According to De Botton, features like guidance, morality and consolation, learnings that were previously conveyed through religion, are absent in the cultural and intellectual knowledge transfer that takes place in higher education. In both his book as well as during his talk for TED, De Botton explains how education, tertiary education specifically, is supposed to make individuals nobler and better people, but fails to teach people how to live.

With his book Religion for Atheists, De Botton sets out to do just that.Ĭovering topics like community, kindness, education, tenderness, pessimism, perspective, art, architecture and institutions, De Botton argues that secular societies tend to display gaps and shortcomings that can be filled when borrowing elements from religion. De Botton wants to move on from the debate about the existence of god, a question which he regards as boring and dealt with, and instead discuss the ritualistic, communal and moral aspects of religion that can have a positive effect on mankind. Also using web terms, De Botton is a proponent of what he calls Atheism 2.0, a concept that he elaborates upon during one of his TED talks.ĭe Botton, who is himself an atheist and thus doesn’t believe in the existence of a supernatural being, distances himself from more radical atheists such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens, often condescendingly labeled as militant atheists, by stating that there are many uses for religion in a secular society. But before I elaborate further on the content of Religion for Atheists, it is helpful to know a bit more about De Botton himself. In the end it is the content that determines whether the author will be accused of link baiting or will be praised for writing good content, or in this case, a book. Although the term link bait often has a negative connotation, stemming from the practice of luring people into reading content using a provocative title, De Botton’s book shouldn’t be judged by its cover. How could you not want to read a book that is titled Religion for Atheists? The title appeals to both believers and non-believers, and phrased in web terms, it makes the perfect link bait.

Alain de botton atheism 2.0