Defining Atheism

 

Most people know that there are two common definitions of atheism/atheist. Here's an excellent example from two different dictionaries.

atheist: a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings [dictionary.com]

atheist: a person who does not believe in the existence of God or gods [Oxford Dictionaries]

The first definition defines an atheist as someone who maintains that gods do not exist. The second defines an atheist as someone who is not a theist.

The distinction is relatively unimportant in everyday usage since most of us who are nontheists will argue that gods do not exist. But when you're arguing with a philosopher you need to pick nits since philosophical arguments often turn on definitions. No intelligent atheist wants to be trapped into arguing that gods do not exist since that's like trying to "prove the negative" and we all know that it is impossible to prove the nonexistence of something.

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