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Living Without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, and the Undecided
 
 
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Living Without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, and the Undecided [Paperback]

Ronald Aronson (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 18, 2009
Ronald Aronson has a mission: to demonstrate that a life without religion can be coherent, moral, and committed. In the last few years, the “New Atheists” — Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens — have created a stir by criticizing religion and the belief in God. Aronson moves beyond the discussion of what we should not believe, proposing contemporary answers to Immanuel Kant’s three great questions: What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope?

Grounded in the sense that we are deeply dependent and interconnected beings who are rooted in nature, history, society, and the global economy, Living Without God explores the issues of 21st-century secularists. Reflecting on such perplexing questions as why are we grateful for life’s gifts, who or what is responsible for inequalities, and how to live in the face of aging and dying, Living Without God is less interested in attacking religion than in developing a positive philosophy for atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, skeptics, and freethinkers.

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Editorial Reviews

Review


"Ronald Aronson demonstrates that atheism represents much more than what one does not believe: that it is the precondition for a generous humanism.
The two closing chapters are models of stoicism at its best." —Christopher
Hitchens, author of God is Not Great

“As a Christian I applaud my Brother Ronald Aronson for his powerful defense of a courageous and compassionate secular worldview. He is a religiously musical atheist I admire!” —Cornel West

"This book is not just for non-believers. All of us are 'living without God'—at least a loving, personal God. Aronson just shows us how to do it with courage and panache." —Barbara Ehrenreich

“[Living Without God] brooks no argument with religion as religion, but it challenges how the religious right has warped our politics in recent times.” —Detroit Metro Times

“A first rate humanist scholar, [Aronson is] intent on showing we don’t need belief in god, or in Progress, the Enlightment substitute, to see us through.” —Naturalism.org

About the Author

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Counterpoint; Reprint edition (August 18, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1582435308
  • ISBN-13: 978-1582435305
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The next phase after Dakins/Hitchens et al., December 18, 2008
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I just finished reading this book, and it's terrific. It goes beyond the debunking of religion books to discuss how we go about understanding the world and society, and our place in both without the use of religious references, explanations and thought processes. It presents a very positive and liberating view of a truly secular worldview - a better world. I highly recommend it to those who liked the debunking books, and also to those with religious beliefs who recognize the need for and benefits of a humanistic/secular society.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars almost misjudged, March 22, 2009
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I almost seriously misjudged this book. From the title I expected a rather different book; and when I realized that the author was planning to tell us about his ideas of how to live without god but included seemingly no awareness of previous work (for example that of Paul Kurtz, who's not mentioned anywhere), I found myself significantly discouraged. Then, too, the author's style of presenting a set of observations and then seemingly to refute them with another set, along with his tendency to want to "see all aspects" of an issue, can create some confusion and at times become quite tedious.
Fortunately for me, I persisted, and gradually I began to appreciate Aronson's dedication to investigating issues and questions that deepen and widen one's understandings, especially of how a life of meaning can be created via greater awareness of appropriate gratitude for the struggles and achievements of forebears of all kinds (including major philosophers) and the responsibilities (if we chose to accept them) toward those forebears (and their current-day offspring) in being a part of the continuing work of making possible advancement for all human life--without expecting god to do it for us.
If that is a part of why you might buy this book, it's an excellent purchase.
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13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Catchy title, not much unique for the intended audience, January 24, 2009
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I only found a few sections that made me sit up and pay attention where the author seems to be truly focusing on issues specific to those that the title tries to attract.

The personal sections about his despair over Detroit and what he's trying to do to help the community seemed a bit too pretentious.

In that same vein, I found many sections that were so personal that they didn't generalize well for readers in other circumstances.

Overall, I nice presentation of humanist liberal attitudes about how one ought to live, but only tangentially relevant to those he targets with the title and sub-title.

Might be most helpful for a person who, until recently, was wholly entrenched in church life and is seeking a new direction.
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