Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

ASEITY

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ASEITY. From the Latin aseitas, meaning
“from or by oneself (or itself ).” A being
has aseity if its very nature is existence or
if the ground of its existence is part of its
essence. In theism, God possesses aseity
because God’s existence is not derived
from any external source.

ATHANASIUS (300?–373). Bishop of
Alexandria from 328 onward, Athanasius
was a staunch opponent of Arianism and
boldly argued that the Father and Son
are of the same essence. He advocated a
Trinitarian theology popularized as “The
Creed of St. Athanasius.” His principal
works include Against the Gentiles, On
the Incarnation, Orations against the
Arians, Apology against the Arians, and
On Doctrine.

ATHEISM. From the Greek, meaning
“without God.” Atheism is the denial that
there is a God. Historically, the term
achieved currency as a denial of theism,
but the term today is broader and is
often used as the denial of either a theistic
or non-theistic view of God. See also
AGNOSTICISM.

ATMAN. Sanskrit for “self.” In Hindu
traditions, atman refers to the self or the
soul. There are a variety of philosophical
schools of thought within Hinduism,
which disagree on the relationship
between atman and Brahman (God or

the Ultimate Reality). The Advaita Vedanta

school of thought supports a strict

non-dual perspective, in which atman is

Brahman.

ATOMISM. From the Greek atomos for

indivisible, the view that the material

world is composed of indivisible things.

The theory, originally developed by

Leucippus and Democritus in the fifth

century BCE, that all matter is made up of

indivisible atoms which are separated by

the void. Ancient atomism asserts that

there is a smallest piece of matter that

cannot be divided. The only characteris-

tics that such atoms have are shape and

size. However, the way that atoms are

oriented and the way they combine with

other atoms also has an effect on the mac-

roscopic scale. Color, sound, smell, taste,

and temperature are merely ways that we

perceive different atoms interacting.

Ancient atomism had a revival in the

seventeenth century with thinkers such

as Boyle and Descartes. These philoso-

phers emphasized the mechanical nature

of the universe that atomism implies. If

all atoms are governed by the same laws,

it means that all future locations of atoms

are predetermined by their preceding

locations. On the assumption that every-

thing that exists is made up of atoms, all

events in the past and the future could be

derived if all locations and motions of all

atoms were known at one given time. Thus,

this view results in determinism and is

incompatible with free will. While atomism