheists strongly denying the existence of God and attacking theistic claims. Yet the certainty on the non-existence is as much a belief as religion, and has foundation on similarly unproven claims. Similar to the different ranges of religious believers, atheists also range from those that the belief is a matter of philosophy to those who display militantly hostility to religion. The arguments on atheism base their foundation on science. In his book Atheism: a Very Short Introduction, Julian Baggini presents a discussion of atheists’ responses to the concept of life and deathi. His central concern is about the accusation of atheists for living a purpose-less and meaning-less life because of their lack of belief in the existence of life after death. Concepts and Terms Baggini argues that it is possible for atheist to live a purpose-full and meaning-full life. To set out his argument, he begins by considering whether the believers of life after death have similar problems in finding purpose and meaning given the religious teachings that the experience of an individual in the next life is superior. Baggini also examines the concept that only God gives the life of an individual a sense of purpose, arguing that this undermines the value that people place on their lives in earth. Consequently, humans become slaves to God because the purpose and meaning of life only comes through obeying the will of God, leaving little room for people to make their own decisions and choices. Conventional belief in the existence of life after death gives purpose and meaning in life, but Baggini feels that this particular belief undermines the value of the earthly lifeii. He argues that perceiving this life as a mere preparation for achieving better things in the next then makes this life secondary, and may prompt people to engage in horrendous acts purposely to get to the next life and enjoy the better quality of existence. The author further argues that living with the assumption that the life on earth is all there is a better motivation for people to advocate for social justice, despite the conventional belief that God will rectify those who suffered injustices in earth. Baggini argues that accepting the life on earth as the only life will encourage people to sort things out, thus gaining the interest in promoting justice and morality in the world. To him, the eternity of life is a pointless concept. He bases his conclusion on the fact that the belief in eternal life rarely motivates people to do anything, with the argument that an endless amount of time discourages any urgency to accomplish things. On the other hand, the life on earth motivates people as it has a life expectancy of around 70 years, thus individuals seek to accomplish things and maximize their time. The argument on life after death is just one of the rationales presented by atheists in the logical reasons category. Other argument categories include scientific reasons, and practical and personal reasonsiii. Brief History The debate among scholars on atheism has different definition and concepts. A portion of the scholars maintains their atheist perception, others base their arguments on theist perception, yet others reject the perceptions of the two former groups with agnostic arguments. Theist scholars believe in the existence of at least one god, while atheists do not belief on the existence of any gods that are external to human minds. In this both cases however, the arrival, reasons for belief, and what they feel, as well as a series of other factors do not matter. Theism belief in the existence of a god is sometimes difficult to understand, but the embedment in a web of religious beliefs provides a general perception of theism. In evaluating theism therefore, there are often engagement in evaluating various interconnected beliefs, assertions, and ideas. However, some argue that the belief is theism is meaningless because it does not accommodate attitudes, ideas, and beliefs beyond the preposition of the existence of a god, making its implications and meanings very limitediv. This is similar to the atheism case. The only common concept of atheist is their belief in the nonexistence of any gods. Indeed, atheists are not essentially ethical, rational, or logical. As with theism, evaluating atheism requires evaluation of their system of belief. In practice therefore, criticizing theism and atheism requires intellectual strength. The last sentiments on the religious beliefs are agnostic argumentsv. The latter is essentially a system of belief that the knowledge of the existence or nonexistence of God is not attainable, and that we cannot justify the belief in either the existence or nonexistence of God. Thesis and Argument This paper seeks to reasserts that neither theism nor atheism provides any solid evidence on the existence or nonexistence of God. Drawing from Baggini’s argument, he states that he can arrive at a justified, reasonable opinion about the direction of eth new atheism by evaluating the perceptions of others. In this regard therefore, Baggini is saying that evaluation of the beliefs of the new atheism will not be on merit but rather on the thoughts of others. The problem with the author is that he does not make any efforts to explore the degree of reasonableness and fairness in the perceptions that he uses as the foundation for his argument, thus his entire argument has flaws and should not be a serious consideration in the religious debatevi. This is because Baggini is not willing to apply the same standards of evidence and reason in other situations apart from that of atheism. In his book, Baggini cites complains about religious “attacks”, which conceptually are similar to the sort of criticism present in philosophical, scientific, cultural, and political contexts. However, the use of the term “attack” prejudices the discussion that follows concerning what is happening, thus preventing Baggini from effectively considering whether the arguments are sound, fair, or reasonable. His assertion that atheism requires the appropriate use of evidence and reason is incorrect. An atheist person (whether having a disbelief in gods or denial of gods) may be such for all the wrong reasons. Consider a person who becomes an atheist because of the teachings from their parents on atheismvii. This person is no less an atheist than Baggini. This paper presents two major arguments against theism and the atheism argument by Baggini. The first argument is that of uncertainty. This argument bases its foundation on the fact that there is no certainty as to the existence of God. According to this argument, all the arguments presented by theism and atheism are fallible, and must thus be disregarded. Nonetheless, we may accept fallible evidence as sufficient justification for majority of the belief, thus this particular argument is only persuasive given the requirement to avail better evidence in tackling religious questions. One of the viable reasons for doing this is the importance of being right about the existence of God. The second argument concerns incomprehensibilityviii. According to theists, it is difficult to comprehend God, that his being and nature transcends the human mundane. Moreover, our concepts, which result from such experiences, cannot correctly describe Him. If this argument is true, then this counts in favor of agnosticism. If humans cannot comprehend God, it then follows that we cannot have a reason with any degree of confidence about His existence. The arguments that life after death does not exist and the beliefs of atheism faces a challenge insofar as motivating suffering people is concerned. There are people born without adequate basic needs such as drinks, food, and shelter. Others are born with physical disabilities. If we draw from Baggini’s concept of the nonexistence of life after death, then these disadvantaged people become hopeless with their suffering. Atheism only provides reason why people suffer, but does not provide any formidable justification for such sufferingix. Similarly, theism provides reasons for suffering as well as some justification, but the later is not admissible based on evidence and reason. Bibliography Read More