Lists of Atheists

[NeoGreen]

Lists of Atheists
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_atheists

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the lack of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. This is a compilation of the various lists of atheists with articles in Wikipedia. Living persons in these lists are people whose atheism is relevant to their notable activities or public life, and who have publicly identified themselves as atheists.

Lists by profession
List of atheist activists and educators
List of atheist authors
List of atheist philosophers
List of atheists (miscellaneous) - shorter groups: Business, Comedians, Historians, Military, Social Scientists, Sports, Visual arts
List of atheists in film, radio, television and theater
List of atheists in music
List of atheists in politics and law
List of atheists in science and technology

Lists by surname
List of atheists (surnames A to B)
List of atheists (surnames C to D)
List of atheists (surnames E to G)
List of atheists (surnames H to K)
List of atheists (surnames L to M)
List of atheists (surnames N to Q)
List of atheists (surnames R to S)
List of atheists (surnames T to Z)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_atheists



8 Atheist and Agnostic Scientists Who Changed the World
Non-believers are among our most respected and beloved heroes.
http://www.alternet.org/belief/8-atheist-and-agnostic-scientists-who-changed-world
1) Stephen Hawking.
2) Alan Turing.
3) Rosalind Franklin.
4) Neil deGrasse Tyson.
5) Alfred Kinsey.
6) Eugenie Scott.
7) Andrei Sakharov.
8) Thomas Edison.



9 Great Nonbelievers In U.S. History
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-niose/great-nonbelievers-atheists-history_b_1677760.html
1) Thomas Jefferson
2) Elizabeth Cady Stanton
3) Robert Ingersoll
4) Mark Twain
5)John Dewey
6)A. Phillip Randolf
7)Katharine Hepburn
8)Carl Sagan
9)Pat Tilman



The 25 Most Influential Living Atheists
http://superscholar.org/features/influential-atheists/
1. Richard Dawkins
2. Sam Harris
3. Christopher Hitchens
4. Daniel Dennett
5. Stephen Hawking
6. Steven Pinker
7. Michael Shermer
8. Peter Singer
9. Steven Weinberg
10. Paul Kurtz
11. Lawrence Krauss
12. Edward O. Wilson
13. P. Z. Myers
14. James Randi
15. Jennifer Michael Hecht
16. Peter Atkins
17. John Brockman
18. Philip Pullman
19. Barbara Forrest
20. David Sloan Wilson
21. Ray Kurzweil
22. William B. (“Will”) Provine
23. Kai Nielsen
24. Susan Blackmore
25. Richard Carrier



The 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time
http://brainz.org/50-most-brilliant-atheists-all-time/
1. Democritus
2. Diagoras of Melos
3. Epicurus
4. Theodorus the Atheist
5. Andrew Carnegie
6. Ivan Pavlov
7. Sigmund Freud
8. Clarence Darrow
9. Richard Strauss
10. Bertrand Russell
11. Jawaharlal Nehru
12. Linus Pauling
13. Paul Dirac
14. Ayn Rand
15. Katherine Hepburn
16. Jacques Monod
17. Subrahmanyan Chandresekhar
18. Alan Turing
19. Francis Crick
20. Claude Shannon
21. Richard Feynman
22. Noam Chomsky
23. James D. Watson
24. Peter Higgs
25. Warren Buffet
26. John Searle
27. Steven Weinberg
28. Carl Sagan
29. David Suzuki
30. George Carlin
31. Bruce Lee
32. Leonard Susskind
33. Stephen Jay Gould
34. Richard Dawkins
35. Daniel Dennett
36. Stephen Hawking
37. Mick Jagger
38. Richard Leakey
39. David Gilmour
40. Brian Eno
41. David Sloan Wilson
42. Steve Wozniak
43. Douglas Adams
44. Steven Pinker
45. PZ Myers
46. Jodie Foster
47. Russell T Davies
48. David Chalmers
49. Sean Carroll
50. Mark Zuckerberg

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Ayn Rand "brilliant" ?? Pffffffft. nt

[NeoGreen]

5. Thank you for proving the point of my OP.

That anyone/single list is subject to criticism and is inherently arbitrary to whatever specific issue or agenda driving the creation of the list.

