25 Mar 2022
Books, On This Day, Reading
25 March 2022 Cheryl

25 March 1811: Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from Oxford University

The Necessity of Atheism by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Three days after his expulsion from university, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a letter to his father explaining the situation. If Shelley thought his father would be sympathetic, he was wrong — Timothy Shelley wrote “impious” on his copy of the pamphlet and a heated fight with his son ensued. After a series of progressively more insulting letters back and forth, Shelley Jnr grandly announced that he was cutting himself off from his father. A few months later he eloped with a 16-year-old named Harriet Westbrook. [1]

Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from Oxford University in 1811 for refusing to deny his role in a pamphlet entitled “The Necessity of Atheism.” The work argues that the belief in God is not necessary for a moral life and that organised religion has done more harm than good throughout history.

Written when he was just 18 years old, Shelley begins the pamphlet by arguing that the existence of evil in the world is incompatible with the idea of an all-powerful, benevolent God. He also asserts that religious doctrines and dogmas are irrational and based on superstition rather than reason or evidence. According to the pamphlet, true morality comes from an individual’s own reason and conscience, rather than from religious doctrine or divine commandment.

A signed copy of the short tract was sent to all the heads of Oxford colleges at the University who found the content so shocking that it led to his expulsion from the university. Despite the work often being attributed solely to Shelley, historian of atheism David Berman says that Shelley “was probably assisted by his friend T.J. Hogg.”

Despite the criticism and controversy that the pamphlet generated, Shelley’s arguments continue to resonate with people today who reject the notion that religion is necessary for a moral life, and who advocate for the separation of church and state.

Selected links for relevant websites, books, movies, videos, and more. Some of these links lead to protected content on this website, learn more about that here.