Humanist and secular alternatives to religion Books
Lexington Books Philosophical Reflections on Antiquity:
Book SynopsisPhilosophical Reflections on Antiquity: Historical Change addresses the question of whether there is a logic of historical change, and whether the collapse of teleology should deter us from inquiring anew whether any recurring patterns and themes show themselves amid the complexity of historical life. Paul Fairfield argues that if any conception of universal history remains possible, it is one that rejects teleology and causal laws while identifying thematic tendencies that afford some semblance of unity, including the enduring phenomena that are interlocution, the struggle for predominance, and the endless back and forth that play out between them. This book examines the transitional periods of archaic Greece and late antiquity, the ostensible birth and death of the ancient west. Fairfield argues that an interpretation of the social, political, and intellectual history of these important turning points brings to light some philosophical understanding of the dynamics of change itself, observing that the transition from archaic to classical Greece was no miracle, while the end of the Roman era can no longer be conceived as a story of decline and fall. Rather, Fairfield posits, these were not complete breaks, but relative beginnings and endings in narratives that are ongoing. Scholars of philosophy, history, and anthropology will find this book particularly useful. Trade ReviewThe inexorability of change has always brought out the worst in philosophers, especially when they’ve deployed it in conjunction with the concept of time. Such a conjunction lies nestled at the heart of the philosophy of history, which has long provided philosophers with the perfect forum in which to display the various metaphysical, theological, ethical and political assumptions that underlie their thinking as a whole. Such assumptions are always necessary, but rarely are they so clearly and forcefully at play, and they include, for example: that radical or revolutionary change has been the driving force behind historical development; that such development must in fact be progress; that historical change can be understood properly only when viewed as universally exhibiting law-like regularity; and that such regularity must in fact be the product of a design that dictates the historical course of human affairs. In this book, Fairfield takes aim at several such fundamental assumptions, demonstrating how they have been employed in philosophical attempts to interpret the past. Focusing on early and late antiquity, Fairfield convincingly argues that the conventional approaches have failed, and he proposes a novel, hermeneutically sensitive approach that views broad historical change not as the product of radical conflict but as a process of dialogical transformation. -- Jeff Mitscherling, University of GuelphTable of ContentsPart I: TransitionsChapter 1: Introduction: On Universal HistoryChapter 2: NomenclaturePart II: The Birth of the Ancient WorldChapter 3: A Miracle Story: On Social HistoryChapter 4: Power and Reason: On Political HistoryChapter 5: From Mythos to Mythos: On Intellectual HistoryPart III: Late AntiquityChapter 6: Civilizational Collapse? On Social HistoryChapter 7: Decline or Transformation: On Political HistoryChapter 8: Christianization: On Intellectual HistoryConclusion: Marching in Place
£81.00
Berghahn Books Beyond Posthumanism
£26.55
Oneworld Publications Humanism: A Beginner's Guide
Book SynopsisWhy should we believe in God without any evidence? How can there be meaning in life when death is final? With historical adherents including such thinkers as Einstein, Freud, Philip Pullman, and Frank Zappa, Humanism’s central quest is to make sense of such questions, explaining the ethical and metaphysical by appealing to shared human values, rationality, and tolerance. Essential reading for atheists, agnostics, ignostics, freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, and believers too, this Beginner’s Guide will explain all aspects of the Humanist philosophy whilst providing an alternative and valuable conception of life without religion.
