History of atheism

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Atheism is the rejection of an assertion that a deity exists. In its strictest definition, positive atheism is the position that there are absolutely no deities that exist, while negative atheism is the position that there are probably no deities that exist, but does not state that there are none. The English term 'atheist' was used at least as early as the sixteenth century and atheistic ideas and their influence have a longer history. Philosophical atheist thought began to appear in Europe and Asia in the sixth or fifth century BCE. In ancient Greece, playwrights expressed doubt regarding the existence of gods and ancient India had an antireligious philosophical school, Charvaka. Materialistic philosophy was produced by the atomists Leucippus and Democritus in 5th century BCE, who explained the world in terms of the movements of atoms moving in infinite space. The Enlightenment fueled skepticism and secularism against religion in Europe.

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