{"product_id":"the-secular-outlook-isbn-9781444335200","title":"The Secular Outlook","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism\u003c\/i\u003e shows how people can live together and overcome the challenge of religious terrorism by adopting a \"secular outlook\" on life and politics.  \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eShows how secularism can answer the problem of religious terrorism\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eProvides new perspectives on how religious minorities can be integrated into liberal democracies\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eReveals how secularism has gained a new political and moral significance.\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eAlso examines such topics as atheism, religious criticism and free speech\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e  Introduction: The Secular Outlook.  \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e1. Atheism, Agnosticism, and Theism.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Alpha Privative.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAtheism and Liberal Concepts of God.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAtheism as an Unpopular Position.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA Definition of Atheism.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMotives for Atheism.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAtheist Values.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSpiritual Excellences and the Liberal Decalogue.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAgnosticism.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe History of Agnosticism.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHuxley and Russell.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePascal’s Wager.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePascal’s Insight.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAtheism or Non-Theism?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2. Freethought I: Criticism of Religion.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Écrasez l’Infâme”.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReligion and Evil.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReligious Violence.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFather and Daughter.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHow to Discover a Relationship between Religion and Violence.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRamadan v. Hirsi Ali.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReligion “per se”.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTextual Relativism.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCan Translation Mitigate All Immoral Passages in Scripture?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCan Interpretation Mitigate All Immoral Passages in Scripture?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhy Are “Moderates” so Reluctant to Criticize Religion?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Bible on Apostasy.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBiblical Terrorism: The Story of Phinehas.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBiblical Violence and Modern Legal Practice.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Book of History.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSome Objections.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e3. Freethought II: Freedom of Expression.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMill on Liberty.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKhomeini v. Rushdie.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFukuyama Giving Up on the Arab World.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Limits of Free Speech.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Deontological and Utilitarian Justifications for Free Speech.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eClifford on the Duty to Critique.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFreedom of Speech and Philosophers on the Index.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntolerance not Restricted to Islam.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGiniewski v. France.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFreethought under Fire.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePeople Are not Being Insulted for Having a Religion.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRacism without Race.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSocial Criticism not Identical with the Urge to Provoke.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFlemming Rose on Why He Published the Danish Cartoons.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Theory of Evolution: Too Controversial to Defend?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIs There Another Way to Discover the Truth than by Free Discussion?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e4. Moral and Political Secularism.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePope Benedict XVI on the Apostles’ Creed.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Who Are You to Tell Believers What to Believe?”\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhat Judaism, Christendom, and Islam Have in Common: Theism.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDivine Command Theories.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAbraham and Isaac.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Story of Abraham in the Qur’an.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Story of Jephtha.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdherents of Divine Command Theory.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCommand Ethics or \u003ci\u003eDivine\u003c\/i\u003e Command Ethics?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAn Assessment of Divine Command Ethics.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKierkegaard and Mill.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKohlberg and Moral Education.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eReligious and Secular Ethics.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWorship.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKant’s Struggle with Moral Autonomy and Free Speech.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eKant’s Legacy in Nineteenth-Century German Theology.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSchleiermacher as the Father of Modern Hermeneutics.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eArmstrong’s Plea for Liberal Interpretation.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA New Way to Look at the “Sacredness” of Scripture?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eClassic Books and Sacred Books.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eViolating the Integrity of the Text.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIs Hermeneutics the Only Way to Modernize Traditions?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIs Islam “Secularization-Resistant”?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo Kinds of Reformers: Liberal Islam and Secular Islam.