User:Juliaattie/sandbox

Preliminary Work
Article Evaluation Assignment Article: Francis Bacon ''Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?'' Everything appears relevant and gives a good overview. Is the article neutral? There is nothing argumentative. Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? The article does discuss what could be considered conspiracy theories (like Bacon being Shakespear), which may not be useful. However, if the theories are prominent enough, including them is clearly necessary to understand discourse. If anything, it seems a bit arbitrary which sections of the article have separate main articles, and which do not.

''Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?'' Some of the citations link back to the Wikipedia article itself, which is a bit confusing. Others directly cite the work of Bacon, and not a secondary source, which is not what Wikipedia wants in their articles.

''Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?'' Some of the sources, particularly ones on debatable sources, clearly make an argument (like many in the section on Homosexuality). However, they are presented in a neutral way in the article itself.

''Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?''

In the talk section, some take issue with the idea that Bacon is the father of the scientific method. Others have been working on updating sources.

Project Proposal

OVERVIEW: For my final project, I hope to improve the Wikipedia page History of Atheism. This article is rated B class, and 4 in vital importance. After looking at the Talk page in the article, it seems other editors and I agree on some sections that could be improved, and these sections particularly relate to our class readings. For one, the Epicureanism section could be expanded upon, though I am not sure if I will focus on that section. In particular, I am in would like to expand on the section of atheism in Europe in the Middle Ages.

ISSUES WITH THE CURRENT ARTICLE: The section on Atheism in Europe in the Middle Ages begins by saying “In the European Middle Ages, no clear expression of atheism is known.” The rest of the section subsequently tries to demonstrate this point. I am hoping to perhaps provide nuance to this interpretation. While the article mentions proofs of the existence of God as implicitly acknowledging atheism, it then dismissed that claim. Based on my understanding of William of Ockham, however, he certainly feared that atheism could stem from these proofs, an issue which is not discussed in the article.

POTENTIAL SOURCES:

Due to the nature of Wikipedia as a tertiary source encyclopedia, I clearly will not be able to use most of our class sources in my research, though I will probably use the optional Popkin book, History of Skepticism, that is not simply primary sources. Based on preliminary research and the Talk section of the Wikipedia page I have some books and articles I will explore in order to add to this section. I am interested in reading John Arnold's 2005 book Belief and Unbelief in Medieval Europe. While many authors do not include The Middle Ages in their discussion of the history of atheism, Western Atheism: A Short History by James Thrower discusses this subject, and is a source I hope to explore as well.

Research for History of Atheism
 Sources: (... So Far!) 

Arnold, John. Belief and Unbelief in Medieval Europe. Bloomsbury Academic, 2010.

Bullivant, Stephen, and Michael Ruse. The Oxford Handbook of Atheism. Oxford University Press, 2015.

Flood, Alison. “Atheism Has Ancient Roots and Is Not 'Modern Invention', Claims New Text.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Feb. 2016, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/17/atheism-has-ancient-roots-claims-new-study.

Hyman, Gavin. A Short History of Atheism. I.B. Tauris, 2010.

Popkin, Richard H., and Maia Neto JoseÌ Raimundo. Skepticism: an Anthology. Prometheus Books, 2007.

Popkin, Richard H. The History of Scepticism from Savonarola to Bayle. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Summary of findings:

I set about my research attempting to refute the claim in the Wikipedia article that there are no known expressions of Atheism in Europe in the Middle Ages. Initially, my findings were generally consistent with that statement. What I have found, however, is that the basis of doubt and questioning religion has its foundation in the Middle Ages. Additionally, while not widespread, there exist scattered accounts of disbelief in God.

I started by exploring John H. Arnold's Belief and Unbelief in Medieval Europe. Here, I found a lot of research on dissent, heresy, and rejection of mainstream Christianity of the time. Perhaps the most prominent examples of "unbelief" included the Cathers and the Waldensians as large sects of unbelievers. These sects, however antagonistic to the Church, are not examples of Atheism. While rebellions against the Church occurred, none could be considered exactly Atheist. The most intriguing evidence includes evidence not of sects fed up with the Church, but with individuals who were indifferent to the Church, and did not participate in faith practices. Arnold notes that while these examples could be perceived as people being lazy, it demonstrates that "belief was not universally fervent" (219). Arnold enumerates examples of people not attending church, and even those who excluded the Church from their marriage. Disbelief, Arnold argues, stemmed from boredom. Arnold's analysis of blasphemy also proves interesting. While he notes that some blasphemy implies the existence of God, laws demonstrate that there were also cases of blasphemy that directly attacked articles of faith (220). Italian preachers in the fourteenth century also warned of unbelievers and people who lacked belief (225). Of all the sources I studied, the second I read, The Oxford Handbook of Atheism provided the concise and relevant information, though it perhaps was not as illuminating as Arnold's. Weltecke (who wrote the chapter on the Middle Ages), discusses the occurrence of proofs of God. The handbook notes that both Anselm of Canterbury, and later, William of Ockham acknowledge adversaries who doubt the existence of God. The section concludes by saying that the religious debates present in the Middle Ages paved the way for Atheism to arise.

