An exceptional introduction to the philosophical questions surrounding God and atheism.
Approachable, civilized discussions about the existence of God.
Gutting (Philosophy/Univ. of Notre Dame; What Philosophy Can Do, 2015, etc.) presents a collection of conversations with other philosophers, all of which originally appeared in The Stone, the philosophy blog of the New York Times. Interested in learning why most professional philosophers self-identify as atheist, as opposed to agnostic, the author interviewed a representative set of philosophers to learn their views about theism. The result is a fascinating, meaningful set of conversations that will intrigue believers and nonbelievers alike. After discussing theism and atheism broadly with Alvin Plantinga and Louise Antony, Gutting moves on to philosophical and academic topics as they apply to the subject of God: deconstruction (John Caputo), naturalism (Howard Wettstein), pragmatism (Philip Kitcher), cosmology/physics (Tim Maudlin), evolution (Michael Ruse), epistemology (Keith DeRose), and history (Daniel Garber). Gutting also realizes that the debate over God in the Western academy too often centers on the Judeo-Christian concept of divinity. Consequently, he also reached out to philosophers of other faith traditions in search of a balanced discussion: Islam (Sajjad Rizvi), Hinduism (Jonardon Ganeri), and Buddhism (Jay Garfield). Gutting and his collaborators present a welcome respite to the vitriolic works of the New Atheists—Hitchens, Dawkins et al.—offering reasoned, civil, and fair explorations of timeless issues. In each case, whether theist, agnostic, or atheist, the interlocutors discuss with respect for opposing views and with humility for what questions can and cannot be fully answered. Rather than seeing the argument as a contest to be won or lost, these philosophers honor the reality that larger issues of justice and morality are at play. As Kitcher puts it, “let’s be inspired by the world’s collection of religious metaphors insofar as they help us improve the human situation. Humanism first, atheism second.”
An exceptional introduction to the philosophical questions surrounding God and atheism.Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-393-35281-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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