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Another Kind of Atheism

John Gray argues that there are many kinds of atheism and that it's time to rethink today's narrow view of unbelief.

John Gray looks to history to argue that it's time to rethink today's narrow view of atheism.

He ponders the lives of two little known atheists from the past - the nineteenth century Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi and the Somerset essayist and novelist Llewelyn Powys. He says their work shows how atheism can be far richer and subtler than the version we're familiar with.

"The predominant strand of contemporary unbelief , which aims to convert the world to a scientific view of things, is only one way of living without an idea of God" writes Gray.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.

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10 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Aug 201523:50

A Point of View: Does atheism have to be anti-religious?

A Point of View: Does atheism have to be anti-religious?

We tend to understand atheism as a war between religion and science - but in earlier times atheism was both more complex and more rich, says philosopher John Gray.

Read John Gray's article on the BBC News website.

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterJohn Gray
ProducerAdele Armstrong

Broadcasts

  • Fri 28 Aug 201520:50
  • Sun 30 Aug 201508:48
  • Sun 30 Aug 201523:50

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