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The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy) Paperback – 4 Jan. 2007

by Michael Martin (Editor)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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In this 2007 volume, eighteen of the world's leading scholars present original essays on various aspects of atheism: its history, both ancient and modern, defense and implications. The topic is examined in terms of its implications for a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, religion, feminism, postmodernism, sociology and psychology. In its defense, both classical and contemporary theistic arguments are criticized, and, the argument from evil, and impossibility arguments, along with a non religious basis for morality are defended. These essays give a broad understanding of atheism and a lucid introduction to this controversial topic.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0521603676
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0521603676
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Cambridge University Press
  5. Publication date
    4 Jan. 2007
  6. Part of series
    Cambridge Companions to Philosophy
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
  9. Print length
    354 pages
  10. See all details
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Product description

Review

'If we want to understand atheism, The Cambridge Companion to Atheism - a collection of essays to guide students of philosophy and theology - is a good place to start.' Church Times

Book Description

In this 2007 volume, eighteen of the world's leading scholars present original essays on various aspects of atheism.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (4 Jan. 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 354 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0521603676
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521603676
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

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Michael Martin

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
23 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

G. G. Durante
5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Collection of Academic Papers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2007
If you fancy something meatier than Dawkins or more balanced and intellectually satisfying than the numerous other tirades against God that have hit the popular market recently, this collection of essays is the perfect companion to the modern debate as conducted by philosophers and theologians.

Each contributor is perfectly placed and qualified to investigate the varieties of modern atheism, their philosophical justification and historical background. A word of warning, though: most of the essays presuppose a familiarity with some central concepts in theology and analytic philosophy and readers lacking such background knowledge may find themselves at sea in several of the more difficult papers.

Contributions which to my mind stood out were `Atheism in Modern History' by Gavin Hyman - a clear, original account which explains the contours of contemporary atheism by tracing its genesis in Enlightenment critiques; `Atheism and Religion' by Michael Martin (also editor of the collection) - a fascinating investigation of the existence of atheistic religions like Jainism and `The Argument from Evil' by Andrea M Weisberger - one of the most accessible and comprehensive summaries of current thinking on the famous argument leveled by atheists against believers.

I strongly recommend this volume of specially commissioned essays as a much-needed antidote to recent superficial monographs on the topic - it will provide sharp, analytic approaches to this most contentious and stimulating of debates.
4 people found this helpful
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lt_zippy2
3.0 out of 5 stars Good in part, Incomprehensible in others
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2007
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I looked forward to reading this book, as a committed atheist I am aways looking for ways to expand my knowledge, and more importantly the arguments for atheism and against theism. There are some excellent papers in this collection, especially Daniel Dennett's on "Atheism and Evolution", and an excellent piece on the "Argument from Evil" (the author's name escapes me for the moment).

What let me down were the papers that were obvoiusly written by academics (which they all were) but FOR academics in language which was totally incomprehensible for me as a layman (and even I consider myself al least fairly educated).

It is still a worthwhile book for the sections that are intelligble, and thanks to the format of the book it is quite easy to skip the bits that you can't understand without diluting too much the message.
8 people found this helpful
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C. Sawyer
4.0 out of 5 stars The thinking man's God Delusion
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2007
Don't get me wrong, I think Dawkins is a genius, but he's not a philosopher or a theologian. The authors whose essays grace these pages are both. All aspects of atheism are covered, starting with its history from antiquity to modern times. There then follows a defence of theism by William Lane Craig, succeeded by atheist replies and examinations of issues regarding the existence or otherwise of God. The book is rounded off by a look at the consequences of atheism and its effects of other parts of philosophy and life in general.

I would have liked to see a little more in the middle section on the actual arguments, which is why only 4 stars, but what there is is first rate. The chapters on the argument from evil and the autonomy of ethics deserve particular mentions, but they're all well worth a read.

No book will convert many people to atheism from religion, but anybody who just isn't sure should certainly read this book, as should anyone who wants to read good arguments without the hysteria and venom that has entered popular theology recently.
22 people found this helpful
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JA Foxton
3.0 out of 5 stars Know thyself
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2007
This book is made up of a collection of essays. Some of them simply give historical or statistical information on atheism. Others are very technical. I could imagine this book sitting on the bookshelves of an academic. If this book has been thrown up as a recommendation based on previous purchases, it is worth knowing what you are letting yourself in for before buying it.