£9.49
Liverpool University Press With God in Human Trust: Christian Faith and
Book SynopsisThis book argues that theism has always understood the divine as awaiting human cognisance and worship.Trade Review"This book is concerned to stress the reciprocity and mutual trust that subsist between the divine and the human. Creation was not so much an act of power as a gift or delegation of God's own creativity... the act of creation was a risk in which God entrusted himself to human beings, who have the possibility of becoming co-workers, but are not forced to be such. This general thesis is then illustrated and confirmed in an examination in some of the major areas of human endeavour. The argument is enlivened throughout by a wealth of illustration from literature." -- John MacQuarrie, DD, formerly Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, Oxford."Bishop Cragg develops the case for Christian theism in a book that will challenge the confident agnostic or atheist no less than the Muslim or Jew. This is a distinguished book in a crowded field." -- Shabbir Akhtar, International Islamic University, Malaysia.Table of ContentsContents: Foreword by Professor Paul Preston; Acknowledgements; The Climate of Appeasement; The Paris Embassy and the Impact of Berlin; The Paris Milieu: Anglo-French Relations and the Foreign Office; The First Five Months (AprilSeptember 1937); Decline of the Popular Front and the Anschluss (October 1937-10 March 1938); The May Week-end Crisis and its Aftermath (11 March-31 August 1938); The Munich Crisis (September 1938); From Munich to the Polish Guarantee (October 1938 to 31 March 1939); The Outbreak of War and Retirement (17 March to 23 October 1939); Conclusions and a Postscript; Appendix: Principal Officials in Phipps's Paris Embassy; Index.
£100.00
Murdoch Books For Small Creatures Such As We: Rituals and
Book SynopsisSasha Sagan's parents - the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer, Ann Druyan - taught her that the natural world and vast cosmos are full of profound beauty, and that science reveals truths more wondrous than any myth or fable. When Sagan herself became a mother, she began her own hunt for the phenomena behind our most treasured occasions - from births to deaths, holidays to weddings, anniversaries, and more - growing these roots into a new set of rituals for her young daughter to honour the joy and significance of each experience without relying on a religious framework. Part memoir, part handbook and part social history, For Small Creatures Such as We is a luminous exploration of all of Earth's marvels that requires no faith in order to be believed.Trade Review'A lucent, lovingly written, and joyous book.' - Jonathan Cott, author of There's A Mystery There'A warm, elegant hymn to finding the spiritual in the secular and the romance in everyday ritual. Sasha Sagan writes beautifully on the power of deep-rooted historical traditions, and the pleasure of inventing our own.' - Greg Jenner, author of A Million Years in a Day'Sasha Sagan has written a lovely book about the sense of wonder and the beauty of rituals-even for the non-religious. It's an answer to my secular prayers.' - A. J. Jacobs, author of Thanks A Thousand 'Sagan has written the book I've always needed to make sense of this world. She makes that spiritual muscle so deeply hidden in my guts feel perfectly at home in the universe. She is that wise friend, in-cahoots with the muse of perspective, that changes your life as she describes the world she sees. I want everyone to read this book. But first, stare at the starry night sky. And when your chest expands with wonder and humility, sit down and read.' - Jedidiah Jenkins, author of To Shake the Sleeping Self
£13.49
Hedingham Fair A Little Celebration of the Green Man
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£7.50
ATF Press A Soul for Australia?: Reading Fosco Antonio's My
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£30.59
ATF Press A Soul for Australia?: Reading Fosco Antonio's My
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£24.29
Pitchstone Publishing Necessity of Secularism
Book SynopsisFor the first time in human history, a significant percentage of the world’s population no longer believes in God. This is especially true in developed nations, where in some societies nonbelievers now outnumber believers. Unless religion collapses completely, or undergoes a remarkable resurgence, countries across the globe must learn to carefully and effectively manage this societal mix of religious and irreligious. For in a world already deeply riven by sectarian conflict, this unprecedented demographic shift presents yet another challenge to humanity. Writing in an engaging, accessible style, philosopher and lawyer Ronald A. Lindsay develops a tightly crafted argument for secularism—specifically, that in a religiously pluralistic society, a robust, thoroughgoing secularism is the only reliable means of preserving meaningful democracy and rights of conscience. Contrary to certain political pundits and religious leaders who commonly employ the term secularism as a scare word, Lindsay uses clear, concrete examples and jargon-free language to demonstrate that secularism is the only way to ensure equal respect and protection under the law—for believers and nonbelievers alike. Although critical of some aspects of religion, Lindsay neither presents an antireligious tirade nor seeks to convert anyone to nonbelief, reminding us that secularism and