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Natural Atheism
NATURAL ATHEISM contains an introduction explaining "What is Atheism?" plus 12 chapters and a bibliography.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
About the author
Jack David Eller
29 books11 followersProf. David Eller is a cultural anthropologist who has conducted field research among Aboriginal societies in Australia and now teaches anthropology in Denver, Colorado. His recent college textbook Introducing Anthropology of Religion is being hailed as the most significant introduction to the scientific study of religion in a decade. His previous AAP book Natural Atheism showed him to be as good a philosopher as scientist. Now we see he is equally skilled as a linguist and semanticist and can show that for knowledgeable atheists "atheism" means more than the absence of god-beliefs: it is the absence (indeed the rejection) of belief altogether.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 13, 2011
Natural Atheism by David Eller
"Natural Atheism" is a thought-provoking, and inspiring book about atheism. Anthropologist and accomplished author David Eller provides the reader with an intellectual treat about one's natural-born atheism. This insightful 352-page book is broken out into the following twelve chapters: 1. Twelve Steps to Atheism, 2. Thinking About Thinking - A Short Course on Reason, 3. Proofs and Principles -- Unreason, Religion, and Relativism, 4. Anthropology and Freethought -- The Loss of Certainty, 5. Knowing Is Not Believing, 6. Positive Atheism, Negative Atheism, and Agnosticism, 7. on Science and Religion, 8. Toleration and Truth, 9. Separation of State and Churches -- The Best Protection of Everyone's Freedoms, 10. spreading the Unfaith -- Atheism As Good News, 11. Fundamentalism and the Fight for the Future, and 12. Living in the Disenchanted World -- Toward an Atheism of the Future.
Positives:
1. An excellent, well-written, book that was a treat to read.
2. Thought-provoking, a lot of intellectual gems.
3. Thoughts with convictions, Mr. Eller made his points clear and did so with passion.
4. Does a wonderful job of defining terms.
5. Twelve Steps to recover one's natural atheism.
6. Classical logical arguments for gods debunked: cosmological, ontological, and teleological. Also, a number of other interesting claims debunked too.
7. Sound reasoning and logic exemplified throughout book.
8. What reason is. A very thorough explanation.
9. Principles of logic explained and uses many great religious arguments to help illustrate.
10. How to use sound reasoning to argue against theists.
11. Cultural relativism, I finally get it!
12. Anthropology defined. Good stuff!
13. Great wisdom, "To advocate that a belief be accepted without reason is to advocate that a belief be accepted without thought and without verification."
14. The best explanation for faith.
15. Knowledge and certainty. Excellent descriptions. "Perhaps knowledge is inherently uncertain while belief is inherently certain...and therein lies all the difference."
16. Religious knowledge...I loved Mr. Eller's thoughts on this, very persuasive.
17. Uses Michael Shermer's basic models on the matter of science and religion: same worlds, separate worlds, and conflicting worlds.
18. Great insight on religion from many classic apologists. Tertullian's views are eye-opening and not in a good way.
19. Defining science and why science is indifferent to religion.
20. There are fascinating gems in this book, "In some Plains Indian societies in the western United States, people recognized not two but three genders --a male, a female, and a 'two-spirit' or third gender commonly referred to as a berdache for men who were inclined to perform some of the roles of women. Berdache were not "tolerated" but welcomed and valued in society, often holding respected positions in society as teachers or similar roles."
21. "There is no world-religious source that includes toleration as one of its values". Had to share.
22. The history of toleration, fantastic!
23. A great chapter on Separation of State and Churches...worth the price of the book.
24. Thomas Jefferson an American icon.
25. Atheism...spread the word. Promoting positive atheism.
26. A great explanation of the terms: evangelization and proselytization.
27. So what is our good news as atheists? Inspirational.
28. The interesting history of fundamentalism.
29. Atheist morality.
30. Good bibliography.
Negatives:
1. I would have preferred an electronic version of this book for references purpose. This book has so much value
2. Obviously some chapters are better than others. For instance, the sections on different atheisms didn't appeal to me as much as the rest of the book.