However, if you want to know how Plantinga's argument from 1983 in support of theism can be combined with his later version from 2000 to 'multiply the arguments against the existence of God' then this is your book.

Similarly, you may be interested in how William Lane Craig's version of the Kalam Cosmological argument for the existence of God can be inverted as an argument for atheism. Be warned, some knowledge of mathematics will be useful - particularly a bit of Set Theory and some familiarity with half-open intervals.

The technical sections are quite difficult for someone without any philosophical training to follow but what I could understand did seem interesting. It was certainly more demanding than I had anticipated. For this reason I would suggest that philosophers can plunge straight in and purchase it and that others should exercise greater caution.
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Top reviews from other countries

Koan
5.0 out of 5 stars All what you want to know about Atheism
Reviewed in the United States on 3 March 2015
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This is a very assortment of essays by highly qualified professors of philosophy and other fields. Some of the essays are difficult to understand and need to be red twice or three times. I specially liked what Daniel Dennett (Atheism and Evolution) and Michael Martin (Atheism and Religion); two deep areas written in simple way.
The book talked about the relation of feminism and atheism from the point of view of Christine Overall and showed that women should adopt the stand against religion because religion did the most damage to women. Unfortunately statistics shows that the majority of atheists are men.
Benjamin Beit-Hallami in his essay Atheists' Psychological Profile proved that they are smarter, thinkers, reasonable, brights, tolerant, law abiding, morals and in short they are good to have as neighbors. I highly recommend this book and deserves top rating.
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Anonymous
3.0 out of 5 stars essays of varied quality
Reviewed in the United States on 28 December 2011
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The first two chapters, histories of atheism, are boring and not very illuminating. Chapter 5, refutations of classical theistic arguments, is as clear as mud. Chapter 6, refutations of theistic arguments of Plantinga and Swinburne, is masterfully and concisely written by Parsons. Chapter 7, on naturalism, tries to cover so many concepts so briefly that it winds up being superficial. Daniel Dennett's chapter on evolution is uncharacteristically lucid (for him). Chapter 9 is a well-written argument that religion has no good role to play in ethics. The essay on the atheist kalam cosmological argument is incomprehensible to me. Following that are several boring chapters, then chapter 16 on postmodernism, which consists of confusing verbiage.
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Kerry Walters
4.0 out of 5 stars Rigorous and nonpolemical,
Reviewed in the United States on 27 May 2008
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The theism/atheism dialogue in recent years generates a good deal more heat than light. Too frequently, champions of either position seem to think that polemics trumps rational analysis. The authors in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism refuse to treat the issue as if it were a high school debate, however. Their reasoning for the most part is rigorous and civil. That's why the collection, edited by philosopher Michael Martin (a long-time and distinguished advocate of atheism), is a genuine contribution to the conversation.

An earlier reviewer has given an good summation of the collection's contents. I would add that the essays tend to be a bit uneven in quality. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi's "Atheists: A Psychological Profile," for example, curiously appeals to quite dated data. Christine Overall's claim that a consistent regard for liberation demands that feminists also be atheists strikes me as underdetermined. Patrick Grim's essay on impossibility arguments is solidly argued, but is impenetrable for anyone without a hefty course of logic under their belts.

On the other hand, Quentin Smith's reductio of the kalam cosmological argument is an exceptionally strong piece, and Evan Fales does a good job in a short amount of space of summarizing the naturalistic/physicalist foundation of atheism (at least atheism in the Anglo-American tradition). But perhaps the most intriguing--and important--essay in the entire collection is Gavin Hyman's "Atheism in Modern History." One of Hyman's main points is that both theism and atheism may in fact be more products of modernity than either believers or nonbelievers recognize. This is an important observation, because both theists and atheists tend to be unhistorical, thereby totalizing their claims.

All in all, a strong collection, although it's too bad that editorial modesty inhibited Michael Martin from contributing an essay. Anyone looking for rigorous analysis of atheism should focus on this volume or The Impossibility of God, also edited by Martin, and give more popular but polemical collections--such as Christopher Hedges' The Portable Atheist--a miss.
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E. King
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great
Reviewed in the United States on 17 August 2010
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Plenty of interesting ideas but I found some places bogged down in symbolic logic which makes it difficult for the layman. Still worth the read though.
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Henry Glazer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 11 August 2015
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I found it disappointing articles were too tendentious not persuasive
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