''The God Argument: The Case against Religion and for Humanism'' is a 2013 book by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

, A. C. Grayling, in which he counters the

arguments for the existence of God The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorize ...

, and puts forward humanism as an alternative to

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. Grayling is concerned with tone. He states that he wrote the first half of the book "thoroughly and calmly to examine all the arguments offered in support of

religious beliefs A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take i ...

", such as the

ontological argument An ontological argument is a philosophical argument, made from an ontological basis, that is advanced in support of the existence of God. Such arguments tend to refer to the state of being or existing. More specifically, ontological arguments ...

for the existence of God, which he argues against in the first half of the book. In the other half, he proposes humanism as a suitable substitute of religion for a

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

life or what he calls a "good life". According to his definition of humanism, if one believes that moral choices should be grounded in "the responsible use of

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

" and "human experience in the real world" then one is a humanist.

References

External links

The God Argument
Grayling's interview with

Sam Harris Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics ...

Reviews

Bryan Appleyard Bryan Appleyard (born 24 August 1951, Manchester) is a British journalist and author. Life and work Appleyard was educated at Bolton School and King's College, Cambridge. He worked at ''The Times'' and as a freelance journalist and has written ...

:
Reviewed: The God Argument by A C Grayling
, ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' *

Julian Baggini Julian Baggini (; born 1968) is a philosopher, journalist and the author of over 20 books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is co-founder of ''The Philosophers' Magazine'' and has written for numerous international newspapers ...

:
The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism by AC Grayling – review
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' *

Morag Fraser Morag Fraser is an Australian journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainl ...

:
The God Argument
, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' * Tom Payne:
AC Grayling's latest attack on faith is smug, glib and lamentable
, ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' 2013 non-fiction books Philosophy books Humanist literature Books critical of religion Books by A. C. Grayling Bloomsbury Publishing books {{Philosophy-book-stub