Atheist Spirituality: Reflections on André Comte-Sponville’s L'Esprit de l'athéisme: Introduction à une spiritualité sans Dieu

Is spirituality possible without the belief in a transcendental God? The French philosopher, André Comte-Sponville’s answer is positive. In his 2006 publication, L’Esprit de l'athéisme: Introduction à une spiritualité sans Dieu, Sponville presents his case for atheist spirituality. One does not need, he suggests, to throw out the baby of culture with the bathwater of organized religion. Unlike the populist evocation of the decadence of the Judeo-Christian civilization by thinkers such as Michel Onfray or the essentialist framing of Islam as the civilizational Other of Europe by Marcel Gauchet, Sponville’s Spirit of Atheism takes on an optimistic tone. It draws on diverse cultural, spiritual, and intellectual traditions of Europe to build a new reenchanted collectivity.