A question for Atheists . . .

achilles12604 · Post by **achilles12604** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:47 am

What are some of your best minds in the literary world? Who should I be reading?

chrandrel · Post by **chrandrel** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 6:02 pm

C.S. Lewis

beankitty · Post by **beankitty** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:58 pm

palmera wrote:Plato (Socrates,) Nietzsche, Einstein, Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Primo Levi, Phillip Pulman, Ayn Rand, Salman Rushdie, P.B. Shelley, Kurt Vonnegut, Ibn Warraq

Don't forget Sartre.

Confused · Post by **Confused** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 3:51 am

chrandrel wrote:C.S. Lewis

How is C.S. Lewis a respresentation of an atheist literary mind?

Cathar1950 · Post by **Cathar1950** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:01 am

palmera wrote:Plato (Socrates,) Nietzsche, Einstein, Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Primo Levi, Phillip Pulman, Ayn Rand, Salman Rushdie, P.B. Shelley, Kurt Vonnegut, Ibn Warraq

I do like Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
I do like Hartshorn, maybe he did a good job with Whitehead.
They once ask Whitehead why he didn't write more clearly and he answered because he didn't think more clearly.
I think Cohen's "The mind of the bible-Believer" is a must.
I can name hundreds.

AClockWorkOrange · Post by **AClockWorkOrange** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:30 am

Kurt Vonnegut, Anthony Burgess, Antisthines, Diogenes, George Smith, i like Ken Kesy, um Stephen Hawking is good too.

Cryopyre · Post by **Cryopyre** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:12 pm

I haven't read much more than Douglas Adams and Carl Sagan, but they are both great reads. I started along the Atheist's track after reading a very good section in Douglas Adam's "Salmon of Doubt"

Cryopyre · Post by **Cryopyre** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:13 pm

Confused wrote:
chrandrel wrote:C.S. Lewis
How is C.S. Lewis a respresentation of an atheist literary mind?

He was at one point of is life, that is before he switched back again

Confused · Post by **Confused** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:15 am

Cryopyre wrote:
Confused wrote:
chrandrel wrote:C.S. Lewis
How is C.S. Lewis a respresentation of an atheist literary mind?
He was at one point of is life, that is before he switched back again

Really, I didn't know this. Does he have any literature in print before he converted? I think that would make for some interesting comparative readings.

methylatedghosts · Post by **methylatedghosts** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:28 pm

I believe one of the most early published athiests (although he doesn't explicitly say so) is Hobbes.

He was published in the 1700s and because back then you were executed for being athiest basically, he's very careful to word his sentences and dodge around anything that might suggest him being athiest, but I'm pretty sure he is.

He's kinda difficult to read, being 18th century english, but it's a great read on moral and political philosophy.

He was for a supreme ruler, (monarchy), against "mixarchies" (Democratic governments), and ultimately for a single world-wide ruler.

Very interesting man to say the least

BwhoUR · Post by **BwhoUR** » Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:21 pm

You should definitely pick up "The Portable Athiest" Essential readings for the nonbeliever by Christopher Hitchins. Everybody's in there, in their own words, between 2 and 10 pages dedicated to each person, no conclusions or explanations are given by Mr. Hitchins, you get to decide for yourself what the authors are saying. You can read through them and decide which author you would like to read more about and go from there. Thomas Hobbs, Benedict de Spinoza, David Hume, Karl Marx, George Elliot, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russel, Carl Sagan, Salmon Rushdie, George Orwell, Penn Jillette, 47 in all. Fascinating stuff.