monnowman reviewed Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray
Review of 'Seven Types of Atheism' on 'Goodreads'
As someone who has recently started identifying as an atheist, this book offered a useful critique of the various possible atheist stances. After all, it is fair enough to conclude that god(s) don't exist but the new non-believer has still to wrestle with philosophical questions around meaning, purpose, how to respond to evil (if "evil" even exists) and so on. A point Gray keeps making is that humanism, a positive alternative to nihilism for the putative atheist, makes the assumption that human progress is inevitable. To which I, as a humanist, would answer that we've got to try to make progress, otherwise we might as well return ourselves to the Stone Age.
This Audible audio recording cannot be recommended for its narrator who does a very bad job of pronouncing foreign names. Several times I found myself wincing and shouting the correct pronunciations at the car stereo. He also has …
As someone who has recently started identifying as an atheist, this book offered a useful critique of the various possible atheist stances. After all, it is fair enough to conclude that god(s) don't exist but the new non-believer has still to wrestle with philosophical questions around meaning, purpose, how to respond to evil (if "evil" even exists) and so on. A point Gray keeps making is that humanism, a positive alternative to nihilism for the putative atheist, makes the assumption that human progress is inevitable. To which I, as a humanist, would answer that we've got to try to make progress, otherwise we might as well return ourselves to the Stone Age.
This Audible audio recording cannot be recommended for its narrator who does a very bad job of pronouncing foreign names. Several times I found myself wincing and shouting the correct pronunciations at the car stereo. He also has a habit of using the same pattern of intonation in every sentence.
This is a book for atheists who would do well to take heed of its warnings that while they may be right that we live in a godless universe, building an ethical and rationally sound post-religious wordview is harder than they might expect.
