Were You Born Selfish?: An Interview with Frans de Waal
Both the good and bad in our species come from our primate background, says primatologist Frans de Waal, author of The Age of Empathy.
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Unreasonable Doubt: Vincent Bugliosi Defends Agnosticism
When he’s not writing bestselling books, Vincent Bugliosi is a legendary prosecuting attorney. As such, he is certainly well acquainted with the legal policy of presumption of innocence. His newest book, Divinity of Doubt, a treatise on agnosticism, would have been much better if Bugliosi had taken this principle into account in the context of his arguments for, and against, God.
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Debating God: Atheist and Evangelical Face Off at Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame had cause for its anxiety leading up to last week’s big debate between the New Atheist polemicist Sam Harris and the evangelical philosopher William Lane Craig. It’s said that all publicity is good publicity, but one needn’t strain too hard to find an exception—least of all in the history of God debates.
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A Philosopher of Religion Calls it Quits
Philosopher of Religion Keith Parsons hung up his hat a few months ago, after announcing that he believed the “case for theism” to be a fraud: “Theistic philosophers and apologists are almost painfully earnest and honest… I just cannot take their arguments seriously anymore.” It’s rare for a philosopher to renounce his or her own specialty—but Parsons’ rejection speaks to a broader dilemma.
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Little ‘Value’ in New Harris Book
Sam Harris latest, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, is undermined by poor scholarship, ad hominem attacks and an obsession with religion.
Is God a Delusion? A Reply to Religion’s Cultured Despisers
Are believers in God crazy? Are atheists? Philosopher Eric Reitan explains why he finds the ideas of the Dawkins-Hitchens crowd wanting and why readers—atheist or theist—who want to cheer and pump their fists as “their guy” strikes back against the opponent should read something else.
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What the Danish Cartoon Controversy Tells Us About Religion, the Secular, and the Limits of the Law
A new book by four leading intellectuals (Talal Asad, Judith Butler, Saba Mahmood, and Wendy Brown) brings attention to the ongoing failures of the Euro-American liberal legal order in the face of the conflict between religious and secular values—and in doing so puts those very categories into question.
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The Key to Interreligious Harmony and World Peace—But Then Again, I May Be Wrong
A philosopher explains how a simple thought experiment regarding certainty and uncertainty could catalyze global reconciliation.
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You Are More Than Your Brain: A Revolutionary Theory of Consciousness
Science tells us that our minds, our consciousness, our very selves, reside in our physical brains. But what if this model, relying as it does on a seventeenth century understanding of mind and matter, is outdated? Philosopher Alva Noë proposes a revolutionary alternative.
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Religion and Science: Toward a Postmodern Truce
The New Atheists, armed with swords and cudgels, are still doing old-fashioned battle with religion; but they haven’t noticed that the skirmish may have passed them by. Are religion and science poised for a truce?
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