The Science of Good and Evil

Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429996757
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
From bestselling author Michael Shermer, an investigation of the evolution of morality that is "a paragon of popularized science and philosophy" The Sun (Baltimore) A century and a half after Darwin first proposed an "evolutionary ethics," science has begun to tackle the roots of morality. Just as evolutionary biologists study why we are hungry (to motivate us to eat) or why sex is enjoyable (to motivate us to procreate), they are now searching for the very nature of humanity. In The Science of Good and Evil, science historian Michael Shermer explores how humans evolved from social primates to moral primates; how and why morality motivates the human animal; and how the foundation of moral principles can be built upon empirical evidence. Along the way he explains the implications of scientific findings for fate and free will, the existence of pure good and pure evil, and the development of early moral sentiments among the first humans. As he closes the divide between science and morality, Shermer draws on stories from the Yanamamö, infamously known as the "fierce people" of the tropical rain forest, to the Stanford studies on jailers' behavior in prisons. The Science of Good and Evil is ultimately a profound look at the moral animal, belief, and the scientific pursuit of truth.

TIME the Science of Good and Evil

Author: The Editors of TIME
Publisher: Time Home Entertainment
ISBN: 1547848405
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 203

Book Description
One of the great enigmas of humanity is why we have such a devastating capacity for evil as well as such an enormous ability to do good. What makes some people commit violent harm, while others risk their lives to help those they may not even know? Now, to explore and navigate this essential question of human behavior, the editors at TIME bring you the special edition 'The Science of Good and Evil.' You'll examine "The Roots of Good and Evil," and consider the capacity for morality in animals. Then consider "What Makes Us Moral" by looking at the seemingly innate moral compass of human children and the role that nurturing plays in developing it. Follow modern neuroscience deep into the brain to see what it can tell us about where good and evil behavior might reside and what role genuine love plays in their development. Through it all, visit and analyze tales of senseless acts of violence and the profound acts of selflessness that occur in their wake. As destructive technologies and artificial intelligence continue to develop and strengthen, there has never been a more important time to understand the nature of our capacity for good and evil.

Giving the Devil his Due

Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108800106
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Book Description
Who is the 'Devil'? And what is he due? The Devil is anyone who disagrees with you. And what he is due is the right to speak his mind. He must have this for your own safety's sake because his freedom is inextricably tied to your own. If he can be censored, why shouldn't you be censored? If we put barriers up to silence 'unpleasant' ideas, what's to stop the silencing of any discussion? This book is a full-throated defense of free speech and open inquiry in politics, science, and culture by the New York Times bestselling author and skeptic Michael Shermer. The new collection of essays and articles takes the Devil by the horns by tackling five key themes: free thought and free speech, politics and society, scientific humanism, religion, and the ideas of controversial intellectuals. For our own sake, we must give the Devil his due.

The Moral Arc

Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0805096930
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 592

Book Description
Bestselling author Michael Shermer's exploration of science and morality that demonstrates how the scientific way of thinking has made people, and society as a whole, more moral From Galileo and Newton to Thomas Hobbes and Martin Luther King, Jr., thinkers throughout history have consciously employed scientific techniques to better understand the non-physical world. The Age of Reason and the Enlightenment led theorists to apply scientific reasoning to the non-scientific disciplines of politics, economics, and moral philosophy. Instead of relying on the woodcuts of dissected bodies in old medical texts, physicians opened bodies themselves to see what was there; instead of divining truth through the authority of an ancient holy book or philosophical treatise, people began to explore the book of nature for themselves through travel and exploration; instead of the supernatural belief in the divine right of kings, people employed a natural belief in the right of democracy. In The Moral Arc, Shermer will explain how abstract reasoning, rationality, empiricism, skepticism--scientific ways of thinking--have profoundly changed the way we perceive morality and, indeed, move us ever closer to a more just world.

