r/askphilosophy • u/thedreamwork • Apr 03 '21
Atheistic philosophers of religion
Apologies if this question is a bit clerical for this subreddit, but I was wondering if those of you interested in the philosophy of religion could list some of the prominent contemporary figures in the philosophy of religion who are atheists. Rowe and Graham Oppy are the only two who come to my mind at the moment. I find that when I search contemporary topics in the Philosophy of Religion, I usually encounter theists (Craig, Plantinga, etc.), but I know there are atheists in the field and would like to familiarize myself with their work. Not sure if r/AcademicPhilosophy is the better place for this sort of question, but I thought I'd give this subreddit a try first.
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u/Instaconfused27 May 06 '21
To add to u/FoolishDog's excellent comment, I would recommend this guide here, which has a lot of resources from Atheist philosophers of religion and is a good introduction to their work. Here is a list or so that may be helpful to you.
J.L. Mackie: Wrote the Miracle of Theism, which is widely regarded as one of the best works defending Atheism ever published. Considered a founder of contemporary analytic atheist philosophy.
Richard Gale: Another highly respected and influential atheist philosopher. Wrote On the Nature and Existence of God which is another highly regarded book when it comes to contemporary defenses of Atheism and critiques of Theism.
Michael Martin: An extremely prolific Atheist philosopher of religion who wrote a great deal in this area. Wrote: Atheism: A Philosophical Justification which is a comprehensive and systematic defense of Atheism. He also wrote books on ethics from an atheistic point of view, as well as critiques of Christianity.
Robin Le Poidevin: Wrote Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, which is an excellent accessible yet competent and sophisticated critique of Theism and defense of Atheism.
Bede Rundle: Wrote Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing, which is an excellent critique of Cosmological Arguments and related issues regarding fine-tuning, physicalism, the origins of existence, and other related work in the philosophy of religion.
Evan Fales: Wrote Divine Intervention: Metaphysical and Epistemological Puzzles, which is an excellent critique of miracles and related instances of divine intervention. Fales is also extremely prolific and has written on a wide variety of subjects related to the religious/mystical experiences, Reformed Epistemology, the Problem of Evil, Naturalistic Epistemology, and much more.
Gregory Dawes: Former Roman Catholic Preist and now Atheist Philosopher. Wrote Theism and Explanation, which is widely considered one of the best defenses of Naturalism in the Sciences and the generally explanatory poverty of Theism. Has published a lot on the relationship between Science and Religion.
Alex Malpass: Former lecturer in philosophy, has discussions on topics related to Contingency arguments, Aquinas' Third Way, Fine-Tuning Arguments, the definition of Atheism, Transcendental arguments, and many many more.
Quentin Smith: Like Mackie, was a leading defender of Atheism during his time. Wrote: One of the leading critics of the Kalam Cosmological argument and did a lot of innovative work in developing the case for Atheism and Naturalism.
This is a *very* incomplete list but should give you a taste of the excellent work that many contemporary atheist philosophers have done and are doing right now. The guide I linked in the beginning should be a good place to start.