«Constructive» Atheism and secular society. Apropos of Eugenio Lecaldano, «Senza Dio»

The paper highlights the important contribution of Eugenio Lecaldano's book Senza Dio (Without God) to the overcoming of the «defensive» approach to atheism. Lecaldano's work favour indeed the perspective that focuses both on the strength of arguments used by unbelievers at the theoretical level and on the positive impacts on individuals and society as a whole when atheism is practised in private and public life by an increasing number of people. To approach atheism from this «constructive» angle is a fruitful way to overcome cultural resistances, which hinder the full implementation of a secular society able to protect all identities and guarantee a peaceful coexistence as well as the survival of the human species.