Atheist's Primer

Häftad, Engelska, 2012

379 kr

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Adapted from the author's textbook The Atheist's Creed, this is a comprehensive guide to the philosophical arguments for atheism for the general reader.Arguing that a 'new atheism', driven largely by Darwinian objections to God's existence, has limited debate to a scientific framework, The Atheist's Primer reinstates the importance of philosophy in the debate about God's existence and in so doing recovers the distinguished philosophical tradition of atheism, which Dawkins and others have obscured. Beginning with the Ancient Greeks and culminating with Hume, Michael Palmer provides the philosophical framework on which scientific objections to theism are hung. He explicates and comments on the thinking behind atheism, discussing issues such as evil, morality, miracles, and the motivations for belief. Although delving deeply into epistemological concerns, emphasising the disheartening limitations of man's capacity for knowledge and our materialist dependencies, Palmer concludes on a positive note arguing - alongside Nietzsche, Marx and Freud and many others - that happiness and personal fulfilment are to be found in the very materialism that religious belief rejects.An eloquent abridgment of his previous work, The Atheist's Creed, which was aimed at the educational market, The Atheist's Primer is written in fluent and concise prose, making it an accessible introduction for the general reader.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2012-10-08
Mått156 x 234 x 9 mm
Vikt249 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SerieLutterworth Press
Antal sidor170
FörlagBoydell & Brewer Ltd
ISBN9780718892975

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A former Teaching Fellow at McMaster University and Humboldt Fellow at Marburg University, Dr Palmer has taught at Marlborough College and Bristol University. For many years Founding Head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at the Manchester Grammar School, Dr Palmer is also the author of the best-selling textbook Moral Problems as well as of the two-volume textbook The Philosophy of Religion.

Chapter One: The Meaning of Atheism1. Atheism: A Definition2. Atheism and Agnosticism3. Guide to Further ReadingChapter Two: The Origins of Atheism1. The Age of the Sophists2. Epicureans & Sceptics3. The Christian Era and the Re-emergence of religious doubt.4. Guide to Further ReadingChapter Three: Two Arguments for God's Existence: An Atheistic Critique 1. Introduction 2. The Arguments from Cause and Design3. The Atheistic Critique4. Guide to Further ReadingChapter Four: The Problem of Evil1. Introduction2. The Logical (or Deductive) Argument from Evil3. The Evidential (or Inductive) Argument from Evil4. Guide to Further ReadingChapter Five: Morality and Religion1. Introduction2. Criticisms of the Moral Argument3. Life After Death and Morality4. Nietzsche's Critique of Religious Morality5. Guide to Further ReadingChapter Six: Miracles1. The Meaning of 'Miracle'2. The Critique of Miracles: Their Impossibility3. The Critique of Miracles: Their Improbability4. Guide to Further ReadingChapter Seven: The Motivations of Belief1. Introduction2. The Impulse to Believe

Palmer appropriately returns us to the classical philosophical atheistic challenges against theism. His work is beyond praise and I believe greatly needed in time when New Atheism is in danger of eliminating the thrust of classical atheism, which squarely and fairly focused on arguments for and against existence of God. [...] I would recommend The Atheist's Primer to all Christians and atheists who love pondering the case for and against existence of God and are worn-out by New-Atheism's shortage of philosophical engagement in this most important subject.