Atheism

=== Secular ethics ===

{{See also|Criticism of atheism|Secular ethics|Secular morality}}

Joseph Baker and Buster Smith assert that one of the common themes of atheism is that most atheists "typically construe atheism as more moral than religion".<ref name="Baker and Smith 2015">{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Joseph O. |last2=Smith |first2=Buster G. |title=American Secularism: Cultural Contours of Nonreligious Belief Systems |date=2015 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9781479896875 |page=100}}</ref> One of the most common [[criticism of atheism|criticisms of atheism]] has been to the contrary: that denying the existence of a god either leads to [[moral relativism]] and leaves one with no moral or ethical foundation,<ref name="misconceptions">{{cite web |url=http://articles.exchristian.net/2006/12/common-misconceptions-about-atheists.html |title=Common Misconceptions About Atheists and Atheism |last=Gleeson |first=David |date=August 10, 2006 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001241/http://articles.exchristian.net/2006/12/common-misconceptions-about-atheists.html |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> or renders life [[meaning of life (religious)|meaningless]] and miserable.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=275}}. "Perhaps the most common criticism of atheism is the claim that it leads inevitably to [[moral bankruptcy]]."</ref> [[Blaise Pascal]] argued this view in his ''[[Pensées]]''.<ref>[[Blaise Pascal|Pascal, Blaise]] (1669). ''[[Pensées]]'', II: "The Misery of Man Without God".</ref> There is also a position claiming that atheists are quick to believe in God in times of crisis, that atheists make [[deathbed conversion]]s, or that "[[there are no atheists in foxholes]]".<ref>See, for example: {{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/ohair090896.htm |title=Atheist Group Moves Ahead Without O'Hair |first=Sue Anne |last=Pressley |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 8, 1996 |access-date=October 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008044601/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/ohair090896.htm |archive-date=October 8, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> There have, however, been examples to the contrary, among them examples of literal "atheists in foxholes".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lowder |first=Jeffery Jay |year=1997 |title=Atheism and Society |url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/society.html |access-date=April 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522025011/http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/society.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> There exist [[Normative ethics|normative ethical systems]] that do not require principles and rules to be given by a deity. Some include [[virtue ethics]], [[deontological ethics]] and [[Consequentialism|consequentialist ethics]] such as [[utilitarianism]].{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

[[File:Campolo_Lecture.jpg|thumb|Lecture to the Atheist Community of San Jose in 2017.]]
According to Plato's [[Euthyphro dilemma]], the role of the gods in determining right from wrong is either unnecessary or arbitrary. [[Divine command theory|The argument that morality must be derived from God]], and cannot exist without a wise creator, has been a persistent feature of political if not so much philosophical debate.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1979|p=275}}. "Among the many myths associated with religion, none is more widespread{{sic}} – or more disastrous in its effects — than the myth that moral values cannot be divorced from the belief in a god."</ref><ref>In [[Dostoevsky]]'s ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' (Book Eleven: ''Brother Ivan Fyodorovich'', Chapter 4) there is the famous argument that "If there is no God, all things are permitted.": {{"'}}But what will become of men then?' I asked him, 'without God and immortal life? All things are lawful then, they can do what they like?{{'"}}</ref><ref name="Kant CPR A811">For [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], the presupposition of God, soul, and freedom was a practical concern, for "Morality, by itself, constitutes a system, but happiness does not, unless it is distributed in exact proportion to morality. This, however, is possible in an intelligible world only under a wise author and ruler. Reason compels us to admit such a ruler, together with life in such a world, which we must consider as future life, or else all moral laws are to be considered as idle dreams" (''Critique of Pure Reason'', A811).</ref> Moral precepts such as "murder is wrong" are seen as [[divine law]]s, requiring a divine lawmaker and judge. However, many atheists argue that treating morality legalistically involves a [[false analogy]], and that morality does not depend on a lawmaker in the same way that laws do.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=38}}</ref>

Philosophers [[Susan Neiman]]<ref>{{cite video |people=[[Susan Neiman]] |title=Beyond Belief Session 6 |medium=Conference |publisher=The Science Network |location=[[Salk Institute]], La Jolla, California |date=November 6, 2006}}</ref> and [[Julian Baggini]]<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=40}}</ref> among others assert that behaving ethically only because of a divine mandate is not true ethical behavior but merely blind obedience. Baggini argues that atheism is a superior basis for ethics, claiming that a moral basis external to religious imperatives is necessary to evaluate the morality of the imperatives themselves—to be able to discern, for example, that "thou shalt steal" is immoral even if one's religion instructs it—and that atheists, therefore, have the advantage of being more inclined to make such evaluations.<ref>{{harvnb|Baggini|2003|p=43}}</ref>

Sociologist [[Phil Zuckerman]] analyzed previous social science research on secularity and non-belief and concluded that societal well-being is positively correlated with irreligion. He found that there are much lower concentrations of atheism and secularity in poorer, less developed nations (particularly in Africa and South America) than in the richer industrialized democracies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Norris |first1=Pippa |first2=Ronald |last2=Inglehart |year=2004 |title=Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bruce |first=Steve |year=2003 |title=Religion and Politics |location=Cambridge}}</ref>
His findings relating specifically to atheism in the US were that compared to religious people in the US, "atheists and secular people" are less [[Nationalism|nationalistic]], [[prejudice]]d, [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]], [[Racism|racist]], [[dogma]]tic, [[Ethnocentrism|ethnocentric]], closed-minded, and authoritarian, and in US states with the highest percentages of atheists, the murder rate is lower than average. In the most religious states, the murder rate is higher than average.<ref name="Zuckerman">{{cite journal |first1=Phil |last1=Zuckerman |year=2009 |title=Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions |url=http://pitweb.pitzer.edu/academics/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2014/12/FAC-Zuckerman-Sociology-Compass.pdf |journal=Sociology Compass |volume=3 |issue=6 |pages=949–971 |doi=10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608173754/http://pitweb.pitzer.edu/academics/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2014/12/FAC-Zuckerman-Sociology-Compass.pdf |archive-date=June 8, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Guardian>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/12/pope-benedict-atheism-secularism |title=Societies without God are more benevolent |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 2, 2010 |access-date=November 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225221202/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/12/pope-benedict-atheism-secularism |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>