Why was Shelley an atheist?

Shelley scholar Carlos Baker states that “the title of his college pamphlet should have been The Necessity of Agnosticism rather than The Necessity of Atheism,” while historian David Berman argues that Shelley was an atheist, both because he characterised himself as such, and because “he denies the existence of God in …

Who wrote the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism?

Percy Bysshe Shelley
The Necessity of Atheism/Authors
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The necessity of atheism (Worthing, [1811]). This small tract is a very rare survival of one of the two pamphlets which were published by Percy Bysshe Shelley during his brief career (six months) at University College, Oxford.

Was Shelley expelled from Oxford for writing The Necessity of Atheism?

As an Oxford undergraduate in the early 19th century, Percy Bysshe Shelley developed an argument for the non-existence of God. He entitled it The Necessity of Atheism, and 2011 is the bicentenary of his being expelled from the university for printing it.

Who was expelled from Oxford for The Necessity of Atheism?

On 25 March 1811, Percy Bysshe Shelley and his friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg were publicly expelled from University College, Oxford. On the following morning, after breakfast, they took their places on the outside of a London-bound coach. After only two terms as a first-year undergraduate, Shelley had been sent down.

When was Shelley’s the necessity of atheism published?

Shelley’s short pamphlet The Necessity of Atheismwas produced while he was a first year student at University College, Oxford. It was published anonymously in the early months of 1811.

Why did Percy Shelley recant his atheism?

Shelley’s father urged him to recant his atheism and apologise to the College, saying that after the University had calmed down Shelley would certainly be re-admitted. Shelley, however, replied that his atheism was not a passing fad but the very basis of his beliefs.

What did Percy Shelley mean by there is no God?

At the very beginning of his note on the line “There is no God” in Canto VII of Queen Mab, published just two years later and based on Necessity, Shelley qualifies his definition of atheism: There Is No God. This negation must be understood solely to affect a creative Deity.

Why is atheism a necessity to the thinking mind?

Atheism is a necessity to the thinking mind, Shelley concludes. He was watching the greatest minds of his generation cure longstanding diseases, create new compounds, and harness the powers of chemistry. Carl Linnaeus’s coding system was leading to progress in evolutionary theory.