Our Approach
There is a rapidly expanding research literature that aims to explain the causes and growth of atheism, agnosticism, and other forms of non-religious belief.
Our unique approach lies in how we address specific challenges facing researchers who wish to better explain atheism. Research to explain how atheism comes about is made more difficult by our terminology (what exactly is ‘atheism’?), by the obstacles to interdisciplinary collaboration (don’t different disciplines have different goals?), and the inherent challenges of causal inference (how can you infer causality when experimentation is less practical or useful?).
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ATHEISM?
We explore the difficulties of finding a ‘correct’ definition of atheism. We then argue that we can develop better explanations of atheism and agnosticism by getting more precise in our terminology and using contemporary scientific frameworks.
WHAT IS GAINED BY DISCIPLINES WORKING TOGETHER?
We outline how researchers studying atheism and agnosticism often have different goals. We then consider what can be gained when scholars interested in general causal factors and scholars those interested in particular case studies work together.
HOW CAN YOU KNOW YOU’VE IDENTIFIED A CAUSE?
We explore the challenges of identifying the causes of atheism. We then outline some recent developments in data analysis and statistics that are advancing our abilities to infer causality and describe how we will employ these developments in our programme