Saturday, November 24, 2012

A Course on Atheism?

I have to admit I find the notion of an entire class on Atheism fascinating and potentially a little futile. As I have pointed out on a few occasions, Atheism is not a true "ism" since it does not have an innate set of beliefs or even a structure that a set of beliefs could easily be attached to. By definition it is a lack of a religious (especially one focused on or includes a God or gods) based belief system. That is not to say atheists don't have beliefs or follow one or more overlapping belief systems. Atheism just does not tell you what those beliefs are.

After hearing an interview of Peter Boghossian on Freedom From Religion's Free Thought Radio I have decided that it is time to revisit my assumptions on this topic. During the interview Boghossian mentioned a course he teaches for Portland State University and that the syllabus can be found on Skeptic magazines website. I have only briefly skimmed through it at this point but I am going to follow it through. I already own one of the required texts (I've ordered the second) and have read quite a bit of the recommended material. I will read/reread them in the order he has laid out. The questions laced throughout seem to be pretty good.

I am not sure how much of the experience I'll bother to post but I will probably write a few updates along the way. It should be interesting in any case.

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