3. No index...once again, electronic version would be appreciated. Kindle me!
4. It's a serious book, perhaps a little humor would have added spice to an otherwise excellent book.
In summary, “Natural Atheism”, is an excellent book. It's a thought-provoking and erudite book that will satisfy the atheist community. Mr. Eller covers a lot of topics of interest to atheists and provides valuable information. His sound reasoning and logic of thought is appreciated and I look forward to more books from him. Well done! I highly recommend this book.
Further recommendations beyond: "Cruel Creeds..." by the same author, "Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism" by Susan Jacoby, "The New Atheism..." by Victor J. Stenger, "50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God" by Guy P. Harrison, "The Cambridge Companion to Atheism" by Michael Martin, "Decoding the Language of God" by George C. Cunningham, Atheism Explained" by David Ramsay, "Society Without God" by Phil Zuckerman, "Atheist Universe" by David Mills, "Godless" by Dan Barker, "Why I became an Atheist" by John Loftus, "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens, "The Invention of God": Bill Lauritzen, "Christian No More" by Jeffrey Mark, "Moral Combat" by Sikivu Hutchinson, "Atheism: The Case Against God" by George H. Smith, and "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.
"Natural Atheism" is a thought-provoking, and inspiring book about atheism. Anthropologist and accomplished author David Eller provides the reader with an intellectual treat about one's natural-born atheism. This insightful 352-page book is broken out into the following twelve chapters: 1. Twelve Steps to Atheism, 2. Thinking About Thinking - A Short Course on Reason, 3. Proofs and Principles -- Unreason, Religion, and Relativism, 4. Anthropology and Freethought -- The Loss of Certainty, 5. Knowing Is Not Believing, 6. Positive Atheism, Negative Atheism, and Agnosticism, 7. on Science and Religion, 8. Toleration and Truth, 9. Separation of State and Churches -- The Best Protection of Everyone's Freedoms, 10. spreading the Unfaith -- Atheism As Good News, 11. Fundamentalism and the Fight for the Future, and 12. Living in the Disenchanted World -- Toward an Atheism of the Future.
Positives:
1. An excellent, well-written, book that was a treat to read.
2. Thought-provoking, a lot of intellectual gems.
3. Thoughts with convictions, Mr. Eller made his points clear and did so with passion.
4. Does a wonderful job of defining terms.
5. Twelve Steps to recover one's natural atheism.
6. Classical logical arguments for gods debunked: cosmological, ontological, and teleological. Also, a number of other interesting claims debunked too.
7. Sound reasoning and logic exemplified throughout book.
8. What reason is. A very thorough explanation.
9. Principles of logic explained and uses many great religious arguments to help illustrate.
10. How to use sound reasoning to argue against theists.
11. Cultural relativism, I finally get it!
12. Anthropology defined. Good stuff!
13. Great wisdom, "To advocate that a belief be accepted without reason is to advocate that a belief be accepted without thought and without verification."
14. The best explanation for faith.
15. Knowledge and certainty. Excellent descriptions. "Perhaps knowledge is inherently uncertain while belief is inherently certain...and therein lies all the difference."
16. Religious knowledge...I loved Mr. Eller's thoughts on this, very persuasive.
17. Uses Michael Shermer's basic models on the matter of science and religion: same worlds, separate worlds, and conflicting worlds.
18. Great insight on religion from many classic apologists. Tertullian's views are eye-opening and not in a good way.
19. Defining science and why science is indifferent to religion.
20. There are fascinating gems in this book, "In some Plains Indian societies in the western United States, people recognized not two but three genders --a male, a female, and a 'two-spirit' or third gender commonly referred to as a berdache for men who were inclined to perform some of the roles of women. Berdache were not "tolerated" but welcomed and valued in society, often holding respected positions in society as teachers or similar roles."
21. "There is no world-religious source that includes toleration as one of its values". Had to share.
