The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values

Sam Harris

ISBN 10: 1439171211 / ISBN 13: 9781439171219

Editore: Free Pr, 2010

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Sam Harris's first book, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people--from religious fundamentalists to non-believing scientists--agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the primary justification for religious faith. In this highly controversial book, Sam Harris seeks to link morality to the rest of human knowledge. Defining morality in terms of human and animal well-being, Harris argues that science can do more than tell how we are; it can, in principle, tell us how we ought to be. In his view, moral relativism is simply false--and comes at an increasing cost to humanity. And the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality. Using his expertise in philosophy and neuroscience, along with his experience on the front lines of our culture wars, Harris delivers a game-changing book about the future of science and about the real basis of human cooperation.

Codice articolo CIN1439171211A

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
• Editore: Free Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1439171211
• ISBN 13: 9781439171219
• Rilegatura: Rilegato
• Condizione: Fair

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Sam Harris’s first book, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people—from religious fundamentalists to nonbelieving scientists—agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the most common justification for religious faith. It is also the primary reason why so many secularists and religious moderates feel obligated to "respect" the hardened superstitions of their more devout neighbors.

In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape." Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what weought to do to live the best lives possible.

Bringing a fresh perspective to age-old questions of right and wrong and good and evil, Harris demonstrates that we already know enough about the human brain and its relationship to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Because such answers exist, moral relativism is simply false—and comes at increasing cost to humanity. And the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality.

Using his expertise in philosophy and neuroscience, along with his experience on the front lines of our "culture wars," Harris delivers a game-changing book about the future of science and about the real basis of human cooperation.

Informazioni sull'autore

Sam Harris is a neuroscientist and the author of the New York Times bestsellers The End of Faith (winner of the PEN Award for Nonfiction) and Letter to a Christian Nation. His writing has appeared in News-week, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, the Annals of Neurology, Foreign Policy, and many other publications. Dr. Harris holds a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA. He is a cofounder and chairman of Project Reason. Please visit his website at www.samharris.org.