Table of Contents
Foreword Douglas Hofstadter ix
Foreword Christer Sturmark xv
Prelude: Concerning Yesterday's World and Today's World xxi
A Global Psychosis xxii
Fatal Superstition xxvi
Swedish Extremism and Superstition xxvii
What We Need Is a New Age of Enlightenment xxxi
Part I The Art of Thinking Clearly
Chapter 1 To Meet the World with an Open Mind: Concerning the Tools and Compass Needed in the Quest for Knowledge 3
My Own Bumpy Trip 3
To Have an Open Mind 7
Explanations and Ockham's Razor 9
Traps in Thinking 11
Rationality and Wisdom 13
Having Ideas and Forming a Philosophy of Life 15
My Point of View 18
Secular Humanism 19
Interlude: On Spirituality and Flow 21
Chapter 2 Believe That I Know: Concerning Reality, Knowledge, and Truth 23
What Is Knowledge? 24
Is What Seems Real Really Real? 26
Matters of Fact and Matters of Taste 28
What Is Truth? 30
Truth as Absolute, Truth as Relative 33
Social Constructions 39
Postmodernism and Education 41
Relativism and Politics 43
Interlude: On Three Great Mysteries 44
Chapter 3 Beliefs Based on Good Reasons: Concerning the Grounds That Underlie One's Convictions 47
"But What Do You Believe in, Then?" 49
Is Belief in Science a Kind of Faith? 50
Intellectual Honesty 51
"Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence" 55
Unmasking What Is Implausible 56
Interlude: On Exploring Rival Moves in Chess and Rival Moves in the Game of Life 61
Chapter 4 What Is Science? Concerning Theories, Experiments, Conclusions, and Science's Essence 65
At the Very Heart of Science 66
Experimentation, Rejection, and Revision: The Very Core of What Science Is 71
Deductive Processes of Inference 78
Inductive Processes of Inference 80
Case Study: Louis Pasteur and Spontaneous Generation 82
Falsifiability 84
Mathematics and Its Absolute Truths 85
Blind Experiments and Placebos 87
The Darker Side of Science 89
Are Religion and Science Mutually Compatible? 90
Interlude: On the Usefulness of Science 91
Chapter 5 Ghosts in the Head: Concerning Our Wonderful but Easily Fooled Brains 93
Our Brains Pull the Wool over Our Eyes 93
Social Thinking and Abstract Thinking 110
Moral Thinking 113
Was the Human Brain Designed to Be Religious? 114
Our Very Human Theory of Mind 119
Magical Thinking 120
Interlude: On Heaven and Paradise 121
Chapter 6 A Natural World: Concerning Naturalism, Agnosticism, and Atheism 123
Naturalism and Materialism 123
Atheists as Provocateurs 125
Atheism in American Life 125
Atheists as Beings with No Morality 128
Agnostic or Atheist? 128
Many Agnostics Are Actually Atheists 130
What Does an Atheist Actually Believe? 132
Thirteen Prejudices about Atheism 135
Atheism's Rebirth and Disappearance 143
Interlude: On Superstition and Hocus-Pocus 143
Chapter 7 Being Good without Needing God: Concerning Goodness, Evil, and Morality 147
The Problem of Evil 147
Omnipotent-Yes or No? 148
The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways 149
Some Kinds of Evil Aren't Real, despite Appearances 150
Is God Actually Good? 151
Morality Has No Need for a God 152
The Fight between Zeus and Shiva 155
Eve is Always Right 157
A Secular View of Evil and Morality 158
"The Problem Is Merely That Humans Misinterpret Religion" 159
The Natural Roots of Morality 160
Empathy and Identification 163
Interlude: On prime, Punishment, and Responsibility 164
Chapter 8 New Age Beliefs and the Crisis of Reason: Concerning People's Beliefs in Strange Ideas 167
Unreasonable Beliefs 167
Positive Thinking and Pseudoscience 168
Nikken as a Case Study 169
Homeopathy 173
Exploiting the Cachet of Antiquity and That of Science 175
Quantum Physics and the New Age 176
Category Errors and the Ladder of Sciences 177
A Case Study: Astrology 180
Second Case Study: The Myers-Briggs Test 183
Synchronicity 186
Case Study: Hug and Bug 187
New Age Prejudices 189
Interlude: On the Mystic Land of Shangri-La 193
Part II The Pathway to a New Enlightenment
Chapter 9 When Religion Runs off the Rails: Concerning Fanaticism, Extremism, and Christian-Style Talibanism 199
Does God Hate Women? 200
The Catholic Church's Opposition to Abortion 200
Sexual Apartheid in Judaism 201
Sharia and the Cairo Declaration 202
Religion and Tradition: A Study in the Oppression of Women 206
Blasphemy, Apostasy, and Freedom of Speech 208
ISIS 211
Nordic Terror 214
Christian Extremism 215
The Joshua Generation 216
Waiting for the Second Coming of Christ 217
Christian Taliban 219
Jesus Shall Crush the Nonbelievers 222
Interlude: On Human Suffering and Medical Practice 223
Chapter 10 The Battle over Our Origins: Concerning Evolution, Creation ism, and Anti-science 227
Darwin's Legacy 229
Monkey Trial, 1925 230
Evolution Scores a Couple of Victories 232
Intelligent Design 232
Intelligent Design in American Schools 236
Creationism in Sweden 238
Interlude: On the Normal and the Abnormal 241
Chapter 11 The History of Ideas: Concerning the Roots of Secular Enlightenment 243
Reason, Compassion, and Various "Golden Rules" 243
The Philosophy of Ancient Times 245
Three Intellectual Giants 247
Humanity at the Focal Point 248
The Middle Ages 249
The Renaissance 250
Rationalists and Empiricists 253
The Enlightenment 255
Secular Philosophy, Morality, and Politics 257
The Enlightenment as a Movement for Freedom 259
The Nineteenth Century 261
Freethinkers and Atheists 265
Interlude: On Free Will 266
Chapter 12 Secular Voices in Our Day: Concerning Awe, Politics, and Religion 269
The First Humanist Society in the United States 271
The Myth of Albert Einstein's Religiousness 272
Secular Voices Today 278
Interlude: On Teleportation and the Fear of Death 286
Chapter 13 Enlightenment: Concerning Freedoms, Rights, and Respect 289
Universal Rights and Human Liberation 290
Identity as a Trap 291
Islam and the Criticism of Religion 293
Essentialism and Viewpoints on Humanity 294
Gender Essentialism and the Lens of Gender 296
What Is Religious Freedom? 297
Example: Sikhs and Knives 300
For Ethical Independence Rather Than Religious Freedom 301
Religion and Medical Ethics 302
On Secularism and Social Health 303
Is Religious Belief Rising or Falling in Today's World? 307
Interlude: On Gratitude and Feelings of Guilt 309
Chapter 14 What Should We Teach Our Children?
Concerning Faith, Science, and How Schools Talk about Life 311
Let Children Discover the World as It Truly Is 312
Sectarian Schools in Sweden 314
Religious Education in Schools 315
A Fresh New Philosophy of Life for Schools 321
Interlude: On the Natural and the Supernatural 321
Afterword and Words of Thanks 323
Notes 327
Index 341