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Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism | Volume 28

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Volume 28 (2020)

 

Science, Reason, and Agnosticism
by Teed Rockwell

Abstract: Science-inspired arguments for atheism confuse 1) claims that are unfalsifiable within a paradigm with 2) claims that have been scientifically proven by that paradigm. This confusion enables atheists to confidently claim they would change their position, once they encounter “scientific evidence” that cannot possibly exist. It also inspires theists to search in vain for scientific evidence to support their position, which necessarily dissolves into a handful of mechanisms once it is in their grasp. Neither side notices that the deck was stacked against the theists from the beginning. A close look at possible candidates for scientific evidence of atheistic (or theistic) claims reveals that, given our current assumptions, no such data could possibly exist.

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So to Live, that One has also at the Right Time One’s Will to Death.
Humanist euthanasia advocacy in Flanders between the 1970s and the 1990s, a story of personal choice and therapeutic tenacity
by Niels De Nutte

Abstract: Research on euthanasia advocacy outside of the Anglo-American sphere is rather scarce. Belgium, originally a Catholic country with now liberal laws concerning bioethical issues, has never been properly researched in this regard. Based on my work on euthanasia advocacy within Flemish humanist organisations, this article describes the emergence of end-of-life advocacy based on freedom of choice from the 1970s to the 1990s. Although tentatively present before this time, I argue that euthanasia advocacy in Belgium was only successful due to the lack of a eugenics connotation and the collaboration of humanist and liberal Catholic factions in the law-making process.

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A Beautiful Fun Good Life
by David Bishop

Abstract: Starting with good, we’re led to God, the ultimate standard of good. Then, realizing that even this absolute, God standard can’t be absolutely pinned down, we swing back toward the good standard. Some rules seem self-evident. Through a combination of reason, intuition, and observation—as we learn to understand them—they sound reasonable. Humanism is not physicalism. Free will shaping events, mind moving matter, violates no physical law. Some people lack free will all the time; all people lack free will some of the time; but all people can’t lack free will all the time or people would not be people. Is a beautiful fun good life all we have to have?

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Spirituality without Religion, in a Post-Secular Age
by Richard J. White

Abstract: The recent growth in the number of people who identify as spiritual but not religious illuminates some of the shortcomings of organized religion, as well as the limitations of traditional secularism as a philosophy to live by. It also reflects the emergence of a “post-secular” culture in which spirituality can be taken seriously for its own sake and not just as an adjunct to religion. This paper looks at theoretical views, including Hadot, Jung and Nietzsche, to clarify some of the most important aspects of spirituality in the contemporary post-secular world. Working within such a context, the paper examines the meaning of religion and spirituality and their relationship to each other. Finally, the paper considers the possibility of returning to the original impulse of philosophy as a spiritual guide to life.

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The Deplorable God Scandal and the Divine Lost Cause
Part 1. How the Megadisasters of the Innocents Disprove the Existence of a Benign and Moral Creator, a Decency and Science-Based Analysis
by Gregory Paul

Abstract: Although experiencing historical declines, belief in and worship of a speculative creator of earth and the universe continues to be practiced by a majority of humans despite the continuing lack of quality evidence that the entity either exists, or is moral and loving. Although science has severely degraded the possibility of the existence of a creator, it cannot firmly disprove its existence. Scientific statistical analysis was used to disprove the existence of a benign creator based on the overwhelming evidence in a study that was the first to reveal The Holocaust of the Children. The death toll due to nonhuman causes of the preborn has been a few hundred billion, as well as some 50 billion children, aborting their attainment of mature free will. Persistently ignored by theologians who are unable to deal with the fatal problem, the premature death of immature humans is too vast for a supernatural designer to be caring and moral, all the more so because the awful fact clearly aborts the Free-Will theodicy that has been the primary defense of the existence of a loving God. This skeptotheodicy study also considers the Brutalization of the Animals, in which the merciless suffering of trillions of creatures further refutes The Good God Hypothesis.

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In the Absence of Angels: A Validation of the Agonistic Life of Humankind
by Carl P. Ellerman

Abstract: Following an experiential introduction to the agonistic life of humans inspired by the death of a loved one, the author critiques previous depictions of the trials and tribulations of humankind to correct misrepresentations. Targets are Goethe’s literary fiction of Faust’s sacred salvation; Camus’ secular philosophic fiction of the “silent joy” of Sisyphus in Hades; and Cioran’s nihilistic notion that there is a curse attached to the act of choosing an identity and fulfilling a vocation, exemplified in this study by the fatal result of Socrates’ choice to become the philosophic gadfly of Athens. Thematizing Nietzsche’s humanistic plea to abandon “otherworldly hopes” and “remain faithful to the earth,” this inquiry includes a humble reconciliation with the agonistic life of humans.

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