Philosophy of Atheism course beginning at Christopher Wren Association

[greyl]

(3 Units) PHILOSOPHY OF ATHEISM
Dates: Feb. 16, 23, Mar. 2

Instructors: David Tetrault and Walter Drost-Hansen will instruct this course together. Dr. Tetrault is a retired Episcopalian Minister (Bruton Parish Church) and a musician who has given a wide variety of courses at CWA. Dr. Drost-Hansen is a professor emeritus (chemistry, University of Miami, Florida) and very un-musical but has lived and traveled extensively in Europe.

Description: Over the past ten to fifteen years a vast literature has emerged dealing with Atheism. Many of these texts are truly outstanding in elucidating the reasons for accepting Atheism as the most realistic, objective and rational belief system. However, relatively little attention has been given to the 'Philosophical' and practical implications of Atheism. The course will attempt to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of "'God-free"' living --assuming that the audience is at least vaguely familiar with Atheism. (A brief bibliography will be made available on Atheist books.) Apart from that, we merely ask you to come with an open mind. Our purpose is not to convince you to become Atheists but to explain what is involved in 'God-free' living.

http://web.wm.edu/cwa/SessionA.pdf

General link to Christopher Wren Association: http://web.wm.edu/cwa/?svr=www

I'm not attending, but know someone who is. I can't wait to see how the instructors will handle this.

[skepticscott]

1. Sounds shaky already

Atheism is neither a philosophy or a belief system

[rrneck]

2. What is it? nt

[skepticscott]

3. A lack of belief in gods

Or to put it another way, a condition of being unconvinced. There simply isn't enough there to qualify it as a philosophy.

[PassingFair]

4. I think of it as a "philosophy" of acceptance.

I think I see where they are going with it...

many believers could not conceive of even
getting out of bed without the "comforting"
"knowledge" that there is life after death
WITH REWARDS.

We who go about our lives with determination
and joy WITHOUT that "knowledge" must be a
total mystery to them.



(I have this comic on my wall....)

[Strong Atheist]

10. Great comic! nt.

[greyl]

11. Do you know who created that comic? nt

[greyl]

12. Ah, it's Randall Munroe from xkcd.com. nt

[frebrd]

13. I have no interest in being philosophical about it......

I don't believe in supernatural beings, end of discussion.

I consider anything further on the subject to be mental masturbation, which doesn't interest me at all.

[cosmik debris]

5. I have no need for that philosophy

Just as I have no need for a philosophy for disbelief in unicorns or leprechauns.

I have no discomfort or unanswered questions about the absence of either.

And I have no concept of what purpose such a philosophy could serve other than to sell books etc.

[greyl]

8. I'm thinking it's an unfortunate choice of words for the course title. Hoping, anyway.

Fwiw, the books they will recommend will probably be by the likes of Dawkins, Schermer, Sagan, and Russell.

[moggie]

6. Are they going to give away the secret rituals?

Our purpose is not to convince you to become Atheists but to explain what is involved in 'God-free' living.

Who authorised this? I presume they won't just say "you can sleep in on Sunday", so they must be talking about the meetings, the handshake, the special diet, the underwear etc. Head office needs to hear about this.

As for the "philosophical and practical implications of atheism", I wouldn't be so dismissive of that. On the philosophical side, I'd guess that they'd mainly focus on moral philosophy, since "how can you be moral without God" is such a favourite question with theists. On the practical side, there's plenty to talk about there: secular weddings and funerals, state restrictions on atheists in certain roles, what to do about discrimination in the workplace, the legal situation in schools and so on.

[skepticscott]

7. That sounds more like

they're teaching a philosophy of humanism, rather than atheism, which would be appropriate, since humanism is much more a fully realized philosophy of living.

[greyl]

9. I can imagine it being like a lecture on what life is like without a crack addiction,

while being careful not to blame the addict for becoming addicted.
I'm going to check on the possibility of getting it recorded.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. They better not...

talk about the kittens :)

[and-justice-for-all]

15. "rational belief system"??

I do not think of my Atheism as a belief system and there is also nothing involved in "gawd-free" living, if anything, I have a higher moral standing then the majority of people who call themselves 'believers'.

We Atheist, do not kill in the name of anything.

[Deep13]

16. Interesting.

I think it is a philosophy if one accepts the logical conclusions of the lack of gods. Faith is no longer a virtue and every social convention, policy and assumption suddenly goes under a microscope. Ultimately, the world looks very different to someone who is convinced that there are no gods than it does to a believer.

[greyl]

17. The person I knew who was attending,

only thought they would be able to attend because they also teach at CW.
Unfortunately for her, there was a lot of demand for the class. Registration was originally limited to 100, and on the night of the first class they squeezed 17 extra people into the room who had tried to register.
So, I don't know shit about how the class went.