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelected Reading.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex.\u003c\/p\u003e  \"This book would be ideal for an upper-level undergraduate or graduate religious studies or philosophy seminar. Highly educated lay readers and academics interested in religion and secularism will also likely find the book of interest.\" (Journal of Contemporary Religion, 1 January 2012)  \u003cp\u003e\"The book is a balanced account of what went wrong in defending liberal democracy in the past two decades and what is to be done to revigorate the foundations for liberal democracy .\" (Acta Politica, 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"The overall structure of the book is quite clear . . . Nevertheless, if I would be forced to summarise the book in its entirety, then I would claim that it can be seen as an elaborate and successful (as far\u003cbr\u003e as I am concerned) defense of the view that religion derives from morality and not the other way around.\" (International Humanist News, 1 April 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"It is a level-headed contribution to an important debate about how best to address religious fundamentalism and political fanaticism.\" (The Christian Century, 8 March 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Cliteur's book is timely and well written. It covers some very recent events, and offers coherent - if sometime impatient - perspectives on religion from the secular standpoint. Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through researchers\/faculty.\" (Choice , 1 April 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"You actually have to focus on the paragraphs. That doesn't mean that the style is inaccessible or difficult - not at all, it's very readable - but this is a meaty book that asks for (and rewards) a certain amount of concentration.\" (Metamagician and the Hellfire Club, 7 April 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"The primary goal of this book, its author says, is ‘to show how religious believers and unbelievers can live peacefully together and what principles the state should try to stimulate in its citizenry to achieve social harmony and social cohesion.' He recommends a moral and political vision which he calls \"a 'secular outlook' on life.\" Its four main components are atheism, criticism of religion, free speech, and ‘moral autonomy.' Cliteur wants us to be freethinkers and to expose the ways in which sacred texts actually endorse or even encourage violence, terrorism, and injustice. Cliteur is right, of course, that free inquiry and criticism should be protected.\" (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 6 March 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Accessible, engaging and convincing, it is the perfect tome for those who wish to learn about the ethical and logical case for a secular moral and political framework.\" (Tribune, 4 March 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"A robust defence of the Enlightenment tradition and a must-read for those concerned by the corrosive aspects of religion on society.\" (Times Higher Education, 10 February 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"But Cliteur challenges this interpretation, charging Armstrong with seeking to dismiss fundamentalism as a ‘perversion' of religion when in fact the fundamentalists can claim to be adopting the very attitude their sacred texts demand\". (Church of England Newspaper, 7 January 2011)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"The Secular Outlook is a thought-provoking discussion of how liberal, secular democracies can and should respond to extremism and a much-needed exposition of the vital importance, in that response, of rationality and an emphasis on common humanity\". (New Internationalist, 1 December 2010)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Secularism is one of those concepts that is widely used without a clear notion of what it is. Dutch humanist philosopher Paul Cliteur's \u003ci\u003eThe Secular Out -\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003elook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism\u003c\/i\u003e supplies a theoretical clarification of what secularism is and what it is not. However, the book is more than a helpful analytical exercise-it is also an urgent plea for political and moral secularism.\" (\u003ci\u003eFree Inquiry\u003c\/i\u003e, October 2010)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003ePaul Cliteur\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. He is also a lawyer, a former Professor of Philosophy at the University of Delft, and a widely published author.  Instead of the move towards secularization predicted by many social thinkers, the closing decades of the twentieth century witnessed a major upsurge in religion – followed by a resurgence of religious fanaticism and global religious terrorism. Was the \"secularization thesis\" really such a dismal failure? And, perhaps more importantly, how should we react to the spiritual and ideological challenges that radical religious movements pose to Western liberal democracies?  \u003cp\u003eUsing a variety of thought-provoking arguments, \u003ci\u003eThe Secular\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eOutlook:\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eIn Defense of\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eMoral and\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ePolitical\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eSecularism\u003c\/i\u003e argues for a \"secular outlook\" on society and politics to meet the challenges of religious extremism in the twenty-first century. Unlike the highly polemical writings of authors such as Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, philosopher Paul Cliteur does not vociferously defend atheism – but neither does he defend theism. Instead, he reveals how religious believers and non-believers can live together peacefully by pointing to principles that the state should use to stimulate its citizenry to achieve social harmony and social cohesion. With chapters on atheism, religious criticism, free speech, and moral secularism, Cliteur offers a perspective that is in the interest of all citizens of multireligious and liberal democracies. Timely and stimulating, \u003ci\u003eThe Secular Outlook\u003c\/i\u003e offers a surprisingly optimistic view on the social and political challenges we face in the increasingly complex contemporary world.\u003c\/p\u003e  \"This is a brave and timely book, a light in the gathering Endarkenment. Cliteur responds lucidly to the West's many failures of political nerve, to the new climate of rationalizing the irrational and appeasing authoritarians. He advances a powerful case for the values of freedom and reason.\"\u003cbr\u003e —\u003cb\u003eRussell Blackford\u003c\/b\u003e, Co-editor for \u003ci\u003e50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47990338060517,"sku":"NP9781444335200","price":104.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781444335200.jpg?v=1761787416","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-secular-outlook-isbn-9781444335200","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}