Was he?

>>2536177
Atheism dates back to 4th - 6th Century BC, so probably not.

>>2536500
Atheism almost certainly predates religion.

No. Being an unmarried, childless loner isn't all that uncommon among philosophers.

>>2536566
The high IQ mutation is weird. It is useless to the individual, as he is more likely to not have children and be depressed and distance himself from who doesn't understand him, but his group benefits from that sacrifice.

>>2536177
Have you ever read the enchirdion? He mentions God a lot.

>>2536578
Plato discusses this in the symposium.

>>2536508
wut? even tribal shits have spirits and what not that is comparable to our concept of gods

>>2536612
OP is about Epicurus, not Epictetus.

>>2536694
Thirty thousand years ago there were probably some clever humans that could probably guess that the river wasn't controlled by a water spirit or god and just moved naturally according to the tides. A smart prehistoric man (maybe a medicine man or a shaman) probably had a naturalistic explanation for most things that didn't always involve a god or spirits. It's just when you get to the cosmology that ultimately explains the universe that you get to the gods and spirits.

>>2536694
Inventing a god takes intelligence and shared wisdom.
Wisdom develops over time.
Therefore there was a state in human development when we had enough "human" features to be considered modern men, yet didn't have enough collective wisdom, thinking tools and knowledge to invent gods.

>>2536627
I remember reading the first few speakers in the Symposium, but not actually Socrates' turn to speak. Maybe I read it when I was sleepy and forgot, should return to it.