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Life Challenges and the Atheistic Worldview

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Life Challenges and the Atheistic Worldview Lincoln University Digital Thesis Copyright Statement The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: you will use the copy only for the purposes of research or private study you will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate you will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from the thesis. No Invisible Means of Support: Life Challenges and The Atheistic Worldview A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Science at Lincoln University by Joshua Huisman Lincoln University 2011 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Science. Abstract No Invisible Means of Support: Life Challenges and The Atheistic Worldview by Joshua Huisman Atheism is now a prominent belief system within Aotearoa (New Zealand) (Gendall & Healey, 2009) and its prevalence in our country calls attention to the need for a better understanding of this worldview. A worldview provides a descriptive model of the world we live in and is considered to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of any individual (Palmer, 1996). My research examined a largely unexplored area of enquiry – the life-world of atheists in Christchurch, New Zealand, with the aim of achieving a better understanding of the ways in which atheists face, and attempt to overcome, a range of challenges. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first Christchurch-based study on atheism. Through the use of semi- structured, in-depth interviews, my exploratory study provides rich descriptions of the personal reflections of 12 Christchurch-based atheists in academic settings. Consistent with previous work (Baggini, 2003; Harding, 2007;Ysseldyk, 2010; Michell, 2009), all of the atheists in my sample identified themselves as naturalistic materialists, repudiated belief in an afterlife, did not practice spiritual activities and did not see purpose built into a universe made entirely of matter-energy. These atheists provide themselves with alternative means of comfort in the absence of supernatural belief and expressed no desire for theistic explanations of currently unexplained phenomena; they preferred a world in which things went unexplained, and viewed the converse as boring. With the exception of two participants, all of those interviewed indicated that apostasy and the shift from theistic belief to positive atheism began in their adolescence, often lasted in excess of ten years and included a significant period of agnosticism. Many of the participants refuted 1 the “Divine Command” theory and provided alternative justifications for their own moral standards. Generally, like previous work (Caldwell-Harris, Wilson, & Beit-Hallahmi, 2010; Vetter & Green, 1932) my research suggests that the atheistic worldview has been adopted for logical reasons. However, considering some of the results from my research, I also acknowledge the possibility of emotionally-charged psychological influences in the formation and dismantling of worldviews. Whatever the reasons why participants adopted their atheistic worldviews, their new interpretations of the world changed how they felt about and how they reacted to life challenges. Hence, once adopted, not only did their worldviews provide “both a sketch of and a blueprint for reality; describing what they saw and stipulating what they should see,” (Olthuis, 1985, p. 29) but feelings and reactions towards events also changed accordingly. Keywords: atheism, atheist, worldview, weltanschauung, worldview formation, naturalistic materialism, belief, supernatural, comfort, afterlife, death, morality, support, god, father figure, life purpose, agnostic 2 Acknowledgements First I would like to acknowledge and thank my supervisors Bob Gidlow and Suzanne Vallance, without whom this work would have not been possible. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to their un-wavering support, vast expertise, encouragement and the many hours they put into reading and providing detailed feedback on my many drafts whilst patiently schooling me in the research process and the qualitative approach. I would like to thank both the Lincoln University Scholarships Office and the Network for Bulding Reseach Capacity in the Social Sciences for their scholarship funding throughout the duration of this thesis project. Their confidence in my work and their generous support truly assisted me in the realisation of my aspirations. I wish to honour my wonderful mother, Denise, for her unconditional love and support, prudent instruction and correction, perstistent encouragement and amusement, and steadfast belief in me, not only in this latest challenge but throughout my entire upbringing and education. Her faith in both God and the goodness in people was a major inspiration for this thesis. I also acknowledge my father, David, who from early on installed curiosity in me, promoting a questioning intellect whilst encouraging ambition in my many other, and often peculiar, interests. Eternally I am in gratitude to my dearest old friend, Renee; her undying commitment to live in accordance to the will of her heart will always inspire me to do the same. My treasured acquirement of stunning art, posh writing instruments, elegant satchels and other gifts of love, primarily Renee’s kind, encouraging, and ‘oh so’ beautifully crafted words, have made my years in tertiary education some of my most enjoyable years to date. I pay homage to my brothers who have helped me during my time at Lincoln University; firstly, Daniel, my eldest, and his wife Caroline for their laughter and their love in the ‘good times’ and their kindness, generosity, and support in my trials and tribulations; secondly, Matthew and Caleb, the young ones, for their abiding friendships and their ‘phenomenal’ abilities in the art of comic relief. My sweet and charming grandmother, Nana June, and the rest of my brilliant yet slightly eccentric family, for always loving and supporting me during my studies, putting me to work outside of my thesis in the weekends, and making me ‘laugh like a hyena’ in the ‘silly season.’ I must also not fail to recognise my small social network of ‘big time’ friends, who also make me ‘laugh like a hyena,’ and yet have the patience to pretend to look interested 3 when I blabber on, parcticularly Timmy and Isaac who actually amuse and encourage my nonsense with their own hogwash. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the participants of this research for coming forward and giving me their time, sharing their worldviews with me, and being so open, candid and sincere throughout the whole process. By allowing me to pry into some very personal and complex areas of their lives, these participants provided my research project with the indispensable ‘rich’ description that it so desperately required, and I am forever indebted. 4 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 1 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 3 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. 5 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 9 1.1 Research Aims and Objectives .................................................................................... 10 1.2 Thesis Organisation .................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................. 12 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Defining Atheism........................................................................................................ 12 2.3 Atheism in History ...................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Weltanschauung .......................................................................................................... 19 2.4.1 Two Major Types of Worldviews .................................................................... 19 2.4.1.1 Supernatural worldviews .................................................................... 19 2.4.1.2 Naturalistic materialism ..................................................................... 21 2.4.2 Worldviews and Morality ................................................................................ 22 2.4.2.1 “Divine Command” theory ................................................................. 23 2.4.2.2 Godless depravity? ............................................................................. 25 2.4.3 Worldview Formation...................................................................................... 26 2.4.4 Dismantling and Modifying Worldviews ......................................................... 27
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