atheism are not synonymous. Rather, he shows how secularism works to everyone’s benefit and makes the definitive case that the secular model should be feared by none—and embraced by all.Trade Review" The Necessity of Secularism discusses one of the most vital issues facing America and the world, and it does so with the logic and respectful tolerance for differences that itself expresses the very spirit of secularism. No matter what one's views on the existence of God, this is a unifying book. I can only hope that it will be read by all those for whom it is intended, which is, in a word, everyone." Rebecca Goldstein, author, Plato at the GooglePlex"This is a first-rate book. If you want to understand why a secular state is so important, why it's not the same thing as an atheist state, and why religious people should embrace, not fear, secularism, you should start with The Necessity of Secularism . Lindsay's book is entertaining, passionate, and presents a beautifully clear and well-argued case." Stephen Law, author, Believing Bullshit
£14.20
Brepols N.V. Petrarch's Humanist Writing and Carthusian
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£111.87
de Gruyter The Middle East and North Africa
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£112.57
de Gruyter MagieTheater Im 17. Jahrhundert
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£138.59
de Gruyter Asia and the Secular
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£16.65
de Gruyter The FlowerSpray of the Quodammodo Doctrine
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£117.50
Schwabe Verlagsgruppe AG The Philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa: An
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£81.70
Arnoldsche Die Mysterien der Zeichen: Johannes Reuchlin,
Book SynopsisAlongside Erasmus of Rotterdam, Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522) is one of the most important European humanists whose works marked the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era. The year 2022 marks the 500th anniversary of the Pforzheim-born jurist, Hebraist, and religious philosopher’s death, cause indeed for an exhibition and publication to bring jewellery, writings, and language into a stimulating dialogue and to offer new meanings to the titular mystery of signs. At the fore stands the human quest for understanding and tolerance, which has lost none of its relevance today. One particular focal point comprises selected manuscripts and works by Reuchlin, highlighted from new perspectives. An additional emphasis is placed on objects that reflect Reuchlin’s cognitive world through script and symbols from the resplendent collection of the Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim [Pforzheim jewellery museum]. With contributions by Jonathan Boyd, Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, Matthias Dall’Asta, Cornelie Holzach, Wolfgang Mayer, Susanne Nagel, Katja Poljanac, Stefan Rhein, Nathan Ron, Isabel Schmidt-Mappes, Pierre Vesperin, and Anja Wolkenhauer. Text in German.
£44.10
Museum Tusculanum Press Ung sprogforsker på rejse.: Breve fra og til
Book SynopsisText in Danish. Holger Pedersen (1867-1953) was one of Denmark's greatest scholars within Indoeuropean studies. During the years 1892-1896 he travelled extensively in Europe to broaden his field of language studies. His letters to scholars in Denmark provide a unique insight into the working methods of a young linguist. The letters, preserved in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, have been reproduced in the original orthography in the book.
£35.69
Museum Tusculanum Press Secular Theories on Religion: A Selection of
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£33.99
Central European University Press Secularism and its Ambiguities: Four Case Studies
Book SynopsisIn the best micro-historical tradition, Carlo Ginzburg, himself one of the founders and icons of this genre of historiography, dissects four moments of European intellectual history. This book relives the experience that participants in the Natalie Zemon Davis Lecture Series at the Budapest campus of Central European University had in 2019 listening to Ginzburg's eloquent and engaging discourses. For the purposes of this volume he has re-edited and completed the leporello of cases charged with the inherent ambiguity between secularism and religions. Secularism is often identified with rejection or at least distancing from the sacred. However, if one assumes that secularism also appropriates and reworks the sacred, its ambiguities come to the fore. The dilemma accompanies the reception of La Boétie's Servitude volontaire between 1574 and today. Before Walter Benjamin, the lesser-known 19th-century Léon de Laborde defended the profanity of reproducing the arts. The tension around the secular pervades the case of the College de Sociologie (Paris, 1937-1939), an attempt to analyze the ideological components of fascism. The fourth lecture approaches a much-discussed contemporary phenomenon – fake news – from a long-term perspective. To what extent are some disturbing features of the world we live in the result of a long, tortuous, unpredictable trajectory?Table of ContentsForeword Chapter 1. Hobbes’s Invisible Target: On the Reception of La Boétie’s La servitude volontaire Chapter 2. Texts, Images, Reproductions: On the shoulders of Walter Benjamin Chapter 3. Sacred Sociology: A Few Reflections on the Collège de Sociologie Chapter 4. Fake News? Notes
£36.43
