If God does not exist, then what does? Is there good and evil, and should we care? How do we know what's true anyway? And can we make any sense of ...
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Jun 24, 2011
Jorge
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Sense and Goodness Without God by Richard Carrier
Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism is a great reference book about the metaphysical naturalist worldview. It's a book the answers the big philosophical questions about our world in a comprehensive and thorough fashion. Mr. Carrier tackles a very ambitious project; he covers a lot of interesting issues with a luxury of details, such as: religion, knowledge, science, art, politics, etc...The book has 44 More...
Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism is a great reference book about the metaphysical naturalist worldview. It's a book the answers the big philosophical questions about our world in a comprehensive and thorough fashion. Mr. Carrier tackles a very ambitious project; he covers a lot of interesting issues with a luxury of details, such as: religion, knowledge, science, art, politics, etc...The book has 44 More...
Mar 10, 2011
Perpetualstudent
rated it: 
"Yet our very lives are a joyous occasion. By existing, and making of ourselves something good, we give ourselves and each other value, we create purpose and meaning. Neither existing by accident nor existing only a short while changes anything about the value of existing, the value of getting to be, to behold and to know the universe, to create something."
-- Richard Carrier
Richard Carrier's book "Sense and Goodness without God" is a fairly comprehens More...
-- Richard Carrier
Richard Carrier's book "Sense and Goodness without God" is a fairly comprehens More...
Jul 22, 2011
Lance
rated it:
As an atheist, skeptic, and secularist, there was a lot I liked about this book. I do not have much experience with formal philosophy, so I considered this an interesting taste of the field, and I would like to read more about it.
However, the last few chapters seemed to go off the rails for me. I don't see why a discussion of the nature of beauty is relevant to this book, and the section on Richard's politics seemed more opinionated than reasoned.
However, the last few chapters seemed to go off the rails for me. I don't see why a discussion of the nature of beauty is relevant to this book, and the section on Richard's politics seemed more opinionated than reasoned.
Sep 15, 2008
Fox
rated it:
I'd rather give it 3.5 stars.
I skipped a bit and wish I skipped more.
The text reads like a textbook.
The best part in the entire book is the forward by the author.
This book attempts to be an all-inclusive read on every aspect of living a secular humanistic life--giving you the answer to every question which may be asked. This leads a very long, drawn out book. His "Defense of a Metaphysical Naturalism," defends all things defendable.
His material is good. More...
I skipped a bit and wish I skipped more.
The text reads like a textbook.
The best part in the entire book is the forward by the author.
This book attempts to be an all-inclusive read on every aspect of living a secular humanistic life--giving you the answer to every question which may be asked. This leads a very long, drawn out book. His "Defense of a Metaphysical Naturalism," defends all things defendable.
His material is good. More...
May 07, 2008
Allison
rated it:
Richard Carrier has obviously done a lot of thinking about the Big Questions: who are we, why are we here, what does it mean to love, to be a good person, to matter. And, by and large, his answers are sound and well thought out, especially in the realm of morality and the origin of the universe. His views on the scientific method, art and politics I either quibbled with or outright disagreed with. But he did get me to confess that yes, I am an atheist. And I care about what it means to be a good
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Aug 16, 2011
Kylie
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Richard Carrier is a PhD student at Columbia University who wrote this simple, consistent and jargon-free book about free will, and the nature of the universe, arguing from a naturalistic perspective that there is only a physical world without God, gods or spirits, but that human beings can still live a life of
love, meaning, and joy. Even though I myself am a believer in God, this is my favorite book on naturalistic philosophy and ethics.
love, meaning, and joy. Even though I myself am a believer in God, this is my favorite book on naturalistic philosophy and ethics.
Jan 10, 2010
Bakari
rated it: 
Went to hear Mr. Carrier give a presentation about this book. His views on the naturalist world view is very interesting and thought provoking. But he dismissed my question and comment that his scientific worldview is similar to what Marx and Engles were talking about their philosophical works.
Nov 12, 2008
Jami
rated it:
Carrier's book has a lot of good material. It's quite dense, and I admit that I skipped around a bit (as did several others in our book group), but it definitely presents a very complete secular worldview.
Apr 25, 2011
Ben
rated it: 
I hate to say this, but this was as boring as the textbook it seemed to aspire to. I agreed with much that it took too long to say, but eventually I gave up.
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