Download or read book Philosophy Atheism written by Kai Nielsen and published by Buffalo, N.Y. : Prometheus Books. This book was released on 1985 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Philosophers without Gods written by Louise M. Antony and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-08-08 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Atheists are frequently demonized as arrogant intellectuals, antagonistic to religion, devoid of moral sentiments, advocates of an "anything goes" lifestyle. Now, in this revealing volume, nineteen leading philosophers open a window on the inner life of atheism, shattering these common stereotypes as they reveal how they came to turn away from religious belief. These highly engaging personal essays capture the marvelous diversity to be found among atheists, providing a portrait that will surprise most readers. Many of the authors, for example, express great affection for particular religious traditions, even as they explain why they cannot, in good conscience, embrace them. None of the contributors dismiss religious belief as stupid or primitive, and several even express regret that they cannot, or can no longer, believe. Perhaps more important, in these reflective pieces, they offer fresh insight into some of the oldest and most difficult problems facing the human mind and spirit. For instance, if God is dead, is everything permitted? Philosophers without Gods demonstrates convincingly, with arguments that date back to Plato, that morality is independent of the existence of God. Indeed, every writer in this volume adamantly affirms the objectivity of right and wrong. Moreover, they contend that secular life can provide rewards as great and as rich as religious life. A naturalistic understanding of the human condition presents a set of challenges--to pursue our goals without illusions, to act morally without hope of reward--challenges that can impart a lasting value to finite and fragile human lives. 'This Atheists R Us compilation differs markedly in tone from Hitchens and Dawkins. Excellent fare for Christian small groups whose members are genuinely interested in the arguments raised by atheists.'-- Christianity Today 'Rather than the foolishness of Dawkins or Hitchens, these [essays] are compelling and sophisticated arguments that religious people ought to confront....'-- Tikkun 'Taken as a group, these readable, personal, and provocative essays make it clear that there are many kinds of non-believers, and even many different elements that make up a single skeptical outlook. Contrary to the popular image, atheism isn't all rebellious trumpets and defiant drums. That part of the orchestra is essential, but here we have all the varieties of unreligious experience, a full symphony of unbelief.' -- Free Inquiry 'This collection strikes me as an excellent example of how comprehensible philosophical writing can be at its best. By and large, the essays are written in a clear and direct style, free of philosophical jargon. Many who read it will find themselves also engaged at a level that is not merely academic.'--George I. Mavrodes, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
Download or read book A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy written by Graham Oppy and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-05-06 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PROSE 2020 Single Volume Reference Finalist! Philosophers throughout history have debated the existence of gods, but it is only in recent years that the absence of such a belief has become a significant topic of philosophical analysis, in particular for philosophers of religion. Although it is difficult to trace the historical contours of atheism as the lack of belief in a higher power, the reasoned, reflective, and thoughtful rejection of theism has become commonplace in many modern intellectual circles, including academic philosophy where disciplinary data indicates that a large majority of philosophers self-identify as atheists. As the first book of its kind to bring together a collection of writing on the philosophical aspects of atheism both historical and contemporary, the Companion to Atheism and Philosophy stages an explicit, constructive, and comprehensive conversation between philosophy and atheism to examine the ways in which atheist thought intersects with ideas and positions from a variety of philosophical and theological sub-disciplines. The Companion begins by addressing the foundational questions and lingering controversies which underpin philosophical thought about atheism, exploring the implications of major developments in the history of philosophy for the modern atheistic worldview. Divided into eight distinct sections, essays consider a range of thinkers who were widely believed to have been atheists—including David Hume, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton—and survey different kinds of objections to theism and atheism, including logical, evidential, normative, and prudential. Later chapters trace the relationship between atheism and metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy oriented around topics such as pragmatism, postmodernism, freedom, education, violence, and happiness. Deftly curated and thoughtfully composed, A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy is the most ambitious and authoritative account of philosophical thinking on atheism available, and is a first-rate resource for academics, professionals, and students of philosophy, religious studies, and theology.
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Atheism written by Michael Martin and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-30 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this 2007 volume, eighteen of the world's leading scholars present original essays on various aspects of atheism: its history, both ancient and modern, defense and implications. The topic is examined in terms of its implications for a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, religion, feminism, postmodernism, sociology and psychology. In its defense, both classical and contemporary theistic arguments are criticized, and, the argument from evil, and impossibility arguments, along with a non religious basis for morality are defended. These essays give a broad understanding of atheism and a lucid introduction to this controversial topic.
Download or read book Difficult Atheism written by Christopher Watkin and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-31 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing primarily on the work of Alain Badiou and Jean-Luc Nancy, plus Quentin Meillassoux and Slavoj Zizek, Watkin explores the theme of atheism through the ideas of the death of God and nihilism in contemporary French philosophy.
Download or read book Theism and Atheism written by Joseph W. Koterski and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 718 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This peer-reviewed, academic collection contains essays on key topics in philosophical debates regarding arguments for and against the existence of God (e.g., Religious Experience, Miracles, Our Universe, Human Beings, Science and Religion, etc.). For each topic, it provides an essay from the viewpoint of theism, followed by an essay on the same topic from the viewpoint of atheism by a different author.
Download or read book Secular Philosophy and the Religious Temperament written by Thomas Nagel and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects recent essays and reviews by Thomas Nagel in three subject areas. The first section, including the title essay, is concerned with religious belief and some of the philosophical questions connected with it, such as the relation between religion and evolutionary theory, the question of why there is something rather than nothing, and the significance for human life of our place in the cosmos. It includes a defense of the relevance of religion to science education. The second section concerns the interpretation of liberal political theory, especially in an international context. A substantial essay argues that the principles of distributive justice that apply within individual nation-states do not apply to the world as a whole. The third section discusses the distinctive contributions of four philosophers to our understanding of what it is to be human--the form of human consciousness and the source of human values.
Download or read book The Problem of Atheism written by Augusto Del Noce and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2022-01-05 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1964, Augusto Del Noce assembled in a book some of his best works on Marxism, atheism, and the history of modern philosophy. The result was Il problema dell’ateismo, which he always regarded as foundational to his way of thinking. The book remains his best-known work and is still in print in Italy almost sixty years later. The Problem of Atheism offers the first English translation of this landmark book, one of the earliest works to recognize the new secularizing trends in Western culture following World War II. Del Noce situates atheism historically, reconstructing its philosophical trajectory through European modernity. Documenting the author’s entire intellectual experience, these essays explore the birth of modern philosophy, reckon with the great European crisis of 1917 to 1945 and the Cold War that followed, and mine the opposition between Marxism and the rise of the affluent society. The result is rich with premonitions of the cultural landscape that would take shape throughout the 1960s and the decades that followed. Proving its English translation to be long overdue, The Problem of Atheism remains relevant to contemporary debates about secularization, political theology, and modernity.
Download or read book J G Fichte and the Atheism Dispute 1798 1800 written by Curtis Bowman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-06 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The atheism dispute is one of the most important philosophical controversies of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Germany. Johann Gottlieb Fichte, one of the leading philosophers of the period, was accused of atheism after publishing his essay 'On the Ground of Our Belief in a Divine World-Governance', which he had written in response to Karl Friedrich Forberg's essay 'Development of the Concept of Religion'. Fichte argued that recognition of the moral law includes affirmation of a 'moral world order', which he identified with God. Critics charged both Forberg and Fichte with atheism, thereby prompting Fichte to launch a public campaign of defense that included his threat to resign his position at the University of Jena if he were subjected to any government reprimand. Fichte was forced to make good this threat when his work was censured. The dispute eventually died down but it influenced many other thinkers for years to come. J. G. Fichte: The Atheism Dispute (1798-1800) is the first English commentary devoted solely to the atheism dispute as well as the first English translation of collected writings from the Atheism Dispute. This book brings together many major essays and documents relating to this dispute. These include the anonymous polemic 'A Father's Letter to his Student Son about Fichte's and Forberg's Atheism', Fichte's essays 'Appeal to the Public' and 'Juridical Defense', and numerous documents from the University of Jena and the ducal courts of Dresden, Weimar, and Gotha. Most of the texts are translated from German into English for the first time, and all are accompanied by full commentaries and detailed notes. Bowman and Estes bring to an English speaking audience the full details of this controversy, which ended Fichte's career in Jena and profoundly influenced his approach to communicating philosophical and religious concepts.
Download or read book Russell on Religion written by Bertrand Russell and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russell on Religion presents a comprehensive and accessible selection of Bertrand Russell's writing on religion and related topics from the turn of the century to the end of his life. The influence of religion pervades almost all Bertrand Russell's writings from his mathematical treatises to his early fiction. Russell contends with religion as a philosopher, as a historian, as a social critic and as a private individual. The papers in this volume are arranged chronologically for optimum coherence of the development of Russell's thinking and are divided into five main sections: * Personal statements * Religion and Philosophy * Religion and Science * Religion and Morality * Religion and History. Students at all levels will find this a valuable insight into Russell's thought on religion.
Download or read book Radical Atheism written by Martin Hägglund and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Radical Atheism challenges the religious appropriation of Derrida's work and offers a compelling new account of his thinking on time and space, life and death, good and evil, self and other.
