Excerpt from a symposium on Loyal Rue’s Religion Is Not About God. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. There’s something horribly plausible about Ralph’s arguments, religion arising out of man’s unique awareness of his own mortality. . . . In fact—when you think about it in this light—the story of Original Sin in Genesis could easily…
Steven Nadler reviews Grayling’s latest. anthony graylingAristotleChristianityDavid HumeDescartesleibnizmodern philosophyPhilosophyspinozasteven nadler
Steven Nadler writes in Aeon that “At a time of religious zealotry, Spinoza’s fearless defence of intellectual freedom is more timely than ever.” This fundamental liberal value is of course foreign to the regressive left. In his distress over the deteriorating political situation in the Dutch Republic, and despite the personal dantheoger he faced, Spinoza…
Here is an extract from the intro to Georg Christoph Lichtenberg by Steven Tester. GCL was a thoroughly modern mind in so many ways making writers such as Dennett, Grayling and the like seem rather timid (my previous Lichtenberg posts). Given Lichtenberg’s interest in self-knowledge, metempsychosis, and personal identity, it is not surprising that he often…
Watching Bryan Magee and Tony Quinton discussing Spinoza (and Leibniz) reminded me of a piece I did several years ago that was very pantheistic in its conclusion. Here is the first half or so. There’s something horribly plausible about Ralph’s arguments, religion arising out of man’s unique awareness of his own mortality. . . . In…
manwithoutqualities 