[ Recently Published Articles | Editor’s Choice | Featured Books | Categories ]
[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
Our selection of books and associated reviews. Each cover is an affiliate link to Amazon for purchase.
A Song of Stone
A European nation not unlike Bosnia: Armed forces roam the lawless land where dark columns of smoke rise up from the surrounding farms and houses. The war is ending, perhaps ended. But for the castle and its occupants, a young lord and lady, the trouble is just beginning. Fearing an invasion of soldiers, the amorous […]
Answering Islam
Christian apologist Norman L. Geisler and former muslim Abdul Saleeb team up to provide a comprehensive, systematic philosophical comparison of Islam and Christianity. Although freethinkers will obviously find much to disagree with in the portions of this book which attempt to “prove” Christianity, the insights of the anti-Islam sections alone make this book valuable to […]
Atheism and Theism
The issue of whether or not there is a God is one of the oldest and most widely disputed philosophical questions. It is a debate that spreads far across the range of philosophical questions about the status of science, the nature of mind, the character of good and evil, the epistemology of experience and testimony, […]
Being and Time
Heidegger has been criticized for his participation in the Nazi party and one could draw a direct connection from his politics to his idea of the herd-instinct philosophy of “falling into the they.” We fall into the “they” to avoid the anxiety of separation. “There is no I, only the one.” Human interaction usually lacks […]
Biogenesis: Theories of Life’s Origin
Biogenesis provides an up-to-date discussion of the origin of life, including experimental strategies, theories, models, and controversies. The book includes an historical overview, from the Greek philosophers to contemporary scientists.
Casting the First Stone
Christian lay reader, antiquarian bookseller and mystical philosopher Gilbert examines the battle lines that have been drawn between orthodoxy and non-orthodoxy, tradition and “alternative” innovation, religious fundamentalism and the “New Age” and looks at the activities of intolerant extremist pressure groups whose aim is to impose their own restrictive values and belief systems on all […]
Consciousness Explained
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available in paperback. The author of Brainstorms and coauthor of The Mind’s I proposes an original model of consciousness based on new scientific fact and theory.
Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Thought You Knew
Description This accessible, engaging, and timely book brings together philosophy and evolutionary psychology in a way that will open up debate between the two disciplines. Is religion compatible with evolution? Is religious faith intellectually flawed? Steve Stewart-Williams addresses these and other fundamental questions raised by Darwin’s theory of evolution. Drawing on philosophy, biology and the […]
Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science
Denying Evolution aims at taking a fresh look at the evolution-creation controversy. It presents a truly “balanced” treatment, not in the sense of treating creationism as a legitimate scientific theory (it demonstrably is not), but in the sense of dividing the blame for the controversy equally between creationists and scientists–the former for subscribing to various […]
Doubting Darwin?: Creationist Designs on Evolution
Book Description The debate about what to teach as science in our schools has reached the boiling point, both inside and outside the classroom. From Young Earth to Intelligent Design creationism, the intrusion of political and religious ideals is damaging the integrity of our public education system. Doubting Darwin? puts the dispute into its scientific […]
Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
Mackie argues that morality is subjective and therefore invented rather than discovered.
Fading Faith: The Rise of the Secular Age
Description A historic transition is occurring, barely noticed. Slowly, imperceptibly, religion is shriveling. Pope Benedict XVI laments that “Europe has developed a culture that, in a manner unknown before now to humanity, excludes God from the public conscience.” In Denmark and Sweden, fewer than 5% of adults are in church on a typical Sunday. In […]
Freedom Evolves
Daniel C. Dennett is a brilliant polemicist, famous for challenging unexamined orthodoxies. Over the last thirty years, he has played a major role in expanding our understanding of consciousness, developmental psychology, and evolutionary theory. And with such groundbreaking, critically acclaimed books as Consciousness Explained and Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize […]
God is Dead: Secularization in the West
Christianity in the democracies of the “first” world has been declining in power, popularity and prestige since 1900. However, many commentators, social scientists as well as church leaders, try and minimize the extent of this change. They maintain that religious sentiment remains strong despite declining levels of church involvement, and insist that secularization is an […]
Hal’s Legacy : 2001’s Computer As Dream and Reality
If you loved “2001: A Space Odyssey,” you’ll be delighted by this book that asks “How realistic was HAL?” Contributions by various scientists include essays on supercomputer design with regard to speech synthesis, common sense reasoning, emotions, lip reading and even playing chess. As the authors explore what is science fantasy and what is technological […]
How to Think Straight About Psychology
How to Think Straight About Psychology is a concise and easy-to-read “handbook” that evaluates the most important concepts and issues in psychology. Written in an engaging and nontechnical style, this acclaimed book, now in its fifth edition, highlights the essential concepts of falsifiability, operationism, experimental control, converging evidence, and correlational versus experimental studies, as well […]
If You Had to Choose, What Would You Do?
