The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism (Blackwell Public Philosophy Series)

The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism......Page 5
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Introduction: The Secular Outlook......Page 11
1: Atheism, Agnosticism, and Theism......Page 24
The Alpha Privative......Page 26
Atheism and Liberal Concepts of God......Page 27
Atheism as an Unpopular Position......Page 30
A Definition of Atheism......Page 35
Motives for Atheism......Page 52
Atheist Values......Page 55
Spiritual Excellences and the Liberal Decalogue......Page 57
Agnosticism......Page 60
The History of Agnosticism......Page 65
Huxley and Russell......Page 67
Pascal’s Wager......Page 69
Pascal’s Insight......Page 72
Atheism or Non-Theism?......Page 73
2: Freethought I : Criticism of Religion......Page 79
“Écrasez l’Infâme”......Page 82
Religion and Evil......Page 86
Religious Violence......Page 87
Father and Daughter......Page 90
How to Discover a Relationship between Religion and Violence......Page 94
Ramadan v. Hirsi Ali......Page 96
Religion “per se”......Page 99
Textual Relativism......Page 101
Can Translation Mitigate All Immoral Passages in Scripture?......Page 104
Can Interpretation Mitigate All Immoral Passages in Scripture?......Page 106
Why Are “Moderates” so Reluctant to Criticize Religion?......Page 108
The Bible on Apostasy......Page 112
Biblical Terrorism: The Story of Phinehas......Page 115
Biblical Violence and Modern Legal Practice......Page 118
The Book of History......Page 122
Some Objections......Page 125
3: Freethought II : Freedom of Expression......Page 132
Mill on Liberty......Page 133
Khomeini v. Rushdie......Page 135
Fukuyama Giving Up on the Arabic World......Page 140
The Limits of Free Speech......Page 144
The Deontological and Utilitarian Justifications for Free Speech......Page 148
Clifford on the Duty to Critique......Page 151
Freedom of Speech and Philosophers on the Index......Page 153
Intolerance not Restricted to Islam......Page 157
Giniewski v. France......Page 160
Freethought under Fire......Page 162
People Are Not Being Insulted for Having a Religion......Page 165
Racism without Race......Page 171
Social Criticism not Identical with the Urge to Provoke......Page 173
Flemming Rose on Why He Published the Danish Cartoons......Page 174
The Theory of Evolution: Too Controversial to Defend?......Page 178
Is There Another Way to Discover the Truth than by Free Discussion?......Page 180
4: Moral and Political Secularism......Page 182
Pope Benedict XVI on the Apostles’ Creed......Page 186
“Who Are You to Tell Believers What to Believe?”......Page 190
What Judaism, Christendom, and Islam Have in Common: Theism......Page 194
Divine Command Theories......Page 198
Abraham and Isaac......Page 204
The Story of Abraham in the Qur’an......Page 206
The Story of Jephtha......Page 211
Adherents of Divine Command Theory......Page 214
Command Ethics or Divine Command Ethics?......Page 216
An Assessment of Divine Command Ethics......Page 220
Kierkegaard and Mill......Page 228
Kohlberg and Moral Education......Page 231
Religious and Secular Ethics......Page 235
Worship......Page 239
Kant’s Struggle with Moral Autonomy and Free Speech......Page 244
Kant’s Legacy in Nineteenth-Century German Theology......Page 251
Schleiermacher as the Father of Modern Hermeneutics......Page 254
Armstrong’s Plea for Liberal Interpretation......Page 258
A New Way to Look at the “Sacredness” of Scripture?......Page 262
Classic Books and Sacred Books......Page 264
Violating the Integrity of the Text......Page 272
Is Hermeneutics the Only Way to Modernize Traditions?......Page 276
Is Islam “Secularization-Resistant” ?......Page 282
Two Kinds of Reformers: Liberal Islam and Secular Islam......Page 284
Selected Reading......Page 291
Index......Page 315