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Atheism and meaninglessness (view source)
Revision as of 17:53, January 8, 2016
, 17:53, January 8, 2016no edit summary
In December of 2003, the University of Warwick reported:
In December of 2003, the University of Warwick reported:
{{cquote|Dr. Stephen Joseph, from the University of Warwick, said: "Religious people seem to have a greater purpose in life, which is why they are happier. Looking at the research evidence, it seems that those who celebrate the Christian meaning of [[Christmas]] are on the whole likely to be happier.<ref>http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/A/20037338.html</ref>}}
{{cquote|Dr. Stephen Joseph, from the University of Warwick, said: "Religious people seem to have a greater purpose in life, which is why they are happier. Looking at the research evidence, it seems that those who celebrate the Christian meaning of [[Christmas]] are on the whole likely to be happier.<ref>http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/A/20037338.html</ref>}}
Although [[Bertrand Russell]] was an [[agnosticism|agnostic]], he had favorable views of atheism.<ref> Russell, Bertrand (1947) "Am I An Atheist Or An Agnostic?"[http://www.luminary.us/russell/atheist_agnostic.html] Most online sources say "by which one prove," probably a mistake.</ref> Bertrand Russell wrote in 1903 about [[entropy]] and the [[universe]]:
{{cquote|That man is the product of causes that had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins- all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand.
"Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding dispair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built." <ref>[http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/pessimism/entropy.html Entropy and heat death]</ref>}}
The atheist [[Jerry Coyne]] admits the meaninglessness of the universe as an implication of an atheistic [[evolution]]ary worldview, but then insists that we can create our own subjective meaning and marvel at the intricacies of nature.<ref>[http://creation.com/review-coyne-why-evolution-is-true Why evolution need not be true]: A review of Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne Viking Penguin, New York, 2009, reviewed by John Woodmorappe</ref>
The atheist [[Jerry Coyne]] admits the meaninglessness of the universe as an implication of an atheistic [[evolution]]ary worldview, but then insists that we can create our own subjective meaning and marvel at the intricacies of nature.<ref>[http://creation.com/review-coyne-why-evolution-is-true Why evolution need not be true]: A review of Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne Viking Penguin, New York, 2009, reviewed by John Woodmorappe</ref>