Why I Am Not a Christian

Produktbeschreibung

“Devastating in its use of cold logic,â€� (The Independent), the classic essay collection that expresses the freethinkerâ€Ös views to religion and challenges set notions in todayâ€Ös society from one of the most influential intellectual figures of the twentieth century.

Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself—questions about manâ€Ös place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his treatment of these questions the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other work as philosopher, writer, and teacher has been famous. These qualities make the essays included in this book perhaps the most graceful and moving presentation of the freethinker's position since the days of Hume and Voltaire.

“I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue,â€� Russell declares in his Preface, and his reasoned opposition to any system or dogma which he feels may shackle manâ€Ös mind runs through all the essays in this book, whether they were written as early as 1899 or as late as 1954.

The book has been edited, with Lord Russellâ€Ös full approval and cooperation, by Professor Paul Edwards of the Philosophy Department of New York University. In an Appendix, Professor Edwards contributes a full account of the highly controversial “Bertrand Russell Caseâ€� of 1940, in which Russell was judicially declared “unfitâ€� to teach philosophy at the College of the City of New York.

Whether the reader shares or rejects Bertrand Russellâ€Ös views, he will find this book an invigorating challenge to set notions, a masterly statement of a philosophical position, and a pure joy to read. 

Inhaltsverzeichnis

CONTENTS

Preface by Bertrand Russell

Editor's Introduction

Why I Am Not a Christian

Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?

What I Believe

Do We Survive Death?

Seems, Madam? Nay, It Is

A Free Man's Worship

On Catholic and Protestant Skeptics

Life in the Middle Ages

The Fate of Thomas Paine

Nice People

The New Generation

Our Sexual Ethics

Freedom and the Colleges

Can Religion Cure Our Troubles?

Religion and Morals

Appendix: How Bertrand Russell Was Prevented from Teaching at The College of the
City of New York

Index 

Autoreninfo

Bertrand Arthur William Russell was a philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of logicism.