AN INQUIRY INTO THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOURCE OF ATHEISM IN THE MODERN WORLD

Abstract

This article “An Inquiry into the Philosophical Source of Atheism in the Modern World” is evoked by the perception that modern philosophy began by relegating metaphysics as its point of departure. Metaphysics, the science of being as being, is banished and replaced with the philosophy of consciousness (cogito) instead. But the challenges of the relegation and replacement have generated a series of problem including an orientation towards the ungodded society. Consequently, Descartes’ cogito, the basis for all modern philosophies, henceforth could not bridge the gap between noumenon and phenomenon, between thought and reality; for the idea of God does not necessarily involve the existence of God. Therefore, it is the belief of this article that an inquiry of such kind, through a critical and conceptual analysis of modern philosophies of consciousness may open up to a philosophical source of ungodded society today. The analysis of this inquiry uncovers and argues that the relegation of metaphysics implies the relegation of the science of being whose act it is to be (esse). The relegation of the science of being whose act it is to be implied the rejection of God, hence atheism