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Adapted from the author's textbook The Atheist's Creed, this is a comprehensive guide to the philosophical arguments for atheism for the general reader.
Arguing that a 'new atheism', driven largely by Darwinian objections to God's existence, has limited debate to a scientific framework, The Atheist's Primer reinstates the importance of philosophy in the debate about God's existence and in so doing recovers the distinguished philosophical tradition of atheism, which Dawkins and others have obscured.
Beginning with the Ancient Greeks and culminating with Hume, Michael Palmer provides the philosophical framework on which scientific objections to theism are hung. He explicates and comments on the thinking behind atheism, discussing issues such as evil, morality, miracles, and the motivations for belief. Although delving deeply into epistemological concerns, emphasising the disheartening limitations of man's capacity for knowledge and our materialist dependencies, Palmer concludes on a positive note arguing - alongside Nietzsche, Marx and Freud and many others - that happiness and personal fulfilment are to be found in the very materialism that religious belief rejects.
An eloquent abridgment of his previous work, The Atheist's Creed, which was aimed at the educational market, The Atheist's Primer is written in fluent and concise prose, making it an accessible introduction for the general reader.
Arguing that a 'new atheism', driven largely by Darwinian objections to God's existence, has limited debate to a scientific framework, The Atheist's Primer reinstates the importance of philosophy in the debate about God's existence and in so doing recovers the distinguished philosophical tradition of atheism, which Dawkins and others have obscured.
Beginning with the Ancient Greeks and culminating with Hume, Michael Palmer provides the philosophical framework on which scientific objections to theism are hung. He explicates and comments on the thinking behind atheism, discussing issues such as evil, morality, miracles, and the motivations for belief. Although delving deeply into epistemological concerns, emphasising the disheartening limitations of man's capacity for knowledge and our materialist dependencies, Palmer concludes on a positive note arguing - alongside Nietzsche, Marx and Freud and many others - that happiness and personal fulfilment are to be found in the very materialism that religious belief rejects.
An eloquent abridgment of his previous work, The Atheist's Creed, which was aimed at the educational market, The Atheist's Primer is written in fluent and concise prose, making it an accessible introduction for the general reader.
Price: $29.99
Pages: 170
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Lutterworth Press
Publication Date:
08 October 2012
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9780718892975
Format: Paperback
Palmer appropriately returns us to the classical philosophical atheistic challenges against theism. His work is beyond praise and I believe greatly needed in time when New Atheism is in danger of eliminating the thrust of classical atheism, which squarely and fairly focused on arguments for and against existence of God. [...] I would recommend The Atheist's Primer to all Christians and atheists who love pondering the case for and against existence of God and are worn-out by New-Atheism's shortage of philosophical engagement in this most important subject.
— Daniel Prayson in With All I Am, 25th October 2012
This primer is an elegant subject guide for entry-level infidels. Perhaps it has been pitched to an age group who should already have divested themselves of imaginary friends, but it still constitutes a utile grounding in, and overview of, the thinking, constructive and destructive, of freethinkers throughout Western history.
— Daniel Binney
Hurray for Michael Palmer! The Atheist's Primer is one of the best introductions to Atheism available. Well written and the many pictures of famous philosophers add to its charm - the only introduction to Atheism that I know of that has this!
— Dr Michael Martin, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Boston University, October 2012
In his concise, comprehensive and accessible grand tour d'horizon of atheistical arguments, he surveys the philosophical approach that started 2,500 years ago, in the extraordinary explosion of critical thought in 5th-century BC Athens. [...] Michael Palmer has written not only an elegant summary of 2,500 years of thinking-about-God, but a genuine Primer, locked and loaded for argument, which doubles as a reminder of our intellectual limitations. The arguments it offers are less overweening than the barrage of scientific facts we tend to rely on.
— Michael Bywater
— Daniel Prayson in With All I Am, 25th October 2012
This primer is an elegant subject guide for entry-level infidels. Perhaps it has been pitched to an age group who should already have divested themselves of imaginary friends, but it still constitutes a utile grounding in, and overview of, the thinking, constructive and destructive, of freethinkers throughout Western history.
— Daniel Binney
Hurray for Michael Palmer! The Atheist's Primer is one of the best introductions to Atheism available. Well written and the many pictures of famous philosophers add to its charm - the only introduction to Atheism that I know of that has this!
— Dr Michael Martin, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Boston University, October 2012
In his concise, comprehensive and accessible grand tour d'horizon of atheistical arguments, he surveys the philosophical approach that started 2,500 years ago, in the extraordinary explosion of critical thought in 5th-century BC Athens. [...] Michael Palmer has written not only an elegant summary of 2,500 years of thinking-about-God, but a genuine Primer, locked and loaded for argument, which doubles as a reminder of our intellectual limitations. The arguments it offers are less overweening than the barrage of scientific facts we tend to rely on.
— Michael Bywater
Chapter One: The Meaning of Atheism
1. Atheism: A Definition
2. Atheism and Agnosticism
3. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Two: The Origins of Atheism
1. The Age of the Sophists
2. Epicureans & Sceptics
3. The Christian Era and the Re-emergence of religious doubt.
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Three: Two Arguments for God's Existence: An Atheistic Critique
1. Introduction
2. The Arguments from Cause and Design
3. The Atheistic Critique
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Four: The Problem of Evil
1. Introduction
2. The Logical (or Deductive) Argument from Evil
3. The Evidential (or Inductive) Argument from Evil
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Five: Morality and Religion
1. Introduction
2. Criticisms of the Moral Argument
3. Life After Death and Morality
4. Nietzsche's Critique of Religious Morality
5. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Six: Miracles
1. The Meaning of 'Miracle'
2. The Critique of Miracles: Their Impossibility
3. The Critique of Miracles: Their Improbability
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Seven: The Motivations of Belief
1. Introduction
2. The Impulse to Believe
1. Atheism: A Definition
2. Atheism and Agnosticism
3. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Two: The Origins of Atheism
1. The Age of the Sophists
2. Epicureans & Sceptics
3. The Christian Era and the Re-emergence of religious doubt.
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Three: Two Arguments for God's Existence: An Atheistic Critique
1. Introduction
2. The Arguments from Cause and Design
3. The Atheistic Critique
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Four: The Problem of Evil
1. Introduction
2. The Logical (or Deductive) Argument from Evil
3. The Evidential (or Inductive) Argument from Evil
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Five: Morality and Religion
1. Introduction
2. Criticisms of the Moral Argument
3. Life After Death and Morality
4. Nietzsche's Critique of Religious Morality
5. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Six: Miracles
1. The Meaning of 'Miracle'
2. The Critique of Miracles: Their Impossibility
3. The Critique of Miracles: Their Improbability
4. Guide to Further Reading
Chapter Seven: The Motivations of Belief
1. Introduction
2. The Impulse to Believe