In Defense of Secular Humanism

In Defense of Secular Humanism PDF Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615926402
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
A spirited defense of secular humanism against fundamentalist critics.

In Defense of Secular Humanism

In Defense of Secular Humanism PDF Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615926402
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
A spirited defense of secular humanism against fundamentalist critics.

Life After Faith

Life After Faith PDF Author: Philip Kitcher
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300210345
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

What is Secular Humanism?

What is Secular Humanism? PDF Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781591024996
Category : Humanism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Philosopher Paul Kurtz describes the many ways in which secular humanism's scientific, philosophical, and ethical outlook has exerted a profound influence on civilization from the ancient world to the present.

Clergy in the Classroom

Clergy in the Classroom PDF Author: David A. Noebel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780936163307
Category : Humanism
Languages : en
Pages : 174

Get Book Here

Book Description
Secular Humanism is a real and well-developed worldview embraced by many educators, intellectuals and leaders throughout our nation. This program examines the crushing weight of evidence supporting the fact that Secular Humanism is a religion, and the the dominant worldview taught in public schools today.

Bioethics and Secular Humanism

Bioethics and Secular Humanism PDF Author: H. Tristram Engelhardt
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1620320711
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

A SECULAR AGE

A SECULAR AGE PDF Author: Charles TAYLOR
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674044282
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 889

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Devil and Secular Humanism

The Devil and Secular Humanism PDF Author: Howard Radest
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313388547
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Get Book Here

Book Description
There is currently much confusion about the nature of humanism and a good deal of interest in its point of view. As the object of attack and suspicion by fundamentalists, conservatives, and traditional religionists, Howard B. Radest believes that humanism deserves a clear and responsible treatment. He accomplishes this in this book by clarifying the nature of humanism in historical and current thought. The Enlightenment, Radest states, gave birth to a number of humanist values that are still being worked out in today's societies. He reconstructs how humanist values have been considered dangerous by those who fear a change in the status quo. Humanism, Radest maintains, is the true descendant of the age of reason and freedom. In this unique volume, humanism is viewed as being misunderstood by both traditionalists and the humanists themselves. Radest does not wish to disparage traditional beliefs, but he emphasizes that humanism is a legitimate philosophical, ideological, and religious alternative--a party to the current struggle for a postmodern life philosophy. The Devil and Secular Humanism examines humanism in a more comprehensive way than most current literature, and it includes an assessment of the prospects for humanism in the years ahead. It will be of great use to a literate, but nontechnical, audience who are engaged in philosophy, religion, law, and politics.

God Created Humanism

God Created Humanism PDF Author: Theo Hobson
Publisher: SPCK
ISBN: 0281077444
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book Here

Book Description
Gloriously maddening though this book will be to those who want humanism to have no connection to religion whatever, its purpose is both generous and hopeful: to demonstrate, to both Christians and post-Christians alike, how much better we understand each other than we think we do. - Francis Spufford Theo Hobson is an exceptionally acute observer of the difficulties and opportunities created by our largely secular age. He can see the self-deceptions we are engaged in as regards our debts to religion – and, in this beautiful book, charts a wise course to a saner world. - Alain de Botton With his usual crisp and rigorous analysis, Theo Hobson invites us to recognise that the core moral values of liberal modernity did not fall ready-made from a secular heaven but are the deposit of a long theological tradition. But – just as typically – he makes it clear that this is a challenge to contemporary religious complacency at least as much as to a smug and patronising secularity. A fine, provocative book. - Rowan Williams In this compelling account of the origins and evolution of our secular worldview, Theo Hobson shows how Christian values continue to underpin our public morality, how faith remains indispensable to Western humanism, and how atheistic humanism represents a dead end. At the same time, he offers a timely warning against the dangers of a religious-secular culture war, given the radically politicized and destructive forms of religion endemic in the world today Here is a fresh and provocative argument about religion and politics – but one that doesn’t fit into the normal boxes. It suggests that although the public creed of the West is best described as ‘secular humanism’ we can only really understand and affirm secular humanism if we see how firmly it is based on Christian norms and values. If we don’t, the West is divided: mired in a stagnant stand-off between fundamentalist atheism and an equally hard-line Christian theism. This book offers a more nuanced and historically more persuasive way forward, showing just how much our secular morality owes to Christianity, and how it can only find coherence through a new and positive view of its origins.

Meditations for the Humanist

Meditations for the Humanist PDF Author: A. C. Grayling
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195168909
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 219

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Humanism: A Very Short Introduction

Humanism: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Stephen Law
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199553645
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book Here

Book Description
Summary: Philosopher Stephen Law explains why humanism--though a rejection of religion--nevertheless provides both a moral basis and a meaning for our lives.-publisher description.