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Editorial

Meet the New Atheism / Same as the Old Atheism?

by Tim Madigan

“God is Dead” – Nietzsche

“Nietzsche is Dead” – God

So goes the famous graffiti (almost as famous as “To Do is to Be” – Plato; “To Be is To Do” – Aristotle; “Do Be Do Be Do” – Sinatra). This issue of Philosophy Now is devoted (if that’s the right word!) to understanding the so-called ‘New Atheism’ movement. Starting in 2004 a spate of bestselling books (Sam Harris’ The End of Faith; Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion; Daniel C. Dennett’s Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon; and Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything) launched an ongoing public debate over faith versus reason, with Messrs Harris, Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens being dubbed ‘The Four Horsemen of Atheism.’

Such public debates are not completely new in recent times.

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