Title

An apology for the "New Atheism"

Abstract

In recent years, a series of bestselling atheist manifestos by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens has thrust the topic of the rationality of religion into the public discourse. Christian moderates of an intellectual bent and even some agnostics and atheists have taken umbrage and lashed back. In this paper I defend the New Atheists against three common charges: that their critiques of religion commit basic logical fallacies (such as straw man, false dichotomy, or hasty generalization), that their own atheism is just as "faith-based" as the religious beliefs they criticize, and that their expressed disrespect for religious belief is immoral.

Department(s)

Philosophy

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-012-9350-9

Keywords

Atheism, Dawkins, Richard, Harris, Sam, Hitchens, Christopher, Irrationality, New Atheism

Publication Date

2-19-2013

Journal Title

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion

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