Gavin Hyman's A Short History of Atheism discusses the foundation of Atheism, but lacks any information of Atheism from before the 16th century. Hyman argues that Atheism as a concept would have been unintelligible before modernity. Contrastingly, the Guardian review of the book Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh (which I hope to read in the coming weeks, but for now will use the review as my source) suggests that since Antiquity, atheism has always been present in the minds of humans, and that it is perhaps a natural human instinct. I will further explore this claim once I actually have the book in question

As for the History of Skepticism Anthology, I hoped to find some analysis in the introduction pertaining to the Middle Ages. Instead, Popkin argues that skepticism did not exist in the Middle Ages.

What is appropriate for the article: 

Unfortunately, I am not sure if most of my research is appropriate for the article I am hoping to improve. I believe I can add perhaps a few strongly cited sentences on dissent and heresy in the Middle Ages. I am also very interested in added sentences on boredom as a form of Atheism. There is some information on the proofs of God in the current section, but I will most likely expand and that using the information from the Oxford Handbook. I also hope to add a sentence or two about William of Ockham, who is noticeably missing from the article.

What my next steps are: 

I am still hoping to read other books before the final draft is due, and I have many in mind! Having researched a good amount in the Middle Ages, perhaps I should expand my research to the Renaissance and other time periods in improving this article. For my final draft (though I suppose this is not exactly a "draft") I will try to explore other time periods in order to find information more relevant to The History of Atheism.

Draft (original page, with my additions): 

In the European Middle Ages, no clear expression of atheism is known. The titular character of the Icelandic saga Hrafnkell, written in the late thirteenth century, says, "I think it is folly to have faith in gods". After his temple to Freyr is burnt and he is enslaved, he vows never to perform another sacrifice, a position described in the sagas as goðlauss, "godless". Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology observes,

It is remarkable that Old Norse legend occasionally mentions certain men who, turning away in utter disgust and doubt from the heathen faith, placed their reliance on their own strength and virtue. Thus in the Sôlar lioð 17 we read of Vêbogi and Râdey â sik þau trûðu, "in themselves they trusted",[42]

citing several other examples, including two kings.

In Christian Europe, people were persecuted for heresy, especially in countries where the Inquisition was active. Prominent examples of dissent included the Cathers and the Waldensians. These sects, however antagonistic to the Church, are not examples of Atheism. While rebellions against the Church occurred, none could be considered exactly Atheist.

Another phenomenon in the middle ages was proofs of the existence of God. Both Anselm of Canterbury, and later, William of Ockham acknowledge adversaries who doubt the existence of God. Thomas Aquinas' five proofs of God's existence and Anselm's ontological argument implicitly acknowledged the validity of the question about God's existence. Frederick Copleston, however, explains that Thomas laid out his proofs not to counter atheism, but to address certain early Christian writers such as John of Damascus, who asserted that knowledge of God's existence was naturally innate in man, based on his natural desire for happiness.[43] Thomas stated that although there is desire for happiness which forms the basis for a proof of God's existence in man, further reflection is required to understand that this desire is only fulfilled in God, not for example in wealth or sensual pleasure.[43]

The charge of atheism was used to attack political or religious opponents. Pope Boniface VIII, because he insisted on the political supremacy of the church, was accused by his enemies after his death of holding (unlikely) positions such as "neither believing in the immortality nor incorruptibility of the soul, nor in a life to come".[44]

John Arnold'sBelief and Unbelief in Middle Evil Europe discusses individuals who were indifferent to the Church, and did not participate in faith practices. Arnold notes that while these examples could be perceived as people being lazy, it demonstrates that "belief was not universally fervent." Arnold enumerates examples of people not attending church, and even those who excluded the Church from their marriage. Disbelief, Arnold argues, stemmed from boredom. Arnold argues that while some blasphemy implies the existence of God, laws demonstrate that there were also cases of blasphemy that directly attacked articles of faith. Italian preachers in the fourteenth century also warned of unbelievers and people who lacked belief.

While Atheism was not very present in the Middle Ages, some argue that the basis of doubt and questioning religion has its foundation in the Middle Ages.