22. The history of toleration, fantastic!
23. A great chapter on Separation of State and Churches...worth the price of the book.
24. Thomas Jefferson an American icon.
25. Atheism...spread the word. Promoting positive atheism.
26. A great explanation of the terms: evangelization and proselytization.
27. So what is our good news as atheists? Inspirational.
28. The interesting history of fundamentalism.
29. Atheist morality.
30. Good bibliography.
Negatives:
1. I would have preferred an electronic version of this book for references purpose. This book has so much value
2. Obviously some chapters are better than others. For instance, the sections on different atheisms didn't appeal to me as much as the rest of the book.
3. No index...once again, electronic version would be appreciated. Kindle me!
4. It's a serious book, perhaps a little humor would have added spice to an otherwise excellent book.
In summary, “Natural Atheism”, is an excellent book. It's a thought-provoking and erudite book that will satisfy the atheist community. Mr. Eller covers a lot of topics of interest to atheists and provides valuable information. His sound reasoning and logic of thought is appreciated and I look forward to more books from him. Well done! I highly recommend this book.
Further recommendations beyond: "Cruel Creeds..." by the same author, "Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism" by Susan Jacoby, "The New Atheism..." by Victor J. Stenger, "50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God" by Guy P. Harrison, "The Cambridge Companion to Atheism" by Michael Martin, "Decoding the Language of God" by George C. Cunningham, Atheism Explained" by David Ramsay, "Society Without God" by Phil Zuckerman, "Atheist Universe" by David Mills, "Godless" by Dan Barker, "Why I became an Atheist" by John Loftus, "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens, "The Invention of God": Bill Lauritzen, "Christian No More" by Jeffrey Mark, "Moral Combat" by Sikivu Hutchinson, "Atheism: The Case Against God" by George H. Smith, and "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins.
August 14, 2024
AN EXPOSITION OF ATHEISM AS A "BORN" CONDITION
David Eller is a cultural anthropologist, and has also written 'Atheism Advanced: Further Thoughts of a Freethinker.' He wrote in the Introduction to this 2004 book, "I was born an Atheist. All humans are born Atheists. No baby born into the world arrives with specific religious beliefs or knowledge... I was not compelled to attend or practice any particular religion, and as I grew up I never saw any reason to 'convert' to any particular religion. I have thus been an Atheist all my life. I am a natural Atheist." (Pg. 11)
He explains, "Atheism is the lack of belief in any god(s). Not just the lack of belief in the Christians' god; this is the 'dominant god' or 'majority god' in the American scene, but it is not the first or only god that has been claimed by a group of believers." (Pg. 12-13) Later, he asserts, "If Agnosticism is the method pertaining to religious knowledge, then the only valid conclusion from that method is Atheism." (Pg. 170)
He argues, "it is not that a belief cannot be based on reason or faith interchangeably but that a belief cannot be based on reason at all. Reason leads to conclusions and to knowledge, not to belief. Therefore I will be taking and defending the position... that knowledge is not 'true belief' or 'true justified belief" or any kind of belief at all but that knowledge is about reason and that belief is about faith, and the two are logically and psychologically utterly different and even incompatible." (Pg. 133)
He contends that "religion is not an 'alternate' way of knowing. Religion is not a way of knowing at all. Of course, one can have 'religious knowledge,' but such 'knowledge' is self-referential... It is knowing about the religion, not knowing about the world." (Pg. 198)
He admits, "the truth is that we Atheists could not be segregated if we wanted to. All of us must and do associate with Theists every day. Why, some of my best friends are Theists!" (Pg. 281) He observes, "The biggest obstacle to Atheist activism is the low degree of Atheist mobilization in this country. If we really are even as little as 2% of the population, that amounts to 5.5 million... we should still have over 100,000 members of Atheist organizations, which we do not." (Pg. 285)
He concedes, "We do not seek to make everyone an Atheist but rather a THINKER. I would probably go so far as to say that you cannot, with any regularity, turn people into Atheists. You can, however, turn them into thinkers." (Pg. 290) He concludes, "Atheism as a LIFESTYLE, as a THOUGHT SYSTEM, is therefore incomplete... Atheism has never claimed or attempted to be a whole way of life, a complete prescription for living. That is the grandiose claim of religion." (Pg. 341)
This book explains the implications of Atheism, more than presenting rational arguments defending it. It will be of considerable interest for anyone studying Atheism.
