Reply #41: Etymology is not the best way to look at the meaning of some words.

[Pacifist Patriot]

I've referenced Baggini's work below. He has a great explanation of the "etymological fallacy" on page 11. The examples he gives are "philosophy" and "tagliatelle." Knowing that the etymological root of the word "philosophy" is "love of wisdom" doesn't really tell you what philosophy is in practice. If you go into a restaurant and order the tagliatelle they aren't going to serve you little boot laces.

Atheism could just as easly be defined in a positive way as simply a naturalistic view of existence. No need to reference a negation at all. Yes it etymologically means the negation of theistic belief, but even if theism didn't exist, atheism still would. Though granted, probably by another name if any.