
The Flame of Reason
Description
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'Truly a book for our time' Steven Pinker
'In Sweden's public square, Christer Sturmark has done as much as anyone to uphold reason and humane critical thinking' Richard Dawkins
'As lucid and illuminating as it is warm and inspiring' Rebecca Goldstein
In country after country, conspiracy theories and religious dogmas that once seemed to have been overtaken by enlightened thought are helping to lift authoritarian leaders into power. The effects are being felt by women, ethnic minorities, teachers, scientists and students - and by the environment, the ultimate victim of climate change denial. We need clear thinking now more than ever.
Christer Sturmark is a crusading secular humanist as well as a Swedish publisher and entrepreneur, and The Flame of Reason is his manifesto for a better world. It provides a set of simple tools for clear thinking in the face of populist dogmas, anti-science attitudes and pseudo-philosophy, and suggestions for how we can move towards a new enlightenment.
From truth to Quantum Physics, moral philosophy to the Myers-Briggs test, Sturmark offers a passionate defence of rational thought, science, tolerance and pluralism; a warm and engaging guide for anyone who wants to better navigate the modern world.
Translated by and co-written with Douglas Hofstadter, celebrated cognitive scientist, physicist and author of Godel, Escher, Bach.
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Douglas Hofstadter is a professor of cognitive science and comparative literature at Indiana University. His first book, Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. He is known for his writings on minds and machines, analogy, and translation.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Foreword Douglas Hofstadter
- Foreword Christer Sturmark
- Prelude: Concerning Yesterday's World and Today's World
- A Global Psychosis
- Fatal Superstition
- Swedish Extremism and Superstition
- What We Need Is a New Age of Enlightenment
- PART I: THE ART OF THINKING CLEARLY
- CHAPTER ONE. TO MEET THE WORLD WITH AN OPEN MIND: Concerning the Tools and Compass Needed in the Quest for Knowledge
- My Own Bumpy Trip
- To Have an Open Mind
- Explanations and Ockham's Razor
- Traps in Thinking
- Rationality and Wisdom
- Having Ideas and Forming a Philosophy of Life
- My Point of View
- Secular Humanism
- INTERLUDE: ON SPIRITUALITY AND FLOW
- CHAPTER TWO. I BELIEVE THAT I KNOW: Concerning Reality, Knowledge, and Truth
- What Is Knowledge?
- Is What Seems Real Really Real?
- Matters of Fact and Matters of Taste
- What Is Truth?
- Truth as Absolute, Truth as Relative
- Social Constructions
- Postmodernism and Education
- Relativism and Politics
- INTERLUDE: ON THREE GREAT MYSTERIES
- CHAPTER THREE. BELIEFS BASED ON GOOD REASONS: Concerning the Grounds That Underlie One's Convictions
- "But What Do You Believe in, Then?"
- Is Belief in Science a Kind of Faith?
- Intellectual Honesty
- "Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence"
- Unmasking What Is Implausible
- INTERLUDE: ON EXPLORING RIVAL MOVES IN CHESS AND RIVAL MOVES IN THE GAME OF LIFE
- CHAPTER FOUR. WHAT IS SCIENCE? Concerning Theories, Experiments, Conclusions, and Science's Essence
- At the Very Heart of Science
- Experimentation, Rejection, and Revision: The Very Core of What Science Is
- Deductive Processes of Inference
- Inductive Processes of Inference
- Case Study: Louis Pasteur and Spontaneous Generation
- Falsifiability
- Mathematics and Its Absolute Truths
- Blind Experiments and Placebos
- The Darker Side of Science
- Are Religion and Science Mutually Compatible?
- INTERLUDE: ON THE USEFULNESS OF SCIENCE
- CHAPTER FIVE. GHOSTS IN THE HEAD: Concerning Our Wonderful but Easily Fooled Brains
- Our Brains Pull the Wool over Our Eyes
- Optical Illusions
- Synesthesia
- The Anchoring Effect
- Bloated Self-Images
- Focus and Blind Spots
- The Likelihood of a Zombie Virus
- Three Doors and One Car
- Choice Blindness
- Social Thinking and Abstract Thinking
- Moral Thinking
- Was the Human Brain Designed to Be Religious?
- Our Very Human Theory of Mind
- Magical Thinking
- INTERLUDE: ON HEAVEN AND PARADISE
- CHAPTER SIX. A NATURAL WORLD: Concerning Naturalism, Agnosticism, and Atheism
- Naturalism and Materialism
- Atheists as Provocateurs
- Atheism in American Life
- Atheists as Beings with No Morality
- Agnostic or Atheist?
- Many Agnostics Are Actually Atheists
- What Does an Atheist Actually Believe?
- Thirteen Prejudices about Atheism
- 1. Atheists Are a Special Brand of People
- 2. Atheism is a Philosophy of Life
- 3. Atheists Hate God or Are Angry at God
- 4. Atheists Are Extremists, Are Arrogant, Are Militant, Are Intolerant .
- 5. Atheism Is a "Harder" Attitude Than Theism
- 6. Atheism Is Just Another Religion
- 7. Atheists Claim That Religion Is the Root of All Evil
- 8. Atheists Totally Lack Morality
- 9. Atheists Believe Only in What They Can See and Measure
- 10. Atheism Is an Ideology
- 11. Communism Is Atheistic and Odious, and Therefore Atheism Is Odious
- 12. Nazism Was an Atheistic Ideology
- 13. Atheists Are Cold and Emotionless
- Atheism's Rebirth and Disappearance
- INTERLUDE: ON SUPERSTITION AND HOCUS-POCUS
- CHAPTER SEVEN. BEING GOOD WITHOUT NEEDING GOD: Concerning Goodness, Evil, and Morality
- The Problem of Evil
- Omnipotent-Yes or No?
