This handbook is an attempt to offer a concise set of rejoinders for use by atheists in their formal (and informal) debates with theists. Older, more traditional, arguments are included as well as original arguments. The result is a short book, yet one that contains an unrelenting presentation of argument and analysis.For some time now atheists have been in need of firm grounds upon which to base their position. This handbook offers them this foundation.

The Atheist Debater's Handbook (The Skeptic's Bookshelf)

Religion & Spirituality

Johnson, B.

New Age & Spirituality

G38-Prometheus

Are the fundamentalists shaking the foundations of the American republic?- When they condemn humanism's influence in the schools, are they not actuallyattacking modern education, science, culture, and philosophy?- Is it possible to be moral without benefit of clergy or creed?- Can humanism help open doors so that individuals, singly and in cooperationwith others, can create lives that are rich in enjoyment, eloquent andmeaningful?What is humanism, and why have humanists come under attack by religious conservatives and the fundamentalist right? "Humanism is not a dogma or a creed," writes Paul Kurtz. "Humanists have confidence in human beings, and they believe that the only bases for morality are human experience and human needs. Humanists are opposed to all forms of supernaturalistic and authoritarian religion. Many humanists believe that scientific intelligence and critical reason can assist in reconstructing our moral lives . . . Humanists believe in freedom and pluralistic democracy as virtually our first principle, and we are disturbed by any authoritarian effort to impose one point of view on America. Defense of the open, democratic society should be the first point humanists make in response to the Moral Majority, making it clear that in our reading of the American tradition, pluralism is essential."In Defense of Secular Humanism is a volume of collected essays by one of the leading exponents of secular humanism. It is a closely reasoned defense of one of the most venerable ethical, scientific and philosophical traditions within Western civilization.

In Defense of Secular Humanism

Kurtz, Paul

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Jeremy Bentham's work on The Principles of Morals and Legislation emerges from its historic roots in hedonism and teleology as a scientific attempt to assess the moral content of human action by focusing on its results or consequences. Proceeding from the assumption that human beings desire pleasure (and avoid pain), Bentham's unique perspective, known as utilitarianism, is used to construct a fascinating calculus for determining which action to perform when confronted with situations requiring moral decision-makingthe goal of which is to arrive at the "greatest happiness of the greatest number." Toward this end, he endeavors to delineate the sources and kinds of pleasure and pain and how they can be measured when assessing one's moral options. Bentham supports his arguments with discussions of intentionality, consciousness, motives, and dispositions.Bentham concludes this groundbreaking work with an analysis of punishment: its purpose and the proper role that law and jurisprudence should play in its determination and implementation. Here we find Bentham as social reformer seeking to resolve the tension that inevitably exists when the concerns of the many conflict with individual freedom.The Principles of Morals and Legislation offers readers the rare opportunity to experience one of the great works of moral philosophy, a volume that has influenced the course of ethical theory for over a century.

The Principles of Morals and Legislation (Great Books in Philosophy)

Politics & Social Sciences

Bentham, Jeremy

Philosophy

With the publication of The Social Contract in 1761, Jean-Jacques Rousseau took his place among the leading political philosophers of the Enlightenment. Like his contractarian predecessors (Thomas Hobbes and John Locke), Rousseau sought to ground his political theory in an understanding of human nature, which he believed to be basically good but corrupted by the conflicting interests within society. Here self-interest degenerated into a state of war from which humanity could only be extricated by the imposition of a contract. As a party to the compact, each individual would find his true interest served within the political expression of the community of man, or the "general will."What is the content of human nature and how does it compel mankind to come together to create a civil society? What form does this society take? What benefits does it offer its citizens, and what must each individual sacrifice to reap its rewards? How does sovereign power manifest itself, and what consequences follow for those who choose not to abide by the "general will"? Does Rousseau's political theory set forth a blueprint for democracy -- one that results in equality, universal suffrage, and popular sovereignty -- or is it a recipe for central state totalitarianism? These are just a few of the complex questions that will confront readers of The Social Contract.Whatever their intent or ultimate result, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's views on the state and man's relationship to it have culminated in one of the most powerful and compelling pieces of political philosophy ever written.

The Social Contract (Great Books in Philosophy)

Humor & Entertainment

Rousseau, Jean­Jacques

Humor

The word "lovemap" was first used by Dr. John Money in lectures at Johns Hopkins University in 1980 to symbolize "the neutral template expressed in every individual's sexuoerotic fantasies and practices." The word connotes our often subconscious pattern of erotic yearnings and desire. Each of us has a distinctive lovemap, as different and individual as a fingerprint.In this book, Dr. Money outlines healthy lovemap development as well as lovemap pathology - lovemaps gone awry. Such pathology falls into three categories: hypophilia (sexual dysfunction, such as impotence), hyperphilia (erotomania), and paraphilia (perversions). Paraphilia, another term coined by Money (from the Latin para - away from what is expected, and philia - love) can range from "those that are playful and harmless to those that are bizarre and deadly."Presenting case histories, Lovemaps describes the sexual practices of several patients and subsequent treatments of their paraphilias. Money pioneered the application of the hormone MPA, or Depo-Provera, to treat repeat sex criminals. He believes he has proved that science can prevent paraphilic sex offending, as is the case for other, physiological diseases.Lovemaps and its stirring accounts of lovemap pathology in case histories, (which are indexed under "paraphilia"), can be invaluable tools for those in the fields of sexology, child psychology, clinical psychology, criminology and, with its comprehensive glossary, the general reader - in short, anyone interested in human sexual development.

