Despite the repeated claim that atheism is "not a religion", most New Atheists and [[antitheism|antitheists]] subscribe to some form of [[scientism]] - the belief that physical science is the sole or most authoritative source of human knowledge. This belief ties in with philosophical views such as the Positivism of [[Auguste Comte]] as well as naturalism, materialism, physicalism, etc. and is a de facto religious or philosophical belief, not merely a "lack of belief". Ironically this view is actually a minority view of actual scientists historically and currently, most of whom do not belief that "nothing exists" beyond what has been observed in physical sciences (ex. mathematics is a formal science and mathematical proofs can be said to exist despite not being physical evidence which is testable in a laboratory experiment). Philosophers historically also did not state that deductive reasoning is the only valid form of reasoning for individuals to use when forming conclusions about the world around them. | Despite the repeated claim that atheism is "not a religion", most New Atheists and [[antitheism|antitheists]] subscribe to some form of [[scientism]] - the belief that physical science is the sole or most authoritative source of human knowledge. This belief ties in with philosophical views such as the Positivism of [[Auguste Comte]] as well as naturalism, materialism, physicalism, etc. and is a de facto religious or philosophical belief, not merely a "lack of belief". Ironically this view is actually a minority view of actual scientists historically and currently, most of whom do not belief that "nothing exists" beyond what has been observed in physical sciences (ex. mathematics is a formal science and mathematical proofs can be said to exist despite not being physical evidence which is testable in a laboratory experiment). Philosophers historically also did not state that deductive reasoning is the only valid form of reasoning for individuals to use when forming conclusions about the world around them. |