An Analysis Of Atheist Think About Death By Todd May And George Yancy

Chloe White

Dr. Denison

PHIL 1130-D01

29 June 2023

An Analysis of Atheism

“How Should an Atheist Think About Death” is an edited e-mail discussion between two philosophers, Todd May and George Yancy. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the concept of atheism. The discussion addresses other religions in umbrella terms to acknowledge the differences between atheism and other ideologies. The article is very professional, it dives into existential concepts, it does not necessarily discriminate against other viewpoints, and part of it is even funny. May and Yancy recognize different philosophers and historical figures, such as Cornel West and Napoleon Bonaparte. In this paper, I will analyze the discussion between May and Yancy

His version of atheism is simply the denial of any supernatural beings. Although May has these beliefs, he goes on to say that some atheists will argue that there is a force driving the world together. There may be different forms of atheism, but all of them involve the lack of a “supernatural deity.” The concept of an afterlife is discussed, which goes into the idea of eternal oblivion, or the idea that there is nothing else after death. Doing heinous acts in the name of religion is also mentioned, and May stated that “Atheism, in short, is a view — or a set of views — about the supernatural; it is not a view about people who believe in the supernatural.” This implies that the atheist mindset, at its core, has no grievances against people who believe in religion. Although May clearly states atheism does not promote ill intent, the Soviet Union and the Chinese Government are referenced as dictatorships that pushed for atheist ideologies. These would be instances where people or governments did malicious acts in the name of atheism. As stated previously, May is not condoning other religions. He acknowledges that sometimes people need religion in their lives for stability. People suffering, such as prisoners, hold on to the hope of an afterlife to get them

One day everything will fade to darkness and all our efforts will be pointless. The whole idea of atheism is that we all have a short amount of time to live. Of course, this raises ethical concerns. Rather than just giving up at the thought of no longer existing at some unknown point in the future, we can cherish our time here and use it to the best of our ability. Todd May discusses this subject in his book “Death.” To elaborate on what I said in a previous paragraph, he also suggests that we “engage in forward-looking projects,” and “we should enjoy the present of what we do in the knowledge that at any moment the future could