Is a life without religion one without values or purpose? Julian Baggini emphatically says no. He sets out to dispel the myths surrounding atheism and to show how it can be both a meaningful and moral choice. He directly confronts the failure of officially atheist states in the twentieth century, and presents an intellectual case for atheism that rests as much on reasoned and positive arguments for its truth as on negative arguments against religion.
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About the Author
Julian Baggini is editor of Philosopher’s Magazine and the author of several books on philosophy. He has also written for a variety of newspapers and journals, including the Guardian, the Independent, and New Humanist.
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More About the Author
Julian Baggini is the editor and co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine. His books include Do You Think What You Think YouThink? (with Jeremy Stangroom), What's It All About? - Philosophy and the Meaning of Life and The Pig That Wants to be Eaten, all published by Granta Books.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very convincing,
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This review is from: Atheism (A Brief Insight) (Hardcover)
Makes a strong case for atheism. I was very pleased to see many of the arguments I was already using put in such a clear and convincing fashion.
This morning, I traded my copy to some Jehovah's Witnesses -- I made them promise to read it if I promised to read their copy of the Watchtower and Awake. I've now read both, and found them significantly less convincing than Baggini's _Atheism_. Perhaps I will write to Baggini and ask if he would put together a shorter version of _Atheism_ and sell it inexpensively, so I could always have a copy on hand for door-to-door missionaries.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An outstanding short work,
By
This review is from: Atheism (A Brief Insight) (Hardcover)
One of the best short works on atheism that I've come across. But beware, the text was previously published as Atheism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions). This edition has new illustrations and is hardcover.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A philosophical insight,
By Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Atheism (A Brief Insight) (Hardcover)
I was happily working my way through OUP's A Very Short Introduction series when I discovered the A Brief Insight series. They have the same texts, but the print is larger, they are hardcover, and they have many more illustrations, many in color. So unless you want a very small book that you can slip into a pocket, the Brief Insight versions are better.
This entry in the series is by Julian Baggini, a British philosopher and the author of several books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Philosophers' Magazine, and also has quite an interesting website. Baggini defines atheism as a belief that deities do not exist, but falling short of a dogmatic assertion that they do not. He distances himself from militant atheism. He presents a positive view of atheism rather than a negative view of religion. Perhaps more controversially, he associates atheism with naturalism (the belief that there is only the natural world and not a supernatural one) but the more extreme view, eliminative materialism, he strongly rejects. The approach throughout is very much that of an academic philosopher. Social and sociobiological approaches are neglected. This is most apparent in Chapter 3, on Atheist Ethics. Baggini gives quite a technical account of a philosophical basis for atheistic ethics, reaching back to Plato, Aristotle and others to make his case. It is interesting, but completely overlooks the simpler and more obvious point that morality is evolutionarily adaptive. Natural selection has produced a moral animal. Baggini is more interested in the details of the various moral codes that philosophers have devised rather than the empirical fact that most of us implicitly follow some sort of moral code by nature. If, like me, you are working your way through the VSI (or BI) series, then you can be assured that this is a worthy entry. If you want a philosophical insight into the subject, this is an excellent choice. If you would welcome more historical, social and psychological insights, then there are better books out there. [PeterReeve]
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