英国近代前期无神论思想拾零

The Sources of British Atheism

英国无神论思想是该国政治思想史上的重要内容,长期以来循序发展。其源头至少可溯至都铎王朝晚期,代表人物有伊丽莎白的近臣沃尔特.雷利爵士。在培根之后,霍布斯是17世纪批判上帝和基督教的典范。光荣革命前后不列颠无神论思想大致分为两种类型:洛克、休谟、边沁型——含蓄委婉地质疑上帝和基督教教义,以及托兰德、葛德文、雪莱型——直率无畏地抨击宗教的蒙蔽和虚伪。欧文的批评更是淋漓尽致。19世纪中叶科学文化的长足进步促成了信仰自由的社会局面,政教合一的政府体制渐被削弱。1886年布雷德洛事件的了结是英国政教合一体制明显松动的标志。

British atheism is an important feature of the history of British political thought,and has developed over a long period of time.It can be traced back at least to the late Tudor Age,when Sir Walter Rayleigh,one of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite courtiers,was a key figure in the so-called 'school of atheism'.After Francis Bacon,Hobbes provides the model for the repudiation of the Christian God in the 17th century.Before and after the Glorious Revolution,British atheism can be divided into roughly two types:John Locke,David Hume and Jeremy Bentham belong to the first group,which queried the existence of God and Christian doctrine implicitly,while John Toland,William Godwin and Percy Shelley constitute a second group,which fearlessly attacked religious trickery and hypocrisy.Among these,Robert Owen's criticism of religion was most incisive.In the mid-19th century,science and culture made rapid progress,contributing to the general acceptance of the principle of freedom of belief,and the unification of church and state came to be gradually undermined.