Antitheism
| Part of a series on |
| Irreligion |
|---|
Antitheism, also spelled anti-theism, is the philosophical position that theism should be opposed.[1][2] The term has had a range of applications. In secular contexts, it typically refers to direct opposition to the belief in any deity.
Etymology
[edit]The word antitheism (or hyphenated anti-theism) has been recorded in English since 1788.[3] The etymological roots of the word are the Greek anti and theos.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines antitheist as "One opposed to belief in the existence of a god". The earliest citation given for this meaning dates from 1833.[4][2] The term was likely coined by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.[5]
Opposition to theism
[edit]Antitheism has been adopted as a label by those who regard theism as dangerous, destructive, or encouraging of harmful behavior. Christopher Hitchens (2001)[6] wrote:
I'm not even an atheist so much as I am an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful.[6]
Opposition to the idea of God
[edit]Other definitions of antitheism include that of the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain (1953), for whom it is "an active struggle against everything that reminds us of God".[7]
The definition of Robert Flint (1877), Professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh was similar. Flint's 1877 Baird Lecture was titled Anti-Theistic Theories.[8] He used "antitheism" as a very general umbrella term for all opposition to his own form of theism, which he defined as:
the "belief that the heavens and the earth and all that they contain owe their existence and continuance to the wisdom and will of a supreme, self-existent, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, and benevolent Being, who is distinct from, and independent of, what He has created."[8](p 1)
However, Flint also acknowledged that antitheism is typically understood differently from how he defines it. In particular, he notes that it has been used as a subdivision of atheism, descriptive of the view that theism has been disproven, rather than as the more general term that Flint preferred. He rejected the alternative non-theistic: not merely because of its hybrid origin and character, but also because it is far too comprehensive. The theories of physical and mental science are non-theistic, even when in no degree, directly or indirectly, antagonistic to theism.[8](p 444–445)
Other, similar terms
[edit]- Dystheism means "belief in a deity that is not benevolent".
- Misotheism, means "hatred of God".
Examples of belief systems founded on the principle of opposition to the existence of a god or gods include some forms of Atheistic Satanism and maltheism.
Different definitions of "antitheism"
[edit]Christopher New (1993)[9] proposed an altered definition of the word antitheism as part of a thought experiment. He imagines what arguments for the existence of an evil god would look like, and writes:
Antitheists, like theists, would have believed in an omnipotent, omniscient, eternal creator; but whereas theists in fact believe that the supreme being is also perfectly good, antitheists would have believed that he was perfectly evil.[9][10]
New's changed definition has reappeared in the work of W.A. Murphree.[11]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Cline, Austin. "Atheism and anti-theism: What's the difference? What is "anti-theism"?". About.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
- ^ a b "antitheism". The Free Dictionary.
- ^ "antitheism". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ "antitheism". The Shorter OED (reprint ed.). 1970. p. 78.
- ^ Noce, Augusto Del (5 January 2022). The Problem of Atheism. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. ISBN 9780228009382.
- ^ a b
Hitchens, C. (2001). "Letters to a Young Contrarian" (Book Excerpt). Archived from the original on 2009-09-15.
See also Wikipedia article Letters to a Young Contrarian - ^ Maritain, J. (1953). The Range of Reason. London, UK: Geoffrey Bles. p. 104. Archived from the original on 2013-04-07.
- ^ a b c Flint, Robert (1894) [1877]. Anti-Theistic Theories: Being the Baird Lecture for 1877 (5th ed.). London, UK: William Blackwood and Sons.
- ^ a b New, C. (June 1993). "Antitheism – a reflection". Ratio. 6 (1): 36–43. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9329.1993.tb00051.x.
- ^ Daniels, Charles B. (June 1997). "God, demon, good, evil". The Journal of Value Inquiry. 31 (2): 177–181. doi:10.1023/A:1004275010090. S2CID 169336704.
- ^ Murphree, Wallace A. (March 1997). "Natural theology: Theism or antitheism". Sophia. 36 (1): 75–83. doi:10.1007/BF02786044. S2CID 170924107.
Sources
[edit]- Barker, Dan (1993). "Evangelistic atheism: Leading believers astray". Freethought Today. Archived from the original on 2005-11-26. Retrieved 2005-11-26.
- Browne, Janet (2002). The Power of Place, Volume 2 of the Biography of Charles Darwin. Alfred Knopf
- Hitchens, Christopher (2001). Letters to a Young Contrarian (ISBN 0-465-03032-7). New York: Basic Books.
- Maritain, Jacques (1953). The Range of Reason. London: Geoffrey Bles. Electronic Text
- Note: Chapter 8, The Meaning of Contemporary Atheism (p. 103–117, Electronic Text) is reprinted from Review of Politics, Vol. 11 (3) July 1949, p. 267–280 Electronic Text. A version also appears The Listener, Vol. 43 No.1102, 9 March 1950. pp. 427–429, 432.
- Segal, David (26 October 2006). "Atheist evangelist". The Washington Post (article). p. C01.
- Witham, Larry (2003). By Design, Encounter Books
- Wolff, Gary (November 2006). "The new atheism: The church of the non-believers". Wired magazine (reprint).
- Wright, N.T. (2005). The Last Word, Harper San Francisco
- OHCHR (2024). Hatred based on religion or belief must be addressed holistically.
