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Atheism for Beginners
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Table of Contents

1. The Meaning of Atheism
i. Definition of Atheism
ii. The Variety of Gods and the Many-Gods Objection
iii. Study Questions
iv. Guide to Further Reading

2. Creation
i. The Beginnings of Atheism: Its Rise and Fall
ii. The Christian Theory of Creation
iii. The Re-emergence of Atheism
iv. Hume on the Argument from Cause
v. An Infinite or Finite Universe?
vi. Study Questions
vii. Guide to Further Reading

3. The Design of the World
i. Introducing Monkeys and Darwin
ii. The Argument from Design
iii. Hume's Criticisms of the Design Argument
iv. Darwin's Criticisms of the Design Argument
v. Post-Darwinian Criticisms of the Design Argument
vi. Study Questions
vii. Guide to Further Reading

4. The Argument from Evil
i. Moral and Non-Moral Evil
ii. Evolution as Non-Moral Evil
iii. The Problem of Evil: A Logical or Evidential Problem?
iv. The Problem of Evil: The Logical Argument
v. The Problem of Evil: The Evidential Argument
vi. Study Questions
vii. Guide to Further Reading

5. The Moral Argument
i. Introduction: Moral Relativism and Religion
ii. Criticisms of the Moral Argument
iii. Nietzsche's Critique of Religious Morality
iv. Study Questions
v. Guide to Further Reading

6. Miracles
i. Some Miracles
ii. Definition of a Miracle (1)
iii. Definition of a Miracle (2)
iv. Hume's Critique of Miracles: Are Miracles Impossible?
v. Hume's Critique of Miracles: Are Miracles Improbable?
vi. Conclusion
vi. Study Questions
vii. Guide to Further Reading

7. The Impulse to Believe.
i. Introduction: The Experiences of Faith
ii. Projection Theory: Ludwig Feuerbach
iii. Marx's Projection Theory: Religion as the Opium of the People
iv. Freud's Projection Theory: Religion as a Universal Obsessional Neurosis
v. Conclusion: Is Atheism Pessimistic?
vi. Study Questions
vii. Guide to Further Reading

8. Disproving God
i. Introduction: The Logic of God's Attributes
ii. Arguments from Incoherence
iii. Two Theistic Defences
iv. Some conclusions
v. Study Questions
vi. Guide to Further Reading

Appendix

About the Author

A former Teaching Fellow at McMaster University and Humboldt Fellow at Marburg University, Dr Palmer has taught at Marlborough College and Bristol University. For many years Founding Head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at the Manchester Grammar School, Dr Palmer is also the author of the best-selling textbook Moral Problems as well as of the two-volume textbook The Philosophy of Religion. More recently he has written The Atheist's Creed (2010) and The Atheist's Primer (2012). His work has been translated into many languages.

Reviews

"The style is clear and approachable, and the reading doesn't require specific knowledge of the philosophical field. [...] The aim is to teach students how to think logically in order to make them able to critically judge various theistic/creationist/fatalistic arguments that religions advance in their support and don't let them be deceived by logically incoherent and slanted reasoning. [...] The last chapter is particularly interesting as it deals with recent developments of disproof Atheism ... by contemporary philosophers as Alfred j. Ayer, John N. Findlay, Michael Martin, Nicholas Everitt, etc."
Enrica Rota, L'Ateo, Number 4, July 2013

'It is this balanced and careful writing that makes this book so useful. As a repository of much information about philosophers and a very clear statement of their views with careful referencing to their writings it will be of use to teachers of courses in the philosophy of religion at all levels in schools and colleges as well as to students.'
Francis Loftus, REtoday, Vol.31, No.2, Spring 2014

"Palmer's offering is a first and a welcome contribution to both secular and religious education. [...] Atheism for Beginners is exactly what it claims to be - a textbook for instructors and students. It is an extremely good one at that. I would also suggest that it is also helpful for clergy, church leaders and lay people interested in learning more about the lives and thinking of friends and neighbours claiming to have no belief."
Michael K. Jones, United Church of Canada, in Theological Book Review (tbr), Vol. 25, No.1, 2013

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