David Eller is a cultural anthropologist, and has also written 'Atheism Advanced: Further Thoughts of a Freethinker.' He wrote in the Introduction to this 2004 book, "I was born an Atheist. All humans are born Atheists. No baby born into the world arrives with specific religious beliefs or knowledge... I was not compelled to attend or practice any particular religion, and as I grew up I never saw any reason to 'convert' to any particular religion. I have thus been an Atheist all my life. I am a natural Atheist." (Pg. 11)
He explains, "Atheism is the lack of belief in any god(s). Not just the lack of belief in the Christians' god; this is the 'dominant god' or 'majority god' in the American scene, but it is not the first or only god that has been claimed by a group of believers." (Pg. 12-13) Later, he asserts, "If Agnosticism is the method pertaining to religious knowledge, then the only valid conclusion from that method is Atheism." (Pg. 170)
He argues, "it is not that a belief cannot be based on reason or faith interchangeably but that a belief cannot be based on reason at all. Reason leads to conclusions and to knowledge, not to belief. Therefore I will be taking and defending the position... that knowledge is not 'true belief' or 'true justified belief" or any kind of belief at all but that knowledge is about reason and that belief is about faith, and the two are logically and psychologically utterly different and even incompatible." (Pg. 133)
He contends that "religion is not an 'alternate' way of knowing. Religion is not a way of knowing at all. Of course, one can have 'religious knowledge,' but such 'knowledge' is self-referential... It is knowing about the religion, not knowing about the world." (Pg. 198)
He admits, "the truth is that we Atheists could not be segregated if we wanted to. All of us must and do associate with Theists every day. Why, some of my best friends are Theists!" (Pg. 281) He observes, "The biggest obstacle to Atheist activism is the low degree of Atheist mobilization in this country. If we really are even as little as 2% of the population, that amounts to 5.5 million... we should still have over 100,000 members of Atheist organizations, which we do not." (Pg. 285)
He concedes, "We do not seek to make everyone an Atheist but rather a THINKER. I would probably go so far as to say that you cannot, with any regularity, turn people into Atheists. You can, however, turn them into thinkers." (Pg. 290) He concludes, "Atheism as a LIFESTYLE, as a THOUGHT SYSTEM, is therefore incomplete... Atheism has never claimed or attempted to be a whole way of life, a complete prescription for living. That is the grandiose claim of religion." (Pg. 341)
This book explains the implications of Atheism, more than presenting rational arguments defending it. It will be of considerable interest for anyone studying Atheism.
April 15, 2024
Okay... I admit that even though I gave this book 5 stars, there will be many people who either just do not like the book or even absolutely hate it. Well, that's their problem. I have had the book for years, but I kept putting off reading it as the title and cover made me concerned that it would be a bit too new-agey, with a finding-god-in-nature tint. Nope, that is just unfortunate marketing – the cover does not fit at all, IM(not-so-)HO. This book is the CLOSEST to a detailed, complete description of my own personal views of humanity's place in the universe that I have read. NatAth is a great introduction to the philosophical underpinning of viewing life through the eyes of an atheist. Sure, there are a couple of details and definitions in Eller's writing that I might describe a tad differently, but that mere detail. If you are at all "questioning" of popular mores, this is a good book for exploring those questions. Well written and very thorough.
November 24, 2009
Makes a pretty good argument that worship is in itself immoral. The primary argument is that all people are naturally atheists and must be made to be religious.
October 8, 2012
Well written and powerfully presented arguments for atheism (read 8/31/08).
December 8, 2012
For a fast reader like me it was a long slog. I'd have preferred a plain language version although I know that might not be possible.
February 23, 2013
This was one of the best books on atheism I've read in years! Very straightforward and logically written. This would be an excellent first book to read for somebody new to atheism.
July 1, 2010
A very deep and thoughtful book. got to read this again someday.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews