Download or read book Morality Religious and Secular written by Basil Mitchell and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1980 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes the moral confusion of contemporary society, relating rival conceptions of morality with a wide variety of views about the nature and predicament of man. Mitchell argues that many secular thinkers possess a traditional "Christian" conscience which they find hard to defend in terms of an entirely secular world-view, but which is more in line with a Christian understanding of man.
Download or read book A Secular Age written by Charles Taylor and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-17 with total page 889 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The place of religion in society has changed profoundly in the last few centuries, particularly in the West. In what will be a defining book for our time, Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean, and what, precisely, happens when a society becomes one in which faith is only one human possibility among others.
Download or read book Living the Secular Life written by Phil Zuckerman and published by Penguin Books. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sociology professor examines the demographic shift that has led more Americans than ever before to embrace a nonreligious life and highlights the inspirational stories and beliefs that empower modern-day secular culture.
Download or read book The Secular Outlook written by Paul Cliteur and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-09-29 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism shows how people can live together and overcome the challenge of religious terrorism by adopting a "secular outlook" on life and politics. Shows how secularism can answer the problem of religious terrorism Provides new perspectives on how religious minorities can be integrated into liberal democracies Reveals how secularism has gained a new political and moral significance. Also examines such topics as atheism, religious criticism and free speech
Download or read book The Principles of Secularism Illustrated written by George Jacob Holyoake and published by . This book was released on 1871 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Life After Faith written by Philip Kitcher and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there is no shortage of recent books arguing against religion, few offer a positive alternative—how anyone might live a fulfilling life without the support of religious beliefs. This enlightening book fills the gap. Philip Kitcher constructs an original and persuasive secular perspective, one that answers human needs, recognizes the objectivity of values, and provides for the universal desire for meaningfulness. Kitcher thoughtfully and sensitively considers how secularism can respond to the worries and challenges that all people confront, including the issue of mortality. He investigates how secular lives compare with those of people who adopt religious doctrines as literal truth, as well as those who embrace less literalistic versions of religion. Whereas religious belief has been important in past times, Kitcher concludes that evolution away from religion is now essential. He envisions the successors to religious life, when the senses of identity and community traditionally fostered by religion will instead draw on a broader range of cultural items—those provided by poets, filmmakers, musicians, artists, scientists, and others. With clarity and deep insight, Kitcher reveals the power of secular humanism to encourage fulfilling human lives built on ethical truth.
Download or read book Secular Morality Rhetoric and Reader written by Steve Cirrone and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015-07-09 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SECULAR MORALITY is a book that will benefit students and instructors alike. Students of logic, persuasion, philosophy, and more, will find Part One to be a helpful guide in understanding the principles of secular morality and the premises that shape moral argument; students will also appreciate the way Part Two provides examples of secular morality put into practice through real and engaging student essays that have been highlighted for their strengths and weaknesses with respect to moral argument. Argumentation and Critical Thinking instructors will find that the rhetoric explores the principles and premises of secular morality in an accessible manner that can readily adapt to their individual classroom needs and teaching styles.
Download or read book Forbidden Fruit written by Paul Kurtz and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-10-29 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul Kurtz, America's leading secular humanist philosopher, affirms that it is possible to live the good life and be morally responsible, without belief in religion. In this original and penetrating book, Kurtz delineates the means by which humanity can transcend the limitations of traditional religious loyalties and achieve a higher stage of ethics. Fundamentalists deny the possibility of ethics without belief in God. Conservatives rail against secularists. Yet belief in God is no guarantee of moral virtue - as the evils committed in the name of religion have vividly shown. Are there secular ethical principles and values that are vital for a world in crisis? In this new edition of Forbidden Fruit, Kurtz defends the ethics of secularism and humanism. In order to progress to a maximum level of creative development, he maintains that we must be nourished by the "forbidden fruit" of the knowledge of good and evil, grounding principles and values in autonomous reason. This is the path that leads to the discovery of significant ethical truths that can guide both self-reliant conduct and consideration for the rights of others. By breaking the bonds of theistic illusion, we can summon the courage and wisdom to develop a rational ethic based on a realistic appraisal of nature and an awareness of the centrality of the moral decencies common to all peoples. The ultimate key to the good life, Kurtz writes, is to eat of the fruit of the second tree in the Garden of Eden - the tree of life - discovering for ourselves the manifold potentialities for a bountiful existance. Forbidden Fruit contains important chapters on ethical excellences for individuals, moral education for children, and thoughts on privacy and human rights, in addition to presenting concrete ethical recommendations as alternatives to the reigning orthodoxies.
Download or read book Bioethics and Secular Humanism written by H. Tristram Engelhardt and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bioethics is vitally important in our day because it represents the critical expression of interest in the proper use of medical science to provide health care. Secular humanism is important because it is a central factor in constructing a common morality that does not make special appeal to such things as religious assumptions. The argument of this book, therefore, will be of profound interest to all who are concerned for the well-being of humanity in today's world. Imagine, the author says, Roman Catholics and committed atheists disputing over proper abortion policies. Imagine individuals who wish to organize a for-profit surrogate mother service, confronting individuals who view such endeavors as exploitation of women. To what moral premise do they appeal? Are power and influence the deciding factors, or is it possible to establish certain principles to which all may appeal? In answer, Professor Engelhardt examines the various meanings of secularity and humanism, clearly showing how complex they are. Alongside this he demonstrates the diversity of bioethics and the problems of laying a foundation for it. Based on these considerations, he identifies which ways forward are the most promising. The urgency of the task is clear. New biomedical possibilities are surfacing at the very time that demands to contain health care costs pose difficult ethical problems.
Download or read book Secular Conscience written by Austin Dacey and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2009-09-18 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is needed at a time when both the religious right and the religious left claim that there can be no public or private morality without religion. With wit and a philosopher's insight, Dacey explains exactly why secular morality . . . is sorely needed"--Susan Jacoby, author, "Freethinkers."
Download or read book In Defense of Secular Humanism written by Paul Kurtz and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-09-09 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A spirited defense of secular humanism against fundamentalist critics.
Download or read book Poverty and Morality written by William A. Galston and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-09-20 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This multiauthored book explores how many influential ethical traditions - secular and religious, Western and non-Western - wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty and the needs of the poor. These traditions include Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, among the religious perspectives; classical liberalism, feminism, liberal-egalitarianism, and Marxism, among the secular; and natural law, which might be claimed by both. The basic questions addressed by each of these traditions are linked to several overarching themes: what poverty is, the particular vulnerabilities of high-risk groups, responsibility for the occurrence of poverty, preferred remedies, how responsibility for its alleviation is distributed, and priorities in the delivery of assistance. These essays are preceded by a background chapter on the types, scope, and causes of poverty in the modern world and some contemporary strategies for eliminating it. The volume concludes with Michael Walzer's broadly conceived commentary, which provides a direct comparison of the presented views and makes suggestions for further study and policy.
Download or read book Secular Morality written by Prem Nath Bazaz and published by . This book was released on 1978-07-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Secularism written by Phil Zuckerman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 793 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As recent headlines reveal, conflicts and debates around the world increasingly involve secularism. National borders and traditional religions cannot keep people in tidy boxes as political struggles, doctrinal divergences, and demographic trends are sweeping across regions and entire continents. And secularity is increasing in society, with a growing number of people in many regions having no religious affiliation or lacking interest in religion. Simultaneously, there is a resurgence of religious participation in the politics of many countries. How might these diverse phenomena be better understood? Long-reigning theories about the pace of secularization and ideal church-state relations are under invigorated scrutiny by scholars studying secularism with new questions, better data, and fresh perspectives. The Oxford Handbook of Secularism offers a wide-ranging and in-depth examination of this global conversation, bringing together the views of an international collection of prominent experts in their respective fields. This is the essential volume for comprehending the core issues and methodological approaches to the demographics and sociology of secularity; the history and variety of political secularisms; the comparison of constitutional secularisms across many countries from America to Asia; the key problems now convulsing church-state relations; the intersections of liberalism, multiculturalism, and religion; the latest psychological research into secular lives and lifestyles; and the naturalistic and humanistic worldviews available to nonreligious people.
Download or read book Godless Morality written by Richard Holloway and published by Canongate Books. This book was released on 2000-05-04 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The use of God in any moral debate is so problematic as to be almost worthless. We can argue whether this or that alleged claim emanated from God, but surely it is better to leave God out of the argument altogether and find strong human reasons for supporting the systems that we advocate. Godless Morality is a refreshing, courageous and human-centred justification for contemporary morality.
Download or read book The British Moralists on Human Nature and the Birth of Secular Ethics written by Michael B. Gill and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-07-31 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uncovering the historical roots of naturalistic, secular contemporary ethics, in this volume Michael Gill shows how the British moralists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries completed a Copernican revolution in moral philosophy. They effected a shift from thinking of morality as independent of human nature to thinking of it as part of human nature itself. He also shows how the British Moralists - sometimes inadvertently, sometimes by design - disengaged ethical thinking, first from distinctly Christian ideas and then from theistic commitments altogether. Examining in detail the arguments of Whichcote, Cudworth, Shaftesbury, and Hutcheson against Calvinist conceptions of original sin and egoistic conceptions of human motivation, Gill also demonstrates how Hume combined the ideas of earlier British moralists with his own insights to produce an account of morality and human nature that undermined some of his predecessors' most deeply held philosophical goals.
Download or read book Meditations for the Humanist written by A. C. Grayling and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2003-11 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meditations for the humanist is a wide-ranging magnanimous inquiry into the philosophical and ethical questions that bear most strongly on the human condition. Containing nearly fifty linked commentaries on topics ranging from love, lying, perseverance, revenge, racism, religion, history, loyalty, health, and leisure, Meditations for the humanist does not offer definitive statements but rather prompts to reflection. For those wishing to explore ethical issues outside the framework of organized religious belief, Meditations for the humanist offers an inviting map to the country of philosophical reflection.
