A Faith Built on Awe

Reframing atheism as a set of positive beliefs, I describe a way of living in the world in which atheism requires faith, defined as a commitment to beliefs that are both logically and empirically not subject to proof. Faithful atheists have faith in and take spiritual nourishment from being in the p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Worldviews
Main Author: Shapiro, Kenneth (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2018
In: Worldviews
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Atheism / Faith / World view / Environmental perception / Astonishment
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AE Psychology of religion
AG Religious life; material religion
AZ New religious movements
NBD Doctrine of Creation
Further subjects:B Religion secularism atheism humanism ecology
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:Reframing atheism as a set of positive beliefs, I describe a way of living in the world in which atheism requires faith, defined as a commitment to beliefs that are both logically and empirically not subject to proof. Faithful atheists have faith in and take spiritual nourishment from being in the presence of a world which is awesome and wonderful both in that it is immediately available and that it is and will always remain at least partly opaque to understanding. They do so without positing a God or inflating the reach of reason. Their way of living is characterized by “sensational presence” (full attention to and staying with a present moment) and the courage to accept that their access and understanding whether in relation to other people, other animals, and nature more generally, is always limited. This inherent residual opacity grounds their respect and sense of mystery in each of these realms.
ISSN:1568-5357
Contains:In: Worldviews
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685357-02203103