Stephen Law

Here's a discussion I had last night with some US Christian Apologists, if you're interested. It was quite knock about. They really pushed the C.S. Lewis style moral argument.

(pre-publication draft of my chapter 'Humanism' in Stephen Bullivant and Michael Ruse (eds.) Handbook of Atheism , (Oxford University Press, 2013)   “Humanism” is a word that has had and continues to have a number of meanings. The focus here is on kind of atheistic world-view espoused by those who organize and campaign under that banner in the UK and abroad.   We should acknowledge that there remain other uses of term. In one of the loosest senses of the expression, a “Humanist” is someone whose world-view gives special importance to human concerns, values and dignity. If that is what a Humanist is, then of course most of us qualify as Humanists, including many religious theists. But the fact remains that, around the world, those who organize under the label “Humanism” tend to sign up to a narrower, atheistic view.   What does Humanism, understood in this narrower way, involve? The boundaries of the concept remain somewhat vague and a...

What does secular humanism (or, as we say in the UK, humanism ) involve? In Humanism: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2011) I suggest that most of those who sign up to secular humanism sign up to following: 1. Secular humanists place particular emphasis on the role of science and reason . 2. Humanists are atheists . They do not sign up to belief in a god or gods. 3. Humanists suppose that this is very probably the only life we have . 4. Humanists usually believe in the existence and importance of moral value. 5. Humanists emphasize our individual moral autonomy and responsibility . 6. Humanists are secularists in the sense that they favour an open, democratic society and believe the State should take neutral stance on religion. 7. Humanists believe that we can enjoy significant, meaningful lives even if there is no is a God, and whether or not we happen to be religious. Now some readers may be thinking, ‘But hang on, you haven’t mentioned natu...

(From my OUP book - A Very Short Introduction to Humanism). One aim here is to nail various myths about what Humanism involves, which in turn lead to a whole series of strawman attacks from its critics. What is humanism? The word “humanism” has had, and continues to have, a variety of meanings. At its broadest, “humanism” means little more than a system of thought in which human values, interests and dignity are considered particularly important. Understood in this way, perhaps almost everyone qualifies as a humanist (including those of us who are religious). However, those who organize under the banner of “humanism” today, particularly in the UK, usually mean something rather more focussed. They embrace a particular kind of worldview that by no means everyone accepts. That worldview is the focus of this book. So what distinguishes the humanist outlook? It is difficult to be very precise. The boundaries of the concept are elastic. But I think most humanists would...

I checked the amazon page of my OUP Very Short Introduction to Humanism book to see how it has been doing (pure vanity, I know) and spotted the review below. Kind of baffled by it, I actually emailed the reviewer, one Bojan Tunguz, to ask him what he meant when he said I was "dishonest". The resulting correspondence between us is pasted it in below the review [ACTUALLY I HAVE DELETED IT AS IT PROBABLY ISN'T ETHICAL TO REPRODUCE IT]. Bojan, it turns out, is a Croatian now based in Canada. That link provides his biog., which provides some clues as to his general views. etc. I note Bojan has a blog . 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Epic, epic fail, 4 April 2011 By Bojan Tunguz "Dr. Bojan Tunguz" (Greencastle, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) This review is from: Humanism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback) Imagine you are in a bookstore or are browsing Amazon book pages and you come acros...

My Oxford University Press Very Short Introduction to Humanism was published on Thursday.

For OUP humanism book. This is VERY VERY rought first draft. Many slips I know. CHAPTER XX: HUMANISM AND MORAL AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION A colleague of mine once told me that, as a pupil of a Catholic school in 1960’s Britain, she once asked in class why the use of contraceptives was morally wrong. She didn’t expressing disagreement with the view – merely asked what the justification for it was. As a result, she was sent to the headmaster, who asked her why she was obsessed with sex. The culture her school fostered, so far as moral and religious education was concerned, was one of deference to authority – of passive, uncritical acceptance of religious dogma. This colleague, no longer Catholic, added that, even today, more than half a century later, she still finds herself feeling guilty if she dares to question a Catholic belief. Her upbringing was highly effective not only in censoring her, but in getting her into the habit of censoring herself. That disposition was so-deeply ingrained...