The atheist's guide to reality Enjoying life without illusions

Alexander Rosenberg, 1946-

Book - 2011

We can't avoid the persistent questions about the meaning of life and the nature of reality. Philosopher Alex Rosenberg maintains that science is the only thing that can really answer them--all of them. His upbeat book takes physics seriously as the complete description of reality and accepts all its consequences. He shows how physics makes Darwinian natural selection the only way life can emerge, and how that deprives nature of purpose, and human action of meaning, while it exposes conscious illusions such as free will and the self. The science that makes us nonbelievers provides the insight into the real difference between right and wrong, the nature of the mind, even the direction of human history. The Atheist's Guide to Realit...y draws powerful implications for the ethical and political issues that roil contemporary life. The result is "nice nihilism," a surprisingly sanguine perspective atheists can happily embrace.--From publisher description.

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Subjects
Published
New York : W.W. Norton c2011.
Language
English
Main Author
Alexander Rosenberg, 1946- (-)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
xiv, 352 p. : ill. ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes index.
ISBN
9780393080230
  • Preface
  • Chapter 1. Answering Life's Persistent Questions: Do You Want Stories Or Reality?
  • Chapter 2. The Nature Of Reality: The Physical Facts Fix All the Facts
  • Chapter 3. How Physics Fakes Design
  • Chapter 4. Ikea Didn't Make Natural History: Good Design Is Rare, Expensive, and Accidental
  • Chapter 5. Morality: The Bad News
  • Chapter 6. The Good News: Nice Nihilism
  • Chapter 7. Never Let Your Conscious Be Your Guide
  • Chapter 8. The Brain Does Everything Without Thinking About Anything At All
  • Chapter 9. Farewell To The Purpose-Driven Life
  • Chapter 10. You've Got To Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously
  • Chapter 11. History Debunked
  • Chapter 12. Living With Scientism: Ethics, Politics, The Humanities, And Prozac As Neede
  • The Atheist's Guide To Reality: The Backstory
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

A wide-ranging if somewhat dry demonstration of how science can explain the workings of the universe. Rosenberg, a professor of philosophy at Duke University, distinguishes his project from that of the so-called New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins by not seeking to prove the nonexistence of God. Instead, he is concerned with providing a materialist description of reality: he outlines a Darwinian picture of human existence whose developmental trajectory is determined by the laws of physics, in particular the second law of thermodynamics. Along the way he attempts to construct a vision of morality with the snappy title of "Nice Nihilism," one based not on God but on natural selection, as well as debunking a number of ideas he takes to be illusions, such as free will or the notion that humans have a consciousness that actually thinks about things. In all this Rosenberg is competent and occasionally compelling throughout, but it is hard to shake the feeling that his descriptions of human behavior and thought are reductive and simplistic. Still, as an attempt to offer a comprehensive, secular vision of how reality functions in the absence of God, it is fascinating and thought-provoking. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction, 2011, etc.) recommends Prozac. Really. That's his advice. Undeniably brilliant, the author may very well be correct about the entire human experience, but that's no reason for him to be so gratingly obnoxious about it. Even Richard Dawkins, the atheist's atheist, gets slammed as something of a weepy-eyed weakling here. Rosenberg is aware that his arguments may be difficult to swallow, yet he does nothing to sway the unconverted. Not only is there no old man with a flowing white beard watching from above, there is no you behind your reflection in the mirror. The author provides a painstakingly investigated and expanded repackaging of the fully automatic model of the universe. The closest Rosenberg comes to softening admittedly troubling material is dubbing it "nice nihilism." Meanwhile, "blind variation" and "environmental filtration," the Darwinian processes of evolution, are invoked so much that their mention starts to feel like an incantation or a religious article of faith. Opt instead for the profane sleight-of-hand Penn Jillette weaves in God, No! Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales (2011), a decidedly less pretentious and deftly comic look at all things ungodly.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.