Presents a number of thought-provoking scenarios involving ethical dilemmas and asks the reader to decide what to do. The scenarios are fun to read and are followed by questions to facilitate discussion. Helps you talk to your child about social and moral issues in a natural and nonthreatening way.
Introduction to Western Philosophy
Clearly Antony Flew was on a mission when he wrote his Introduction to Western Philosophy. It is very carefully crafted, providing an unparalleled introduction not only to Western philosophers and their ideas, but also to approaches to philosophical thought. Flew assumes that his readers are willing to try to think like philosophers, and he provides […]
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them)
Description Picking up where Bible expert Bart Ehrman’s New York Times bestseller Misquoting Jesus left off, Jesus, Interrupted addresses the larger issue of what the New Testament actually teaches–and it’s not what most people think. Here Ehrman reveals what scholars have unearthed: The authors of the New Testament have diverging views about who Jesus was […]
Leaving the Fold
If you are a former believer searching for a new beginning (or a current believer just starting to have doubts), this book is for you. A former fundamentalist herself, Winnell’s book is a heart-felt discussion on the impact a dogmatic, unquestioning faith can have on a person’s life.
Man a Machine
Synopsis Unavailable
Mormon Polygamy: A History
An informative outline of the secret origins of Mormon polygamy, the peculiarities of the early practice, “unofficial” polygamous marriages at the turn-of-the-century and present-day fundamentalist Mormon groups which still practice polygamy.
No Sense of Obligation: Science and Religion in an Impersonal Universe
Book Description Rejecting belief without evidence, a scientist searches the scientific, theological, and philosophical literature for a sign from God–and finds God to be an allegory. This remarkable book, written in the layperson’s language, leaves no room for unproven ideas and instead seeks hard evidence for the existence of God. The author, a sympathetic critic […]
Ontological Arguments and Belief in God
This book is a unique contribution to the philosophy of religion. It offers a comprehensive discussion of one of the most famous arguments for the existence of God: the ontological argument. The author provides and analyzes a critical taxonomy of those versions of the argument that have been advanced in recent philosophical literature, as well […]
Philosophy of Religion: An Introduction
One of the most respected scholars in the field, William L. Rowe offers a well-balanced, understandable introduction ot the central topics in philosophy of religion. With a clarity praised by reviewers, the author helps introductory students assess the sorts of reasons that thoughtful people have advanced for and against religious belief. Topics include: differing conceptions […]
Rama II
Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as mind-boggling proof that life existed — or had existed — elsewhere in the universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century, another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A crew of Earth’s best and brightest minds is assembled to […]
Religious Liberty and State Constitutions
The fact is sometimes overlooked that the state constitutions, some of which were written written before the federal Constitution, include explicit protections of religious liberty and church-state separation, some even more comprehensive and specific in their guarantees and prohibitions than the U.S. Constitution. All of the state constitutions deal with religious freedom and all support […]
Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam
For a generation, Muslim extremists have targeted Americans in an escalation of terror that culminated in the September 11 attacks. Our shared confusion — Who are the attackers? Why are we targets? — is cleared away in a book as dramatic as it is authoritative. Updated with new chapters on Afghanistan and the the broader […]
Secular Wholeness: A Skeptic’s Paths to a Richer Life
Can a skeptic the benefits of a religious practice? When you can’t abide ideas of the supernatural, when no religious account of the world satisfies, how can you satisfy the need for depth, engagement, serenity in life? Davd Cortesi, well-known as a writer on technical subjects, brings a programmer’s bent for logic and scholar’s research […]
Spiritual Warfare
Diamond traces the history of the extreme Religious Right and its forays into international military actions and domestic suppression. The documentation in this book is thorough and reputable. Make no mistake, this book is not for everyone: she’s writing for academians and is not aiming for entertainment. However, the book, at times, is riveting in […]
