Product Description

ATHEISM: A READER is a unique anthology that presents for the first time a comprehensive selection of writings on atheism, agnosticism, and skepticism by some of the world's most celebrated thinkers, past and present. Arranged thematically, the essays in this valuable collection cover many of the significant areas in which atheists have questioned religious orthodoxy. The authors eloquently address the most significant questions concerning religious belief: Is belief in God justified? Is religion necessary to live a moral life? What is the role of religion in the political arena? Should religion be taught in schools? How harmful has religion been in the suppression of women's rights, the subversion of clear thinking, and the advancement of science?

Included are essays by Bertrand Russell and A.J. Ayer on the existence of God; Percy Bysshe Shelley on the "argument from design"; John Stuart Mill and Antony Flew on immortality and life after death; David Hume and George Eliot on the dangers of fanaticism, superstition, and religious fundamentalism; Charles Darwin on how his scientific studies led him to discard his religious beliefs; H.L. Mencken on the 1925 Scopes trial; Carl Sagan on demons and the persecution of witches; Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Christianity's demeaning influence on women's social status; Robert Ingersoll on God and the constitution; Gore Vidal on modern American fundamentalism; and many other notable writers on controversial issues.

Editor S.T. Joshi has carefully selected these essays, many of which are landmarks in the history of atheistic thought. He has also supplied explanatory annotations and a comprehensive introduction that succinctly and forcefully summarizes the atheist critique of religion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #830588 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 346 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Does agnosticism constitute a belief system? Are science and religion compatible? This compilation of views from the agnostic to the antireligious spans two millennia and poses those questions in excerpts from world history's great nonbelievers. Joshi's collection provides an unflinching look into the minds of doubters, atheists and freethinkers, exposing much that is wrong with religion and posing alternatives to it that constitute various nonreligious ethical systems. Many points of view are represented here, including the non- or anti-religious sentiments of Lucretius, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Clarence Darrow, Thomas Henry Huxley, Emma Goldman, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Bertrand Russell, H.L. Mencken, Nietzsche, Hume, Darwin and others. The delightfully readable Carl Sagan compares demonology to the modern UFO cult and a bitter, nearly ranting (but brilliant) Gore Vidal examines the threat of fundamentalist politics to American freedom. Some contributions display an openly mocking wit, as when Darrow wonders aloud why mint sauce is not offered with the sacrificial lamb. Well-conceived and thematically organized (though perhaps a tad long), this collection is definitely for persons who enjoy intellectually challenging reading and who are not offended when what the contributors see as the crimes of Christianity are called to the dock. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"...a worthy addition to any thinking person's library." -- Michael Martin, professor of philosophy emeritus, Boston University

About the Author
S.T. Joshi is a freelance writer and editor, and the author of numerous studies on literary criticism, philosophy, and race relations. He is the editor of DOCUMENTS OF AMERICAN PREJUDICE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF WRITINGS ON RACE FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO DAVID DUKE (1999).

Customer Reviews

A treasure trove of wit and candor
This is a marvelous and eclectic assortment of essays by freethinkers throughout the ages, including Thomas Paine, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, Charles Darwin, Gore Vidal, Carl Sagan, and Robert Ingersoll. Each essay is beautifully crafted by writers who knew the fine art of constructing a powerful and persuasive essay; each is riveting in its insight or its candor. While a few of the essays are no longer politically correct (e.g. with references to "lesser minds"), the core theses remain vibrant and still ring true.

While religionists will scarcely find an uplifting sentence in this collection, there is still much to recommend this book to such an audience. First, it dispels many of the common myths about atheists: that they lack morals, that they reject god for selfish reasons, that they are ignorant of theism, that there is no meaning in their lives, that they cling to their own religious dogmas, etc. Second, it provides an interesting glimpse into the religious views of a wide assortment of freethinkers, which will challenge your core beliefs, such as "life after death" and "absolute morality".

As an atheist, I found this book an absolute joy to read. Compared to the contorted logic that religionists often indulge to lend an air of respectability to their dogmas, these essays are positively bursting with the wit and acumen that only seem to spring from unfettered minds. Each essay does its part to clear away the cobwebs of mysticism. I will close with two of my favorite quotes from the book. I chose these quotes not only for their insightfulness, but equally for their mastery of language. This will give you a taste of what awaits you in this book.

page 49: Leslie Stephen, commenting on religionists: "They feel rather than know. The awe with which they regard the universe, the tender glow of reverence and love with which the bare sight of nature affects them, is to them the ultimate guarantee of their beliefs. Happy those who feel such emotions! Only, when they try to extract definite statements of fact from these impalpable sentiments, they should beware how far such statements are apt to come into terrible collision with reality."

page 140: David Hume, commenting on the tendency with which religionists embellish dogmas: "Every virtue, every excellence, must be ascribed to the divinity, and no exaggeration will be deemed sufficient to reach those perfections, with which he is endowed. Whatever strains of panegyric can be invented, are immediately embraced, without consulting any arguments of phenomena: It is esteemed a sufficient confirmation of them, that they give us more magnificent ideas of the divine objects of our worship and adoration."

Good collection of literary atheism
I enjoyed much about this reader. The selections appear to be chosen as much for their literary qualities as for their defense of atheism, making for very pleasurable reading. Additionally, Joshi introduced me to a few historical atheists I had not heard of before, as well as a few figures I had heard of, but had not known were atheists. So I do feel enriched for having read it. However, three aspects of the reader bothered me. First, Joshi's introduction is too militant, and will unjustly ward off even reasonable religious folks, who would otherwise profit from the selections that follow. Second, the literary emphasis notwithstanding, a "reader" on atheism really should include selections from modern atheistic philosophers of religion, such as J. L. Mackie and Michael Martin. Finally, though I do not myself believe in an afterlife, the question of immortality is perfectly separable from the question of whether or not there is a god, and so it bothered me that Joshi included in his reader on "atheism" a section against immortality. But with these qualifications, my impression of the reader was, overall, a very favorable one, and I believe this book should be on the list of every person who wants to learn more about atheism.

Kindred spirits
If you're an atheist, this book is a wonderful resource, full of good friends. The selection seems strong and many selections are 10 pages long or less, so you can get acquainted with many atheists. Most wrote during the last 3 centuries.

Discussion with a theist about God seems a waste of time, so I am sympathetic to Joshi's introduction. Theists indeed do seem "incapable of comprehending the issues at stake", as Joshi maintains. I attended a meeting of a local atheist group recently. The meeting was open to all, so there were fruitless debates with a die-hard fundamentalist. A so-called "atheist" viewed everyone's position as relative and wanted to encourage further theist-atheist meetings. But in this book an atheist can feel at home with just atheists. And if you're not atheist, but open to understanding atheist views, Josh's collection is a great way to start, with outstanding atheist writers like Emma Goldman, Bertrand Russell, Friedrich Nietzsche, Walter Kaufmann, H.P. Lovecraft, and Gore Vidal.

Avoid this book if you are a theist and wish to remain so. The thinkers in here are among the human race's best and might possibly reach even you.

This would make a good collection to any atheist's library, with a broad range of powerful statements to choose from on even the rainiest day.