Lovemaps (New Concepts in Sexuality)

Self-Help

Money, John

Some say they have been abducted and subjected to terrifying physical examinations. Others claim that young children have been kidnapped and returned only after the removal of flesh samples. Still others allege that women have been kidnapped and impregnated, the unborn children later removed for a vast cross-breeding experiment.These crimes against humanity are not perpetuated by an international terrorist organization. The "abductees" assert that they have been kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings. UFO abduction claims have spawned a veritable cottage industry, providing the fodder for an explosion of magazine articles, television interviews, newspaper features, bestselling books, and movies. Somewhere beyond all the tumult lies the truth.Dedicated to "those who will needlessly bear mental scars because of the foolish fantasies of a few," UFO Abductions lifts the shroud of mystery from the invisible epidemic of UFO abduction claims. Philip J. Klass, an internationally recognized skeptical authority on the subject of UFO reports, traces the history of these claims, from the celebrated Betty and Barney Hill case in 1966 to the extraordinary tales which are surfacing today. His response to these claims and the answers he provides are both absorbing and factual - a fascinating glimpse into an American subculture obsessed with visitors from outer space.

UFO Abductions

Klass, Philip

The twentieth century has witnessed the blossoming of Western culture: new technology; communications and transportation systems; social, political, educational, agricultural, and medical advances. But with these changes have come the strains and tensions of conflicting interests, desires, and values within the community. John Dewey, one of America's most prolific writers of popular philosophy, believed that humankind could keep a firm hold on its destiny only if the critical intelligence of scientific method and its democratic counterpart were emphasized and promoted. Freedom of inquiry, tolerance of diverse ideas and opinions, cultural pluralism, free speech, and a willingness to cooperate in pursuit of shared values and ideals would be the springboard for social development.

Freedom and Culture (Great Books in Philosophy)

Literature & Fiction

Dewey, John.

History & Criticism

Are the four canonical Gospels actual historical accounts or are they imaginative literature produced by influential literary artists to serve a theological vision? In this study of the Gospels based upon a demonstrable literary theory, Randel Helms presents the work of the four evangelists as the "supreme fictions" of our culture, self-conscious works of art deliberately composed as the culmination of a long literary and oral tradition.Helms analyzes the best-known and the most powerful of these fictions: the stories of Christ's birth, his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, his betrayal by Judas, his crucifixion, death and resurrection. In Helms' exegesis of the Gospel miracle stories, he traces the greatest of these - the resurrection of Lazarus four days after his death - to the Egyptian myth of the resurrection of Osiris by the god Horus.Helms maintains that the Gospels are self-reflexive; they are not about Jesus so much as they are about the writers' attitudes concerning Jesus. Helms examines each of the narratives - the language, the sources, the similarities and differences - and shows that their purpose was not so much to describe the past as to affect the present.This scholarly yet readable work demonstrates how the Gospels surpassed the expectations of their authors, influencing countless generations by creating a life-enhancing understanding of the nature of Jesus of Nazareth.

Gospel Fictions

Helms, Randel

Christian Books & Bibles

Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161-180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus's insights and advice-on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others-have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago.In Gregory Hays's new translation-the first in thirty-five years-Marcus's thoughts speak with a new immediacy. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. Never before have Marcus's insights been so directly and powerfully presented.With an Introduction that outlines Marcus's life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work's ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era.

Meditations (Great Books in Philosophy)

AURELIUS, MARCUS

In this classic work, renowned rationalist and scholar of religion Ernest Renan is the first biographer of Jesus to present him as entirely human. Renan describes Jesus as a popular religious leader and self-proclaimed Messiah who increasingly advocated the overthrow of Roman rule and the establishment of a theocracy. To support his apocalyptic vision, Renan's Jesus was not above using trickery and deception, as in the raising of Lazarus. The impression left by Jesus on his disciples was so profound that they began to proclaim his Resurrection and presence among them shortly after his death. Even conceding Christ's historicity, it is still seriously debated by modern biblical scholars whether a reliable life of Jesus can be gleaned from the gospels. For this very reason, the questions raised by Renan a century ago about the facts surrounding Jesus' life and the authorship of the gospels are still far from settled. The Life of Jesus has provoked both controversy and praise since its publication in 1863.

The Life of Jesus (Great Minds)

History

Rénan, Ernest

World

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