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2 - Motivations for Atheism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2023

Rik Peels
Rik Peels
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
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Summary

This chapter explains why most atheists are probably not primarily motivated by arguments for atheism and explore what atheists’ nonargumentative motivations could be; things such as intellectual independence, moral repugnance, skepticism, and traumatic experiences.

Keywords

Caricatureintellectual independencemotivations for atheismskepticismtraumatic experience
Type
Chapter
Information
Life without God
An Outsider's Look at Atheism
 , pp. 17 - 49
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Motivations for Atheism
  • Rik Peels, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • Book: Life without God
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009297790.002
Available formats
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  • Motivations for Atheism
  • Rik Peels, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • Book: Life without God
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009297790.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Motivations for Atheism
  • Rik Peels, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • Book: Life without God
  • Online publication: 11 May 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009297790.002
Available formats
×