50 Voices of Disbelief (eBook)

Why We Are Atheists

Russell Blackford, Udo Schüklenk (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2009
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
978-1-4443-0799-3 (ISBN)

Infos

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents a collection of original essays drawn from an international group of prominent voices in the fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics who offer carefully considered statements of why they are atheists. Features a truly international cast of contributors, ranging from public intellectuals such as Peter Singer, Susan Blackmore, and A.C. Grayling, novelists, such as Joe Haldeman, and heavyweight philosophers of religion, including Graham Oppy and Michael Tooley Contributions range from rigorous philosophical arguments to highly personal, even whimsical, accounts of how each of these notable thinkers have come to reject religion in their lives Likely to have broad appeal given the current public fascination with religious issues and the reception of such books as The God Delusion and The End of Faith

Autor

Russell Blackford is a freelance writer, critic, and editor, based in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches part-time in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at Monash University, where he specialises mainly in philosophical bioethics and legal/political philosophy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, an on-line peer reviewed journal devoted to rigorous consideration of future prospects for the human species or its possible descendants. Udo Schüklenk is a German-Australian philosopher. He has written or edited five books and published over one hundred articles in peer reviewed journals and books. His latest books are the co-edited volumes The Power of Pills (2006) and The Bioethics Reader (Blackwell, 2007). He is the Joint Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Bioethics and currently the Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics at Queen's University in Canada. His current research focuses on ethical and policy issues in drug research and development.

Inhalt

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Now More Important than Ever - Voices of
Reason 1

Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk

Unbelievable! 5

Russell Blackford

My "Bye Bull" Story 10

Margaret Downey

How Benevolent Is God? - An Argument from Suffering to
Atheism 16

Nicholas Everitt

A Deal-Breaker 23

Ophelia Benson

Why Am I a Nonbeliever? - I Wonder . . . 28

J. L. Schellenberg

Wicked or Dead? Reflections on the Moral Character and
Existential Status of God 33

John Harris

Religious Belief and Self-Deception 41

Adèle Mercier

The Coming of Disbelief 48

J. J. C. Smart

What I Believe 50

Graham Oppy

Too Good to Be True, Too Obscure to Explain: The Cognitive
Shortcomings of Belief in God 57

Thomas W. Clark

How to Think About God: Theism, Atheism, and Science 65

Michael Shermer

A Magician Looks at Religion 78

James Randi

Confessions of a Kindergarten Leper 82

Emma Tom

Beyond Disbelief 86

Philip Kitcher

An Ambivalent Nonbelief 97

Taner Edis

Why Not? 105

Sean M. Carroll

Godless Cosmology 112

Victor J. Stenger

Unanswered Prayers 118

Christine Overall

Beyond Faith and Opinion 123

Damien Broderick

Could It Be Pretty Obvious There's No God? 129

Stephen Law

Atheist, Obviously 139

Julian Baggini

Why I am Not a Believer 145

A. C. Grayling

Evil and Me 157

Gregory Benford

Who's Unhappy? 161

Lori Lipman Brown

Reasons to be Faithless 165

Sheila A. M. McLean

Three Stages of Disbelief 168

Julian Savulescu

Born Again, Briefly 172

Greg Egan

Cold Comfort 177

Ross Upshur

The Accidental Exorcist 182

Austin Dacey

Atheist Out of the Foxhole 187

Joe Haldeman

The Unconditional Love of Reality 191

Dale McGowan

Antinomies 197

Jack Dann

Giving Up Ghosts and Gods 200

Susan Blackmore

Some Thoughts on Why I Am an Atheist 204

Tamas Pataki

No Gods, Please! 211

Laura Purdy

Welcome Me Back to the World of the Thinking 220

Kelly O'Connor

Kicking Religion Goodbye . . . 226

Peter Adegoke

On Credenda 230

Miguel Kottow

"Not Even Start to Ignore Those Questions!" A Voice
of Disbelief in a Different Key 236

