Atheism Flashcards
6 branches of atheism
- Agnosticism
- Humanism
- Naturalism
- Secularism
- Transhumanism
- Materialism
Humanism definition (Hobson and Jennings)
Those who reject the supernatural views of Christianity and concentrate on searching for seasoned answers to issues in their lives.
The Brights
A Bright is a person who has a naturalistic worldview
A Bright’s worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements
The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview
Problems with demographics in atheism studies (Zuckerman, 2007)
Census surveys might ‘under-report’ prevalence.
Methodological problems
* Low response rates
* Non-random samples
* Adverse political / cultural climates
Census (2001)
15% not religious
Census (2011)
25% non-religious
Census (2021)
37.2% not religious
BBC (2004)
44% not religious
Norris and Ingleheart (2003)
39% not religious
Bruce (2002)
21% not religious, 8% atheist, 10% agnostic
Greenley (2003)
31% not religious, 10% atheist
Froese (2001)
32% schist or agnostic
Hayes (2000)
34% atheist or agnostic
ARIS (2008)
15% not religious
Gervais et al (2018)
26% atheist or agnostic
The religious “nones” (Vernon, 1968)
- Reject membership in formal religion
- May have mystical experiences
- Are ethical and moral
- There are subcategories
Religious independents (Hayes, 2000)
- Less likely to hold religious conviction than affiliates
- Male, non-married, young, highly educated
Jagodzinksi and Greenley (nd)
Hardcore atheists are more likely to be male
A psychological profile of atheism (Beit-Hallahmi)
- Male
- Intellectual orientation
- Distant relations to parents
- Avoidant attachment style
- Liberal and tolerant
- No clear evidence of deficits in mental health
- No clear evidence of immorality and crime
Exploring Atheist Personality (Caldwell-Harris et al, 2011)
- No difference to Buddhist’s and Christians on measures of well-being and empathy.
- Differed on magical ideation and spirituality.
- But Atheists experience awe and joy in the presence of “nature”, “art/music” and “human cooperation”.
Gervais et al (2011)
Distrust is central to anti-atheist prejudice
J.Brown-Januzzi et al (2018)
Mental images of theists are associated with more positive attributes
The psychology of non-believers (Uzarevice and Coleman III, 2021)
Not just a lack of belief.
Accompanied by scientific and liberal worldviews (at least in the West)
Analytical and open-minded disposition
Positive aspects of ideological thinking; Well-being
Negative aspects: outgroup prejudice
Both highly religious and highly non-religious people report high wellbeing
Explanations of Atheism
- Naturalness of Religion and Unnaturalness of Science (McCauley, 2000)
- Barrett (2004): Atheism thrives under certain, narrow environmental conditions (only really industrial societies).
- Saler and Ziegler (2006): Atheism and the Apotheosis (the process of becoming a God) of Agency
Origin of Disbelief ((Norenzayan and Gervais, 2011)
4 types:
1. Mind-blind
2. Apatheism
3. InCREDulous atheism
4. Analytic atheism
Mind-blind atheism
Generated to lack of theory of mind
Apatheism
certain environmental circumstances, no religious enforcement
InCREDulous atheism
people not receiving cultural inputs that encourage the belief that any god(s) are potent or relevant
Analytic atheism
over reliance on type 2 processing, over-riding acceptance of religious beliefs
Rosenkranz (2009)
Measures in how far an individual agrees with an atheistic or theistic worldview.
It can discriminate between atheists, agnostics, mild and strong religious believers – a low score means an Atheist and a high score means a theist.
Two types of Theory of Mind
- Empathising (EQ): the drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts and to respond to these with an appropriate emotions
- Systemising (SQ): the drive to analyse the variables in a system, to derive the underlying rules that govern the behaviour of a system
Existentialism and Theory of Mind
Low existentialism predicts systemising theory of mind
Gender differences and Theory of Mind Types
Female brain has higher empathising theory of mind than systemising theory of mind. Male brain has the inverse
Empathising Theory of Mind (EQ)
The drive to identify another person’s emotions and thoughts and to respond to these with an appropriate emotions
Systemising Theory of Mind
The drive to analyse the variables in a system, to derive the underlying rules that govern the behaviour of a system
Norenzayan, Gervais and Trzesniweski (2012)
- Positive correlation between autism and belief in God
- Positive Correlation between gender and belief in God
- Positive correction between empathy and belief in God
