Lists of atheists

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Percy Bysshe Shelley, author of The Necessity of Atheism


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This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness.

Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Atheists are persons who either affirm the nonexistence of gods^[1] or simply do not believe in a god.^[2] When defined more broadly, atheists are those without a belief in deities.^[3]^[4]

Persons listed here have either been specifically identified as an "atheist" by a reliable source, or have expressed a position that is described by the narrowest definition of atheism (that is, they have affirmed the nonexistence of gods - see Weak and strong atheism).

Excluded from these lists are persons who have denied being an atheist, or who choose a label besides atheist for themselves with regards to their position on the existence of deities (such as agnostic), even if they have been identified elsewhere as atheists. Persons who have merely expressed skepticism about the existence of deities or who have criticized religion are excluded. Such sentiments are insufficient to identify someone as an atheist.

[edit] Lists

[edit] References

^ Rowe, William L. (1998). "Atheism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward Craig. “Atheism is the position that affirms the nonexistence of God. It proposes positive disbelief rather than mere suspension of belief.”
^ Nielsen, Kai "Atheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. "...a more adequate characterization of atheism consists in the more complex claim that to be an atheist is to be someone who rejects belief in God for [reasons that depend] on how God is being conceived."
^ Eller, David (2004). Natural Atheism, p. 12.
^ religioustolerance.org's short article on Definitions of the term "Atheism" suggests that there is no consensus on the definition of the term. Simon Blackburn summarizes the situation in The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: "Atheism. Either the lack of belief in a god, or the belief that there is none." Most dictionaries (see the OneLook query for "atheism") first list one of the more narrow definitions.

[edit] See also

v • d • e Irreligion

Atheism	List of atheists · Demographics · Religion · History · State atheism · Criticism · Discrimination · Persecution · Weak and strong · Agnostic atheism · Implicit and explicit · Antitheism · Antireligion · Atheist Alliance International	Ludwig Feuerbach

Agnosticism	List of agnostics · Agnostic theism · Agnostic atheism · Weak agnosticism · Strong agnosticism · Ignosticism · Apatheism

Nontheism	Secular Humanism · Post-theism · Freethought · Secularism · Secularity · Criticism of religion · Freedom From Religion Foundation · Transtheism · Russell's teapot · Parody religion