- The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways
- Some Kinds of Evil Aren't Real, despite Appearances
- Is God Actually Good?
- Morality Has No Need for a God
- The Fight between Zeus and Shiva
- Eve Is Always Right
- A Secular View of Evil and Morality
- "The Problem Is Merely That Humans Misinterpret Religion"
- The Natural Roots of Morality
- Empathy and Identification
- INTERLUDE: ON CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND RESPONSIBILITY
- CHAPTER EIGHT. NEW AGE BELIEFS AND THE CRISIS OF REASON: Concerning People's Beliefs in Strange Ideas
- Unreasonable Beliefs
- Positive Thinking and Pseudoscience
- Nikken as a Case Study
- Homeopathy
- Exploiting the Cachet of Antiquity and That of Science
- Quantum Physics and the New Age
- Category Errors and the Ladder of Sciences
- A Case Study: Astrology
- Second Case Study: The Myers-Briggs Test
- Synchronicity
- Case Study: Hug and Bug
- New Age Prejudices
- INTERLUDE: ON THE MYSTIC LAND OF SHANGRI-LA
- PART II: THE PATHWAY TO A NEW ENLIGHTENMENT
- CHAPTER NINE. WHEN RELIGION RUNS OFF THE RAILS: Concerning Fanaticism, Extremism, and Christian-Style Talibanism
- Does God Hate Women?
- The Catholic Church's Opposition to Abortion
- Sexual Apartheid in Judaism
- Sharia and the Cairo Declaration
- Religion and Tradition: A Study in the Oppression of Women
- Blasphemy, Apostasy, and Freedom of Speech
- ISIS
- Nordic Terror
- Christian Extremism
- The Joshua Generation
- Waiting for the Second Coming of Christ
- Christian Taliban
- Jesus Shall Crush the Nonbelievers
- INTERLUDE: ON HUMAN SUFFERING AND MEDICAL PRACTICE
- CHAPTER TEN. THE BATTLE OVER OUR ORIGINS: Concerning Evolution, Creationism, and Anti-science
- Darwin's Legacy
- Monkey Trial, 1925
- Evolution Scores a Couple of Victories
- Intelligent Design
- Intelligent Design in American Schools
- Creationism in Sweden
- INTERLUDE: ON THE NORMAL AND THE ABNORMAL
- CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE HISTORY OF IDEAS: Concerning the Roots of Secular Enlightenment
- Reason, Compassion, and Various "Golden Rules"
- The Philosophy of Ancient Times
- Three Intellectual Giants
- Humanity at the Focal Point
- The Middle Ages
- The Renaissance
- Rationalists and Empiricists
- The Enlightenment
- Secular Philosophy, Morality, and Politics
- The Enlightenment as a Movement for Freedom
- The Nineteenth Century
- Freethinkers and Atheists
- INTERLUDE: ON FREE WILL
- CHAPTER TWELVE. SECULAR VOICES IN OUR DAY: Concerning Awe, Politics, and Religion
- The First Humanist Society in the United States
- The Myth of Albert Einstein's Religiousness
- Secular Voices Today
- INTERLUDE: ON TELEPORTATION AND THE FEAR OF DEATH
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN. ENLIGHTENMENT: Concerning Freedoms, Rights, and Respect
- Universal Rights and Human Liberation
- Identity as a Trap
- Islam and the Criticism of Religion
- Essentialism and Viewpoints on Humanity
- Gender Essentialism and the Lens of Gender
- What Is Religious Freedom?
- Example: Sikhs and Knives
- For Ethical Independence Rather Than Religious Freedom
- Religion and Medical Ethics
- On Secularism and Social Health
- Is Religious Belief Rising or Falling in Today's World?
- INTERLUDE: ON GRATITUDE AND FEELINGS OF GUILT
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN. WHAT SHOULD WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN? Concerning Faith, Science, and How Schools Talk about Life
- Let Children Discover the World as It Truly Is
- Sectarian Schools in Sweden
- Religious Education in Schools
- A Fresh New Philosophy of Life for Schools
- INTERLUDE: ON THE NATURAL AND THE SUPERNATURAL
- Afterword and Words of Thanks
- Notes
- Foreword by Christer Sturmark
- Prelude
- Chapter One. To Meet the World with an Open Mind
- Chapter Two. I Believe That I Know
- Chapter Three. Beliefs Based on Good Reasons
- Chapter Four. What Is Science?
- Chapter Five. Ghosts in the Head
- Chapter Six. A Natural World
- Chapter Seven. Being Good without Needing God
- Chapter Eight. New Age Beliefs and the Crisis of Reason
- Chapter Nine. When Religion Runs off the Rails
- Chapter Ten. The Battle over Our Origins
- Chapter Eleven. The History of Ideas
- Chapter Twelve. Secular Voices in Our Day
- Chapter Thirteen. Enlightenment
- Chapter Fourteen. What Should We Teach Our Children?
- Afterword and Words of Thanks
- About the Author
- An Invitation from the Publisher
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