Divine Action and Natural Selection

Author: Joseph Seckbach
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812834346
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1122

Book Description
The debate between divine action, or faith, and natural selection, or science, is garnering tremendous interest. This book ventures well beyond the usual, contrasting American Protestant and atheistic points of view, and also includes the perspectives of Jews, Muslims, and Roman Catholics. It contains arguments from the various proponents of intelligent design, creationism, and Darwinism, and also covers the sensitive issue of how to incorporate evolution into the secondary school biology curriculum. Comprising contributions from prominent, award-winning authors, the book also contains dialogs following each chapter to provide extra stimulus to the readers and a full picture of this ?hot? topic, which delves into the fundamentals of science and religion.

God: The Failed Hypothesis

Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 161592003X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality. This book contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans. Treating the traditional God concept, as conventionally presented in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, like any other scientific hypothesis, physicist Stenger examines all of the claims made for God's existence. He considers the latest Intelligent Design arguments as evidence of God's influence in biology. He looks at human behavior for evidence of immaterial souls and the possible effects of prayer. He discusses the findings of physics and astronomy in weighing the suggestions that the universe is the work of a creator and that humans are God's special creation. After evaluating all the scientific evidence, Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God. This paperback edition of the New York Times bestselling hardcover edition contains a new foreword by Christopher Hitchens and a postscript by the author in which he responds to reviewers' criticisms of the original edition.

Philosophy and the Christian Worldview

Author: David Werther
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1441112979
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Book Description
Philosophy and the Christian Worldview is a collection of new essays written by fifteen philosophers of religion. Bringing together some of the leading lights in current academic philosophy of religion, including William Hasker, Charles Taliaferro and Keith Yandell, it offers a fresh perspective on four major areas of discussion: Religion and Epistemology; Religion and Morality; Religion and Metaphysics; and Religion and Worldview Assessment. United by the argument that the core claims of religion have metaphysical, epistemic and moral entailments, these essays represent a state of the art discussion in contemporary philosophy of religion.

Exotheology

Author: Joel L. Parkyn
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718896688
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 349

Book Description
Since antiquity, theology has frequently gone hand in hand with the study of the heavens. Speculation regarding the plurality of worlds, and the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth, has posed questions for, and been stimulated by, Christian theology. Advancements in astronomy and astrophysics now reveal a vast universe containing trillions of galaxies. Each new exoplanet discovered brings with it a new context in which to consider the place of humanity, and the role of divinity in relation to creatures. In particular, the Christian doctrines of the incarnation and redemption must be understood afresh in light of the likelihood of extraterrestrial life. In Exotheology, Joel L. Parkyn examines the twin historic developments in scientific and theological thought on extraterrestrials from antiquity to the twenty-first century. In doing so he demonstrates a consistent pattern of theological formulations that allow for a distinct relation between Christianity and extraterrestrial life, but this has so far been without sufficient resolution. Applying concepts from anthropology, psychology and sociology to putative extraterrestrials, he explores in new depth the implications of contact, and argues for a 'divine pedagogy' of potential modalities of supernatural presence and action with extraterrestrial intelligences.

Why People Believe Weird Things

Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1429996765
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Book Description
"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science." --Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel Revised and Expanded Edition. In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science. Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

God and the Folly of Faith

Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1616146001
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Book Description
A thorough and hard-hitting critique that is a must read for anyone interested in the interaction between religion and science. It has become the prevalent view among sociologists, historians, and some theistic scientists that religion and science have never been in serious conflict. Some even claim that Christianity was responsible for the development of science. In a sweeping historical survey that begins with ancient Greek science and proceeds through the Renaissance and Enlightenment to contemporary advances in physics and cosmology, Stenger makes a convincing case that not only is this conclusion false, but Christianity actually held back the progress of science for one thousand years. It is significant, he notes, that the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century occurred only after the revolts against established ecclesiastic authorities in the Renaissance and Reformation opened up new avenues of thought. The author goes on to detail how religion and science are fundamentally incompatible in several areas: the origin of the universe and its physical parameters, the origin of complexity, holism versus reductionism, the nature of mind and consciousness, and the source of morality. In the end, Stenger is most troubled by the negative influence that organized religion often exerts on politics and society. He points out antiscientific attitudes embedded in popular religion that are being used to suppress scientific results on issues of global importance, such as overpopulation and environmental degradation. When religion fosters disrespect for science, it threatens the generations of humanity that will follow ours.