Download or read book Atheism written by Alexandre Kojève and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the twentieth century’s most brilliant and unconventional thinkers, Alexandre Kojève was a Russian émigré to France whose lectures on Hegel in the 1930s galvanized a generation of French intellectuals. Although Kojève wrote a great deal, he published very little in his lifetime, and so the ongoing rediscovery of his work continues to present new challenges to philosophy and political theory. Written in 1931 but left unfinished, Atheism is an erudite and open-ended exploration of profound questions of estrangement, death, suicide, and the infinite that demonstrates the range and the provocative power of Kojève’s thought. Ranging across Heidegger, Buddhism, Christianity, German idealism, Russian literature, and mathematics, Kojève advances a novel argument about freedom and authority. He investigates the possibility that there is not any vantage point or source of authority—including philosophy, science, or God—that is outside or beyond politics and the world as we experience it. The question becomes whether atheism—or theism—is even a meaningful position since both affirmation and denial of God’s existence imply a knowledge that seems clearly outside our capacities. Masterfully translated by Jeff Love, this book offers a striking new perspective on Kojève’s work and its implications for theism, atheism, politics, and freedom.
Download or read book Religion and the New Atheism written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2010-06-14 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term “new atheism” has been given to the recent barrage of bestselling books written by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and others. These books and their authors have had a significant media presence and have only grown in popularity over the years. This book brings together scholars from religious studies, science, sociology of religion, sociology of science, philosophy, and theology to engage the new atheism and place it in the context of broader scholarly discourses. This volume will serve to contextualize and critically examine the claims, arguments and goals of the new atheism so that readers can become more informed of some of the debates with which the new atheists inevitably and, at times unknowingly, engage. Contributors include Richard Harries, Reza Aslan, Amarnath Amarasingam, Robert Platzner, Jeffrey Robbins, Christopher Rodkey, Rory Dickson, Steve Fuller, William Sims Bainbridge, William A. Stahl, Stephen Bullivant, Michael Borer, Richard Cimino, Christopher Smith, Gregory R. Peterson, Jeff Nall, Ryan Falcioni, and Mark Vernon. Studies in Critical Research on Religion, vol. 1
Download or read book The Twilight of Atheism written by Alister McGrath and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this bold and provocative new book, the author of In the Beginning and The Reenchantment of Nature challenges the widely held assumption that the world is becoming more secular and demonstrates why atheism cannot provide the moral and intellectual guidance essential for coping with the complexities of modern life. Atheism is one of the most important movements in modern Western culture. For the last two hundred years, it seemed to be on the verge of eliminating religion as an outmoded and dangerous superstition. Recent years, however, have witnessed the decline of disbelief and a rise in religious devotion throughout the world. In THE TWILIGHT OF ATHEISM, the distinguished historian and theologian Alister McGrath examines what went wrong with the atheist dream and explains why religion and faith are destined to play a central role in the twenty-first century. A former atheist who is now one of Christianity’s foremost scholars, McGrath traces the history of atheism from its emergence in eighteenth-century Europe as a revolutionary worldview that offered liberation from the rigidity of traditional religion and the oppression of tyrannical monarchs, to its golden age in the first half of the twentieth century. Blending thoughtful, authoritative historical analysis with incisive portraits of such leading and influential atheists as Sigmund Freud and Richard Dawkins, McGrath exposes the flaws at the heart of atheism, and argues that the renewal of faith is a natural, inevitable, and necessary response to its failures. THE TWILIGHT OF ATHEISM will unsettle believers and nonbelievers alike. A powerful rebuttal of the philosophy that, for better and for worse, has exerted tremendous influence on Western history, it carries major implications for the future of both religion and unbelief in our society.
Download or read book A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion Second Edition written by Charles Taliaferro and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-01-25 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion is an indispensable resource for students and scholars. Covering historical and contemporary figures, arguments, and terms, it offers an overview of the vital themes that make philosophy of religion the growing, vigorous field that it is today. It covers world religions and sources from east and west. Entries have been crafted for clarity, succinctness, and engagement. This second edition includes new entries, extended coverage of non-Christian topics, as well as revisions and updates throughout. The first edition was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year.
Download or read book The Moral Landscape written by Sam Harris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-09-13 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sam Harris dismantles the most common justification for religious faith--that a moral system cannot be based on science.
Download or read book Atheism and Theism written by J. J. C. Smart and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-04-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book two philosophers, each committed to unambiguous versions of belief and disbelief, debate the central issues of atheism and theism. Considers one of the oldest and most widely disputed philosophical questions: is there a God? Presents the atheism/theism issue in the form of philosophical debate between two highly regarded scholars, widely praised for the clarity and verve of their work. This second edition contains new essays by each philosopher, responding to criticisms and building on their previous work.