If you are truly interested enough on the subject of listing Atheists, then explore the concept in detail, show how there are many ways to list Atheists. It is easy, as I empirically demonstrated in less than 10-minutes of googling and compiling.

Don’t just go about with a hit and run technique in exploring ideas. Unless maybe there is a limited, specific or narrow agenda to foist, or unless maybe there is a doleful need to spew links to any article that contains Atheist in the title: the intellectual equivalent of how sponges go about spreading their genes.

[edhopper]

2. I am not sure about Thomas Jefferson

he was anti-religion, but it's hard to know whether he believed in a God or not. Quotes support both sides. The Jefferson Bible not withstanding.

[NeoGreen]

3. non-believer <> anti-religion...

...and the Jefferson Bible,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, commonly referred to as the Jefferson Bible, was a book constructed by Thomas Jefferson in the later years of his life by cutting and pasting with a razor and glue numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson's condensed composition is especially notable for its exclusion of all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels which contain the Resurrection and most other miracles, and passages indicating Jesus was divine.

With emphasis on: is especially notable for its exclusion of all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural

not withstanding?!

Really?!

[edhopper]

4. The purpose was to distill the NT into it's teachings

by removing the supernatural stuff.

But as I said, isn't clear whether he did not believe in any God, Unlike Payne, there are no clear statements by him.

Here is what his "official website" says;

https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs

I have seen it argued both ways and there just isn't anything definitive.

[Major Nikon]

11. Then, much like today, being branded atheist was politically disadventageous

That's why many politicians of the day either called themselves deist or appeared to subscribe to deist ideas, which is the belief in a non-interventionist supreme being that doesn't give a fuck what you do. It basically made atheism more palatable to the superstitious.

I'm pretty sure you won't find anything definitive in his writings, but I'm also pretty sure he had no real religious belief.

[edhopper]

12. I don't know what he believed

Atheist, Agnostic, spiritually unaffiliated? We can only speculate.

[Major Nikon]

13. True, and that's exactly how he wanted it

You can also say the same for George Washington who never affiliated himself with organized religion.

But whatever TJ was he had little use for religious leaders of the day and frequently called some of them out as the charlatans they no doubt were.

[edhopper]

14. True

he did not like religion. Which of course, is different from personal beliefs.

[elementstew]

6. Spiritual, not religious

Perhaps Jefferson was spiritual, not religious. The distinction is relatively new and was unavailable 200 years ago.
Why isn't there a category, Spiritual, not Religious here?

[uppityperson]

7. Welcome to DU.

go to this link and take a look at the other groups under this category, Religion & Spirituality. Maybe you can find one that fits that better. This group is about "Discuss religious and theological issues. All relevant topics are permitted. Believers, non-believers, and everyone in-between are welcome."

Here's the link to all the groups under Religion and Spirituality. Or did you mean in Wiki? Welcome, either way.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1217

[NeoGreen]

8. 1st: Welcome to DU! and 2nd: Good Question...

...but they are not "my" lists. I didn't create or compile them.

The point of my OP was to criticize the implication that any 1 list is definitive or should be even minimally suggested (i.e. implied or inferred) as definitive especially when discussing such a diverse class of persons. Think how varied all the possible lists we could make of Non Stamp-Collectors? Would any be definitive?

For instance, in my examples above I am flabbergasted by the notion that Mick Jagger is #37 in the 50 Most Brilliant Atheists of All Time list where Ray Kurzweil and Paul Kurtz aren't included.

Plus, in the 25 Most Influential Living Atheists list where are Annie-Laurie Gaylor and/or Dan Barker?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Laurie_Gaylor

However, in defense of the Jefferson listing, it is entitled "Great Nonbelievers In U.S. History" not "Great Nonreligious In U.S. History".

NG

[ButterflyBlood]

9. Christopher Hitchens on the list of living atheists?

Tad outdated I'd say.

[NeoGreen]

10. Old list...

...these things happen