Strong atheism

Strong atheism, sometimes called positive atheism, hard atheism or gnostic atheism, is the philosophical position that deities do not exist. It is a form of explicit atheism, meaning that it consciously rejects theism. It is contrasted with weak atheism, which is the lack or absence of belief in deities, without the additional claim that deities do not exist. The strong atheist positively asserts, at the very least, that no deities exist, and may go further and claim that the existence of some or all gods is logically impossible.

Related Topics:
Deities - Explicit - Atheism - Theism - Weak atheism

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While strong atheism does not necessarily preclude belief in supernatural entities or processes in general, the majority of strong atheists have naturalistic tendencies and would likely also reject such beliefs. However, spiritual or supernatural beliefs would not preclude someone from being a strong atheist.

Related Topics:
Supernatural - Naturalistic

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Some strong atheists qualify their position by stating what specific conceptions of god they think does not exist. They may believe that specific deities, such as the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God, do not exist, based on the description of these deities provided by their followers. They may believe certain gods to be logically impossible based on these descriptions, or they may be swayed by one or many of the arguments against the existence of certain conceptions of god (for example, the problem of evil). It is not unusual for a person to be a strong atheist with respect to particular gods, but to be a weak atheist with respect to other gods. Indeed, one may be (and in fact the majority of people are) a theist with respect to one, or several, gods, and a strong or weak atheist with respect to all other gods. For example, Christians typically believe that the God of the Bible exists, but believe that Zeus, Thor, Krishna, and so forth, do not. A typical atheist joke is that there is only a small difference between a strong atheist and a Christian: they agree on a very long list of gods that don't exist, and disagree about only one of them.

Related Topics:
God - Problem of evil - Bible - Zeus - Thor - Krishna

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