Abstract
Palmer’s The Atheist’s Primer is the abridged version of his The Atheist’s Creed (2010), and his main intention is ‘to bring important philosophical arguments to the fore, and to provide a selective overview of the extraordinary richness of the atheistic literature, which extends from the time of the Greeks down to our own day’ (p. 11).
Palmer defines atheism as ‘disbelief in, or denial of, the existence of God’ (p. 13), and divides it into negative atheism (implicit atheism) and positive atheism (explicit atheism). After explaining the meaning and origins of atheism (chs. 1–2), Palmer expounds two arguments of God’s existence (i.e., cause and design) with the atheistic critique (ch. 3). Next, Palmer impressively deals with the problem of evil by approaching it from two directions: the logical form, and the evidential form (ch. 4). The former argues that there is a logical incompatibility between the existence of evil and the existence of God, and the latter argues that the sheer weight of suffering makes religious belief untenable. In chs. 5 and 6, Palmer gives an account of the moral argument, as well as of miracles suggesting God’s existence, followed by extensive critiques of atheist views. Finally, Palmer explores in ch. 7 various theories about motivations of belief, especially the ideas of Feuerbach (God as the projection of man), Marx (religion as the opium of the people), and Freud (religion as a universal obsessional neurosis). These three scholars argue that ‘the religious consciousness was self-deceiving because the impulse to faith was in fact generated by powerful forces of which believers themselves were unaware’ (p. 157).
In this book, Palmer generously offers a panoramic view of ideas and arguments supporting atheism in the Western philosophical tradition, from pre-Socratic philosophies to the present time. This study reflects a wide and profound knowledge of the philosophical encounters with the idea of God, and complex analytic skills on the author’s part.
Palmer not only gives a fair account of the major atheistic conceptual frameworks but is also interested in exploring those bodies of thought supporting the existence of God. This study offers a valuable guide for readers interested in the history of ideas informing the debates surrounding the question of the existence of God. The book has the potential to resuscitate interest in classical debates about atheism, and to put into a wider perspective the present-day debates, which tend to ignore the historical dimension of their philosophical ideas, and approach ‘new atheism’ as an autarchic structure.