Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World

by Tim Whitmarsh

2021-01-01 00:05:38

Long before the European Enlightenment and the Darwinian revolution, which we often take to mark the birth of the modern revolt against religious explanations of the world, brave people doubted the power of the gods. Religion provoked skepticism in a... Read more
Long before the European Enlightenment and the Darwinian revolution, which we often take to mark the birth of the modern revolt against religious explanations of the world, brave people doubted the power of the gods. Religion provoked skepticism in ancient Greece, and heretics argued that history must be understood as a result of human action rather than divine intervention. They devised theories of the cosmos based on matter, and notions of matter based on atoms. They developed mathematical tools that could be applied to the world around them, and tried to understand that world in material terms. Their skepticism left a rich legacy of literature, philosophy and science, and was defended by great writers like Epicurus, Lucretius, Cicero and Lucian. Tim Whitmarsh tells the story of the tension between orthodoxy and heresy with great panache, a story that ended--for the moment--with the imposition of Christianity on the Roman Empire in 313 CE. Less

Book Details

File size7.97 X 5.23 X 0.65 in
Print pages304
PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date October 18, 2016
LanguageEnglish
ISBN9780307948779

Compare Prices

Store Availability Book Format Condition Price
BetterWorld.com - New, Used, Rare Books & Textbooks In Stock Buy USD 9.80
Indigo Books & Music In Stock Buy CAD 45.50
Indigo Books & Music In Stock Paperback Paperback Buy CAD 22.95
BetterWorld.com - New, Used, Rare Books & TextbooksIn Stock
Format
Condition
Buy USD 9.80
Indigo Books & MusicIn Stock
Format
Condition
Buy CAD 45.50
Indigo Books & MusicIn Stock
Format
Paperback
Condition
Paperback
Buy CAD 22.95
Available Discount
No Discount available

Join us and get access to all
your favourite books

Sign up for free and start exploring thousands of eBooks today.

Sign up for free