Nothing to be frightened of

Barnes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barnes and http://www.julianbarnes.com/) may have equals on the English language literary scene but none, I think, better. Here he dissects the sense of his own mortality in a crafted prose that is breathtaking in its poise and elegance. He asks if the fear of death is ‘the most rational thing in the world’, how does one contend […]

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Twentieth Century Religious Thought by John Macquarrie

The ideas of deep thinkers in religion are often at great variance from the average congregational member. Here, John Macquarrie (d.2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Macquarrie and http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/world/europe/03macquarrie.html?_r=0), Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford, gives us a superb account of exactly those theories which have been at the frontiers of religious thought in the twentieth century. You may be surprised

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Adventures of Ideas by Alfred North Whitehead

Alfred North Whitehead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead) was one of the most brilliant minds of his age. In Adventures of Ideas (1933) he offers the most accessible statement of his conception of  ‘process philosophy’  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_philosophy). In a nutshell this challenges over 2000 years of popular philosophical assumptions. Namely, he rejects those philosophies that value static notions of being over

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Freethinkers by Susan Jacoby

A noted author of several books as well as articles in such publications as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsday, and Vogue, Susan Jacoby  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Jacoby) attempts to set the record straight by demonstrating just what sort of role both individual freethinkers as well as more general movements and groups have had on significant

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