Frieder Otto Wolf

Imagine No Religion 252

Edgar Dahl

Humanism as Religion: An Indian Alternative 259

Sumitra Padmanabhan

Why I Am NOT a Theist 263

Prabir Ghosh

When the Hezbollah Came to My School 270

Maryam Namazie

Evolutionary Noise, not Signal from Above 274

Athena Andreadis

Gods Inside 279

Michael R. Rose and John P. Phelan

Why Morality Doesn't Need Religion 288

Peter Singer and Marc Hauser

Doctor Who and the Legacy of Rationalism 294

Sean Williams

My Nonreligious Life: A Journey From Superstition to Rationalism
300

Peter Tatchell

Helping People to Think Critically About Their Religious Beliefs
310

Michael Tooley

Human Self-Determination, Biomedical Progress, and God 323

Udo Schüklenk

About the Contributors 332

Index 338

Rezensionen

"Many of the pieces in this book are full of superior contempt for the intellectual inadequacy of theism. Tatchell is forthright in his criticism of religion, but he never sneers. The essays in this book are all clearly argued, and will reassure the already faithful that they are neither daft nor deluded." (Church Times, April 2010)

"The contemporary relevance,and timeliness of this book is unsurpassed. It is ... an account of various well known non-believers [and] personal viewpoints, directed at a popular audience. Very approachable at all levels, containing a wide range of stories, anecdotes and personal statements about why each of the authors considers themselves to be a non believer. Overall, this book is well suited for a mainstream audience, interested in questioning the power that religion holds over our lives. It [also] has good references ... which will also serve to guide the reader if further information is wanted. Thus, I recommend this book to anyone (regardless of their views concerning religion) interested in understanding why different people hold certain views concerning religion." (Metapsychology, April 2010)

"I am strongly recommending it as a present for anyone who has an interest in atheism/theism from either side of the debate. It's just a great read, from great authors." (Stephen Law Blogspot, October 2009)

"It's a very good book, and I recommend it for all of us godless ones -- or those who are considering abjuring the divine. It's far more than just a collection of stories about 'How I came to give up God.' Many of the writers describe the philosophical and empirical considerations that led them to atheism. Indeed, the book can be considered a kind of philosophical handbook for atheists." (Why Evolution is True Blog, October 2009)

"Wow! A book about atheism and it's not written by Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett or Harris! So this book is welcome partly because it helps break that knee-jerk reaction. But it's also welcome because many of its contributors advance interesting ideas. There's plenty to choose from. And one advantage of a collection like this is that you can dip into it wherever you want. There is something for everyone. And there is the opportunity to discover new ideas." (Open Parachute, October 2009)

"For many who have spent some time involved in any form of engagement in these matters, the names should appear familiar: from the great AC Grayling to the revolutionary Maryam Namazie. Finally, in one book we can hear their stories - if not about themselves, then about the aspects of religion or lack thereof they find most important. If all these contributors were speakers at a convention, it would be sold out many times over." (Butterflies and Wheels, October 2009)

"In their excellent collection of essays exploring and defending the philosophical stance of atheism, Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk had an inclusive vision. Contributors to the book range from those with science-fiction backgrounds to modern-day philosophy." (Kirkus Reviews, October 2009)

"In more than 50 brief statements organized by Blackford and philosopher Schüklenk ... contributors share views--their routes toward nonbelief and their feelings about the place of religion in the world ... including James (the Amazing) Randi, a well-known magician and debunker of spurious psychic phenomena. Considering the popularity of Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great, and Sam Harris's The End of Faith, [these] memoirs and observations will be of interest to disbelievers." (Library Journal, October 2009)

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.11.2009
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
• Schlagworte: academia • Address • affairs • Atheists • Cast • contributors • deity • disbelief • drawn • Essays • Fields • Idea • international • Issues • offer • Original • Personal • Philosophie • Philosophy • Professionals • Role • Statements • thoughtprovoking collection • Unique • Universe • Voices • Wissenschaft
• ISBN-10: 1-4443-0799-1 / 1444307991
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4443-0799-3 / 9781444307993