Introduction

Beginning with the premise that religious and non-religious identities were fluid, overlapping phenomena rather than static, binary conditions, this timely edited collection challenges the traditional notion that atheism was an acute intellectual innovation of Western modernity by rethinking its multifarious pre-modern manifestations and impact in Brazil, China, England, France, Italy, New England, Poland, Scotland, Spain, and Transylvania.

Scope and Focus

The book reveals the entangled intellectual, cultural, and experiential dynamics of atheism, which was not only an abstract philosophical or theological category, but also a lived phenomenon involving emotional, sensory, and bodily meaning across European and non-European worlds.

Materials and Perspectives

Rich materials including manuscript diaries, correspondence, sermons, dramaturgical texts, and colonial writings evince diverse attitudes towards atheism and offer glimpses into atheistic perspectives.

Scholarly Contributions

The book achieves pioneering insights by gathering emergent and world-leading researchers whose scholarship investigates atheism from multiple interdisciplinary vantage points, including history, theology, and literature as well as philosophy, anthropology, and sociology.