Is Atheism just a Matter of Faith?

For decades, some have argued that atheism is a matter of faith just as all other religions. They argue that the burden of proof lies for an atheist to claim there is no God. This lecture seeks possible justifications to address whether Atheism is simply a matter of faith.

A C Grayling (@acgrayling| ) MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSL, FRSA is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has written and edited over thirty books on philosophy and other subjects; among his most recent are The Good Book, Ideas That Matter, Liberty in the Age of Terror  and To Set Prometheus Free. For several years he wrote the Last Word column for the Guardian newspaper and a column for the Times. He is a frequent contributor to the Literary Review, Observer, Independent on Sunday, Times Literary Supplement, Index on Censorship and New Statesman, and is an equally frequent broadcaster on BBC Radios 4, 3 and the World Service. He writes the Thinking Read column for the Barnes and Noble Review in New York, is the Editor of Online Review London, and a Contributing Editor of Prospect magazine. In addition he sits on the editorial boards of several academic journals, and for nearly ten years was the Honorary Secretary of the principal British philosophical association, the Aristotelian Society. He is a past chairman of June Fourth, a human rights group concerned with China, and is a representative to the UN Human Rights Council for the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He is a Vice President of the British Humanist Association, the Patron of the United Kingdom Armed Forces Humanist Association, a patron of Dignity in Dying, and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. Anthony Grayling was a Fellow of the World Economic Forum for several years, and a member of its C-100 group on relations between the West and the Islamic world. He has served as a Trustee of the London Library and a board member of the Society of Authors. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2003 he was a Man Booker Prize judge, in 2010 was a judge of the Art Fund prize, and in 2011 the Wellcome Book Prize. He was the chairman of the 2014 Man Booker Prize. He supports a number of charities including Plan UK, Greenpeace, Médecins Sans Frontières, Amnesty International and Freedom from Torture. He is also a sponsor of Rogbonko School in Sierra Leone. His latest books are The God Argument  (March 2013) and "Friendship" (September 2013). Anthony Grayling's new book, The Challenge of Things will be published in March 2015.

Simon Glendinning (@lonanglo| ) is an English philosopher, and is currently Professor of European Philosophy in the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is Director of the Forum for European Philosophy. Simon's work is characterised by the way in which it engages with thinkers and themes from both the 'analytic' and 'continental' traditions in philosophy. His first book, On Being With Others: Heidegger-Wittgenstein-Derrida, is an analysis of the problem of other minds. His later writings are largely concerned with the phenomenological tradition in philosophy. In the Name of Phenomenology is a detailed study of that tradition. The Idea of Continental Philosophy is a critique of the contemporary division between ‘analytic’ and ‘continental’ philosophy, and argues that phenomenological philosophy in particular should not be conceived as an exclusively ‘continental’ tradition. In 2011 he published Derrida: A Very Short Introduction. However, most of his work since 2007 has involved a turn from European Philosophy towards the Philosophy of Europe. Simon realised he could make a career in philosophy when he spent two hours successfully untangling the twisted strings of a stunt kite. Wittgenstein says that 'philosophy unties knots in our thinking; hence its results must be simple, but philosophizing has to be as complicated as the knots it unties'. Simon has a BPhil and a DPhil in Philosophy from Oxford University and has been exploring knots for a living since 1994. He is still not clear whether philosophy is a complicated education for grown-ups or just a simple occupation for grown-ups who never made it beyond childhood.

LSESU Atheist, Secular & Humanist Society| (@LSESUASH| ) runs a series of lectures, debates, panel discussion and social events to promote open-minded discussion on issues related to religion, secularism, humanism and atheism. 

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSEAtheist

This event is free and open to all with no ticket or pre-registration required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries contact Bo Liao by email b.liao1@lse.ac.uk| or call 07522 158 370. For further information visit the facebook page| .

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