Ramón Soneira Martínez

Unbelief in Self-World Relations. A Relational Approach to Atheistic Positions in Classical Athens

The study of unbelief has increased in recent years. Different social and humanistic sciences have observed irreligious expressions as an essential part of the narratives that shape the everyday life of human beings. This dissertation aims to deepen this understanding by proposing a comparative-theoretical reflection on the historical analysis of unbelief. To this end, the dissertation uses a relational approach to establish a methodological line that allows us to approach the plurality of unbelief from a cross-cultural and trans-historical perspective. After analysing the most recent debates concerning the terminology of unbelief, this research explores the theoretical framework developed within the International Graduate School (IGS) “Resonante Weltbeziehungen in sozio-religiösen Praktiken in Antike und Gegenwart”. In that sense, the socio-religious practices serve as the sources to comprehend how relations with the world are established. Following this approach, the dissertation aims to give a new scope in the analysis of irreligious positions and the critique of religion from a historical perspective. From this point of view, unbelief can be understood as part of the narrative negotiations in the establishment of self-world relations. If one understands the religious field as a dynamic space in which religiosity is “lived”, then unbelief can be analysed as an intrinsic part of processes of religious individualisation. This argument serves as a common ground to explore a comparative study of atheistic expressions through their historical contextualisation. Therefore, the atheistic positions that can be found in the second half of the fifth century and the first half of the fourth century BCE in Athens are defined as the materialisation of negotiations concerning the establishment of “positive” self-world relations. Following this idea, the dissertation looks at different authors and literary sources to understand how the ancient Greeks established relationships with the world. By drawing on ecological studies applied to the ancient world, an interconnected ecological triangle between humans, land, and gods is suggested in order to understand Greek narratives concerning the relationships with the world. Once these logics are analysed, atheistic positions are approached as expressions involved in the individual reflections on how to establish positive (potentially resonant) self-world relations.

 

Academic CV

• from October 2018: Doctoral student at the Max-Weber-Kolleg, Erfurt.
• October 2016 – June 2018: Doctoral Studies, "Ciencias de las Religiones" Programme, Complutense University of Madrid (Spain).
• October 2015 – June 2016: Master's Studies, "Ciencias de las Religiones" Programme, Complutense University of Madrid (Spain).
• October 2011 – June 2015: Bachelor's Studies in History, Complutense University of Madrid (Spain).