The Worldview of Atheism

If a Christian is to defend truth against atheism, he needs to know what atheism is. The term itself simply means a lack of belief in God. But we need a little more than that. Atheists, especially in our time and place, fall into recognizable patterns of thinking about certain issues. What are these patterns of thinking?

To understand atheistic philosophy, we need to understand what the three main branches of philosophy are. The first main branch of philosophy is called metaphysics. Metaphysics is the study of being or existence, what is real and what is possible. Common subjects that fall under metaphysics are God, angels, human nature, creation, evolution, and philosophy of science. 

The second main branch of philosophy is called epistemology. Epistemology is the study of knowledge, what we know and how we know certain things. Common subjects that fall under epistemology are belief, certainty, doubt, faith, reason, and sense perception. 

The third main branch of philosophy is called ethics. Ethics is the study of value, what is right and wrong, and what is good and evil. Common subjects that fall under ethics are friendship, justice, law, marriage, politics, and war. 

Many, if not most, atheists have predictable approaches in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. 

The most common atheistic metaphysic is naturalism or materialism. Atheists commonly believe that matter, or physical nature, is all that exists. Charles Hodge says that “materialism … ignores the distinction between matter and mind, and refers all the phenomena of the world, whether physical, vital, or mental, to the functions of matter” (Hodge, p. 246).

Perhaps the main culprit, when it comes to modern naturalism, is Charles Darwin. Darwin was an English 19th century scientist and author of On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man. He is one of the most influential proponents of the theory that life came about through random mutation and natural selection, without any intelligent mind or divine being involved in the process whatsoever. Frederick Copleston says that “while [Darwin] could not look on the universe as a product of blind chance, he could see no evidence of design, still less of beneficent design, when he came to consider the details of natural history” (Copleston, Volume VIII, p. 103).

Another prominent proponent of naturalism is Thomas Huxley, one of the first Darwinists. Huxley argued that consciousness was simply a function of the brain (Copleston, Volume VIII, p. 106). In other words, once matter in the brain is organized in a certain way, consciousness arises. For Huxley, “all known effects are ascribed to material causes. Spirit is declared to have only imaginary existence” (Hodge, p. 272).

The most common atheistic epistemology is positivism. Positivism claims that only what can be observed and verified by the senses is true, genuine knowledge. All knowledge is based on sense-experience. The name “positivism” comes from the fact that positivists restricted genuine knowledge to so-called “positive” sciences such as physics, chemistry, and biology. Hodge describes the Positive Philosophy this way: “There is no mind distinct from matter; no such thing as efficiency; no causes, whether first or final; no God; no future state of existence for man. Theology and psychology are, therefore, banished from the domain of science” (Hodge, p. 254).

The founder of positivism is Auguste Comte. Comte was a French 19th century philosopher and author of Course of Positive Philosophy, System of Positive Policy, and Positivist Catechism. For Comte, “only what can stand up to empirical testing can count as knowledge” (Copleston, Volume IX, p. 77). In positivism, “the search for absolutes is abandoned. Even if there are ultimate causes, we cannot know them. What we know are phenomena. Hence the mind which appreciates the nature and function of positive knowledge will not waste time in profitless theological and metaphysical speculation” (Copleston, Volume IX, p. 80).

Hodge argues that Comte’s philosophy is based on a denial of self-evident intuitive truths. For Hodge, we intuitively recognize that we are free agents, that there is a specific, essential difference between right and wrong, that every effect has an efficient cause, that we are responsible to God, and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Hodge, pp. 259, 260). But, of course, Comte denies all of these. 

It’s important to note that, technically speaking, positivism doesn’t prescribe theism or atheism. However, since the existence of God cannot be empirically tested, we cannot come to any certain knowledge of his existence. So, practically speaking, atheism is the result. 

Other thinkers who show elements of positivist thinking include Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, John Tyndall, and Bertrand Russell. 

• According to Hobbes, “theology, if offered as a science or coherent body of true propositions, is absurd and irrational” (Copleston, Volume V, p. 6). 

• For Hume, “in the long run, the world is an inscrutable mystery, and we cannot have any certain knowledge of ultimate causes” (Copleston, Volume V, p. 310).

• Tyndall argued that “as far as knowledge is concerned, science is omnicompetent. Problems which cannot be answered by science are unanswerable in principle” (Copleston, Volume VIII, p. 109).

• Russell maintained that “science … is the only source of what can reasonably be called definite knowledge” (Copleston, Volume VIII, p. 489).

The most common atheistic ethic is consequentialism or utilitarianism. The definition of these terms is largely contained in the words themselves. A consequentialist focuses most on the consequences of certain actions to determine whether those actions are right or wrong. A utilitarian focuses on the utility or usefulness of certain actions to determine whether those actions are right or wrong. There are slight differences in the meanings of consequentialism and utilitarianism, but both affirm that the key to moral judgments is ascertaining the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It should be noted that while many atheists are consequentialists, there are many consequentialists who are theists, including the founder of consequentialism, Jeremy Bentham.

Bentham was an English 18th and 19th century philosopher. He authored An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Bentham assumed “that every human being seeks by nature to attain pleasure and avoid pain” (Copleston, Volume VIII, p. 8). An action is right if it increases the sum total of pleasure; an action is wrong if it increases the sum total of pain. This is called the principle of utility (p. 9). Bentham also believed that even those who weren’t utilitarians tacitly appealed to the principle of utility in their ethical judgments. 

Consequentialism has seen wide influence. One of its main proponents is John Stuart Mill. Mill argues “that happiness is not merely a good but the good: it is the one ultimate end which all desire and seek” (p. 29). However, one problem Mill recognized with Benthamism was that it only considered pleasure to be a good. Thus, Benthamism is incapable of saying that certain pleasures are better or worse than others. Some standard other than pleasure is needed to make that claim. Put another way, “it makes little sense to say that the pleasure of listening to Beethoven is qualitatively superior to the pleasure of smoking opium, unless we take into account considerations other than that of pleasure itself” (p. 30).

The Founding Fathers often show a consequentialist strain:

• Benjamin Franklin argued that ethics should be given a utilitarian instead of a theological basis, since Scripture had no weight for him. “Virtues such as temperance and diligence are justified by their utility” (Copleston, Volume VIII, p. 258).

• Thomas Jefferson firmly believed in a moral sense, and that this moral sense was based on the principle of utility. For him, “nature has constituted utility to man the standard and best of virtue” (Jefferson, pp. 27, 28).

• John Adams maintained “that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. From this principle it will follow, that the form of government, which communicates ease, comfort, security, or in one word happiness to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best” (J Adams, p. 173).

• Samuel Adams compares our moral judgments to God’s: “The Author of Nature directs all his operations to the production of the greatest good, and has made human virtue to consist in a disposition and conduct which tends to the common felicity of his creatures” (S Adams, p. 117).

What are the consequences of naturalism, positivism, and consequentialism for the Christian faith? In sum, naturalism entails that God, the angelic realm, and the human soul do not and cannot exist. Positivism entails that God cannot be known. Consequentialism entails that human values determine our purpose and that human beings are competent enough to guide the future with their moral actions.

References

Adams, John (“Thoughts on Government”); Adams, Samuel (“American Independence”). The Constitution of the United States of America and Selected Writings of the Founding Fathers. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble (2012).

Copleston, Frederick. A History of Philosophy: Volumes V, VIII, IX. Westminster, MD: The Newman Press (1959, 1966, 1974).

Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology: Volume I. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers (2020).

Jefferson, Thomas. Democracy. Birmingham, AL: Palladium Press (2002).