After Atheism Science, Religion and the Meaning of Life

by Vernon, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780230013421
• ISBN10: 0230013422
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The broadside against religion launched by a new breed of evangelical atheists has generated much heat but little light. Locked in battle against their Christian opponents the argument goes nowhere fast, and in an age of extremism, nurtures the dangerous vice of intolerance. Mark Vernon was an Anglican priest, left a conviction atheist, but now finds himself to be a committed and increasingly passionate agnostic. Part personal story, part philosophical search, After Atheism argues that the contemporary lust for certainty is demeaning of our humanity. The key to wisdom - as Socrates, the great theologians and the best scientists know - is understanding the limits of our knowledge.

Author Biography

MARK VERNON is a writer, broadcaster, blogger(www.philosophyandlife.com) and journalist. He published Business: The Key Concepts with Routledge in 2002 as well as chapters on philosophy in various academic books. He was a priest in the Church of England 1994-1996 and holds a PhD in Philosophy from Warwick University, UK. He is the author The Philosophy of Friendship (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Socrates' Quest: The Beginning of Wisdom	p. 13
Cosmologists and Darwinists: The Limits of Science	p. 39
Visions of Reality: Science and Wonder	p. 57
Bad Faith: Religion as Certainty	p. 85
Christian Agnosticism: Learned Ignorance	p. 111
Following Socrates: A Way of Life	p. 139
How to be an Agnostic: An Aphoristic A-Z	p. 165
Further Reading and References	p. 189
Index	p. 195
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.