Varieties of Atheism: Connecting Religion and Its Critics

"The conversation around atheism is still dominated by the strident and combative voices of figures like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and the now-deceased Christopher Hitchens. In bestselling books, prominent columns, and widely viewed lectures, these commentators have claimed that religion is irrational, unscientific, morally corrosive, and something that must be actively opposed. Those who have tried to defend religion against these criticisms have tended to reproduce the idea that religion and atheism are competing theories about belief in divine beings. But defining atheism narrowly in terms of belief makes it into an abstraction that misrepresents atheism as it actually exists. There are other ways to imagine atheism, and The Varieties of Atheism performs that imaginative work. This collection offers an expansive account of atheism's diversity, exploring what it has meant in the past and what it can mean in the future. The essays highlight the contingency and ambivalence of basic categories like "atheism" and "religion," which are marked by the history of post-Enlightenment debates over Judaism and Christianity. The essays in this collection trace key themes and figures in these debates in conversation with early modern philosophy, medieval theology, and contemporary theory. By clarifying the complex lines of affinity and tension between particular atheists and particular religious traditions, The Varieties of Atheism opens new avenues for the study of secularity"--
Thoughtful essays to revive dialogue about atheism beyond belief.  The Varieties of Atheism reveals the diverse nonreligious experiences obscured by the combative intellectualism of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens. In fact, contributors contend that narrowly defining atheism as the belief that there is no god misunderstands religious and nonreligious persons altogether. The essays show that, just as religion exceeds doctrine, atheism also encompasses every dimension of human life: from imagination and feeling to community and ethics. Contributors offer new, expansive perspectives on atheism’s diverse history and possible futures. By recovering lines of affinity and tension between particular atheists and particular religious traditions, this book paves the way for fruitful conversation between religious and non-religious people in our secular age.