New network in Göttingen: Atheism of modern times in focus!

New network in Göttingen: Atheism of modern times in focus!

A new international research network at the University of Göttingen is investigating the development of atheism and unbelief in modern Europe. The project is entitled “European Entangled Atheisms: Concepts of Unbelief and the People Shaping them from the 1860s to the 1940s” and is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with around 73,000 euros for three years. Scholars from nine countries participate and aim to analyze atheism between the 1860s and 1940s as an intellectual attitude, lived experience and social movement University of Göttingen reported.

The network is led by Dr. Carolin Kosuch, Dr. Heléna Tóth and Dr. Johannes Gleixner led. It aims to show how atheist ideas were spread through writings, organizations and alternative rites. A central goal is also to examine the perception of atheists as a threat to morality and public order. It draws on previously unexplored sources and archive material to develop a more comprehensive understanding of atheism.

New perspectives and accessibility

Another aspect of the network is the development of a digital source edition in English that includes scholarly commentary. This appeals to a broader target group in order to make the different stories of atheism accessible. The initiators expect the network to open up new perspectives for exploring the modern European cultural and intellectual landscape.

The roots of atheism go back to antiquity and can be found in pre-Socratics, sophists, Epicureans and other representatives like that Deutschlandfunk writes. Currently one in five people is an atheist. E. M. Cloran describes how new faith often brings with it a certain arrogance, while those who lose faith often show humility. Historically, atheism was often viewed as an insult and was long considered a crime.

Atheism in historical perspective

The Middle Ages was not only a time of great religiosity, but also marked by heresy and superstition. The Renaissance, humanism and the Reformation led to increased skepticism towards religious dogmas. Key thinkers such as Lucretius, Sartre, Descartes and Spinoza contributed to the suppression of religion. In a new 820-page compendium of atheist thought, Georges Minois examines whether atheism or religion came first - a question that may remain intractable, as he argues in what is considered a standard work.

Minois' account sheds new light on the history of intellectual history, taking into account the socio-cultural context. The development of atheism over the centuries also becomes tangible, from the beginnings of unbelief to the political change in the 20th century and the question of the existence of God, as documented in various chapters in the comprehensive analysis in LBIB are summarized.