Is it possible to create a thorough and philosophical defense of atheism and critique of theism? Absolutely, and Michael Martin has done just that in his massive book published in 1990.
Summary
Title: Atheism: A Philosophical Justification Author: Michael Martin Publisher: Temple University Press ISBN: 9780877229438
Pro: • All sorts of common arguments covered • Great detail covered in each argument • More depth than most books
Con: • May be too difficult for average readers
Description: •  Comprehensive coverage of arguments against theism • Comprehensive coverage of arguments for atheism • Both prose argument and formal logic arguments presented
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Book Review
The first part, about 300 pages, is about Negative Atheism, or the position of simply refraining from belief in claims that a god exists because those claims lack sufficient force to warrant acceptance. In defense of this, Martin goes into great detail of every argument and every version of every argument offered in defense of the existence of gods - and he refutes them through extensive arguments and/or examples.
The second part, also about 300 pages, is about Positive Atheism: the position that the gods claimed by theists probably don't exist at all. In defense of the Martin offers numerous and specific arguments against the existence of gods with the characteristics like omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, creator of the universe, and others which are typically claimed by theists.
This book is, obviously, very comprehensive. There are certainly many things which are not addressed here because it is over ten years old at this point and, by now, more sophisticated arguments for theism and against atheism have since been created. Nevertheless, most of what is still argued today can be found in this book, discussed in a thorough manner.
However, this book can also be very difficult to understand. Usually he presents the arguments in a standard prose description first, and even that can be hard to follow; but then he often repeats the argument using formal logic and symbols. This will certainly be of great interest to professional philosophers and those schooled in formal logic, but everyone else will be completely lost and have no idea what is going on.
Atheism: A Philosophical Justification, by Michael Martin
Image Courtesy Pricegrabber.com Because of this, his book is absolutely not suitable for beginners. If you don't know much about arguments for and against atheism and theism, and/or don't know much about philosophy and logic, you should wait before getting this book. There are many others which address the same topics, and while they may not be as detailed and comprehensive, they will be easier to understand.
On the other hand, if you are familiar with those arguments and if you do feel comfortable with complex philosophical arguments, then this is exactly what you want to have.
Despite the difficulty many readers will have with this book, it is a valuable reference work and learning tool concerning the arguments about atheism and theism. Just about everything you could want to know about the topic is here, if you are willing to invest the time and effort needed to understand the complexities.
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