Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Preliminaries
- Part II Atheisms in History
- Part III Reformation, Renaissance, Enlightenment
- Part IV Classical Modernity: Philosophical and Scientific Currents
- 18 Romanticism
- 19 John Stuart Mill on Religion, Utility, and Morality
- 20 The Physical Sciences
- 21 Charles Darwin and the Darwinians
- 22 Freud and the Unconscious
- Part V Classical Modernity: Social and Political Currents
- Part VI Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Intellectual and Artistic Currents
- Part VII Lived Atheism in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First Centuries: Case-Studies
- Part VIII Emerging Atheisms in the Twenty-First Century
- Part IX Conclusion
- Index
- References
20 - The Physical Sciences
from Part IV - Classical Modernity: Philosophical and Scientific Currents
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 September 2021
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- The Cambridge History of Atheism
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Preliminaries
- Part II Atheisms in History
- Part III Reformation, Renaissance, Enlightenment
- Part IV Classical Modernity: Philosophical and Scientific Currents
- 18 Romanticism
- 19 John Stuart Mill on Religion, Utility, and Morality
- 20 The Physical Sciences
- 21 Charles Darwin and the Darwinians
- 22 Freud and the Unconscious
- Part V Classical Modernity: Social and Political Currents
- Part VI Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Intellectual and Artistic Currents
- Part VII Lived Atheism in the Twentieth- and Twenty-First Centuries: Case-Studies
- Part VIII Emerging Atheisms in the Twenty-First Century
- Part IX Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
‘Scientist equals atheist’ seems a truism of popular psychology. The average person on the street appears to expect this equation to be true; scientists, people seem to think, are by necessity atheists. If not, it is cause for astonishment and mostly explained away as an exception to the rule. Conservative religious people see a direct causal relationship, fearing that science leads to atheism; fundamentalists ‘know’ this to be the case, and proponents of the so-called New Atheism agree most fervently (Young 2009).
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- The Cambridge History of Atheism , pp. 366 - 387Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021