What is Atheism and how does it relate to Levinas. These are questions that may arise when trying to figure out Levinas’s complex views on the world, the other and religion. Atheism is a disbelief in god or a total negation of the idea of a supreme being. This can range from strong atheism to weak atheism and a myriad of levels in between. Strong atheism is a total opposition to the very idea of a supreme entity that is all powerful and all knowing and weak atheism is more like agnosticism where one simply does not have a strong convictive belief in a god.
The ultimate goal of this paper is to try and understand the views Levinas holds on atheism and what that could mean for being an ethically sound human in a world of others and god. Atheism is not a total lack of ethics or a state of hedonistic abandon rather atheism is a stage in the progression of an ethically sound individual. Levinas is a Jew but he does not dismiss atheism or condemn atheists, although he is a little critical of being in isolation from a god and at times can definitely be condescending towards them, but believes that all theists are at least a little atheistic. True atheism to Levinas is a not good thing or a bad thing. He thinks that atheism can lead to a sense of total isolation which can lead to violence against the other but he also thinks that without atheism religion can dissolve into a system of simple rule following much like it did in the work camps of Munich.
Levinas can be very critical of atheism at times and can see flaws with being a purely atheistic person. Levinas thinks that atheism can lead to an egoistic self-involvement with the atheist being completely wrapped up in his own goals and aims which will lead to an ethical disintegration by not seeing the other as equal in consideration. This is only a single type of atheism which is only atheistic because he is so