Author: James E. White
Publisher:
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1996 My Rating: 0
Summary:
Publisher:
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1996 My Rating: 0
Summary:
Author: Paul W. Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1988 My Rating: 0
Summary: I would like to say that I have enormous respect for Paul Kurtz and that I essentially agree with everything he espouses. I am an agnostic who believes that religion is a force mainly for ill. But he has written better books than this one.
Unlike The Transcendental Temptation, where Mr. Kurtz masterfully strips religion & pseudo-science of their pretensions & delusions of grandeur with damning evidence, Forbidden Fruit comes up a bit short & a little inconsequential in comparison. As a general introduction to Humanist ethics, it's fine. To be sure, Kurtz does spend a lot of time aptly demonstrating the ills & immorality of religious thought. He also capably describes how ethics are human inventions & obviously not ordained from high. I completely agree with these observations.
Unfortunately, some of his observations are as ill-considered as those of any mystic or creationist.
Aside from quibbles like these, this is an excellent book written by a giant of Humanist thought. I definitely recommend it to those considering abandoning outmoded religious thinking and fanaticism. Speaking of these, I would humbly request that the reviewer from "stationed overseas" remain stationed overseas. We have enough close-minded religious fanatics in the US as it is.
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1988 My Rating: 0
Summary: I would like to say that I have enormous respect for Paul Kurtz and that I essentially agree with everything he espouses. I am an agnostic who believes that religion is a force mainly for ill. But he has written better books than this one.
Unlike The Transcendental Temptation, where Mr. Kurtz masterfully strips religion & pseudo-science of their pretensions & delusions of grandeur with damning evidence, Forbidden Fruit comes up a bit short & a little inconsequential in comparison. As a general introduction to Humanist ethics, it's fine. To be sure, Kurtz does spend a lot of time aptly demonstrating the ills & immorality of religious thought. He also capably describes how ethics are human inventions & obviously not ordained from high. I completely agree with these observations.
Unfortunately, some of his observations are as ill-considered as those of any mystic or creationist.
Aside from quibbles like these, this is an excellent book written by a giant of Humanist thought. I definitely recommend it to those considering abandoning outmoded religious thinking and fanaticism. Speaking of these, I would humbly request that the reviewer from "stationed overseas" remain stationed overseas. We have enough close-minded religious fanatics in the US as it is.
Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1977 My Rating: 0
Summary:
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1977 My Rating: 0
Summary:
Author: Peter Singer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1999 My Rating: 5
Summary: Peter Singer's remarkably clear and comprehensive Practical Ethics has become a classic introduction to applied ethics since its publication in 1979 and has been translated into many languages. For this second edition the author has revised all the existing chapters, added two new ones, and updated the bibliography. He has also added an appendix describing some of the deep misunderstanding of and consequent violent reaction to the book in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland where the book has tested the limits of freedom of speech. The focus of the book is the application of ethics to difficult and controversial social questions.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Genre: Ethics
Release: Jan 1999 My Rating: 5
Summary: Peter Singer's remarkably clear and comprehensive Practical Ethics has become a classic introduction to applied ethics since its publication in 1979 and has been translated into many languages. For this second edition the author has revised all the existing chapters, added two new ones, and updated the bibliography. He has also added an appendix describing some of the deep misunderstanding of and consequent violent reaction to the book in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland where the book has tested the limits of freedom of speech. The focus of the book is the application of ethics to difficult and controversial social questions.