Atheists Giving Thanks to the Sun

Philosophia 49 (3):1219-1232 (2020)
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Abstract

I argue that it is rational and appropriate for atheists to give thanks to deep impersonal agents for the benefits they give to us. These agents include our evolving biosphere, the sun, and our finely-tuned universe. Atheists can give thanks to evolution by sacrificially burning works of art. They can give thanks to the sun by performing rituals in solar calendars. They can give thanks to our finely-tuned universe, and to existence itself, by doing science and philosophy. But these linguistic types of thanks-giving are forms of non-theistic contemplative prayer. Since these behaviors resemble ancient pagan behaviors, it is fair to call them pagan. Atheistic paganism may be part of an emerging ecosystem of naturalistic religions.

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Eric Steinhart
William Paterson University of New Jersey

References found in this work

Order out of Chaos.Ilya Prigogine & Isabelle Stengers - 1985 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 36 (3):352-354.
Gratitude and Appreciation.Tony Manela - 2016 - American Philosophical Quarterly 53 (3):281-294.
Climbing Mount Improbable.Richard Dawkins - 1999 - Environmental Values 8 (1):114-116.
Propositional Gratitude.Sean McAleer - 2012 - American Philosophical Quarterly 49 (1):55-66.

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