Is Emerging Science Answering Philosopher: Greatest Questions?
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free inquiry SPRING 2001 • VOL. 21 No. Is Emerging Science Answering Philosopher: Greatest Questions? ALSO: Paul Kurtz Peter Christina Hoff Sommers Tibor Machan Joan Kennedy Taylor Christopher Hitchens `Secular Humanism THE AFFIRMATIONS OF HUMANISM: LI I A STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES free inquiry We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems. We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation. We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life. We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities. We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state. We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual under- standing. We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance. We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves. We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual ori- entation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity. We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suf- fering on other species. We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest. We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence. We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual pref- erences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity. We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences. We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion. We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences. We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos. We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking. We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others. We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfish- ness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality. We believe ;n the fnIIect re,lli7:ltinn of the best and noblest th»'ee .lrt' capable of is human beings. For a parchment copy of this page, suitable for framing, please send $4.95 to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, New York 14226-0664 EDITORIAL FEATURES God in the Public Is Philosophy Obsolete? Square: The • Hallelujah Choir 24 Introduction Paul Kunz f Tom Flynn 27 Philosophical OP-ED free inquiry Employment: History and 8 Value in the Wrong SPRING 2001 VOL. 21, NO. 2 Prospects Place Austin Dacey Christ( pher Hitchens ISSN 0272-0701 29 Philosophy in 9 NATO's Poisoned Crisis Arrow Mario Bunge Justin Raimondo 32 Exorcising the Homunculus 10 Standing By, Again David C. Noelle Peter Singer 36 Plato's Method 11 A Problem that Meets Cognitive Dares Not Speak Science Its Name Stephen P. Stich Christina Hoff Sommers 39 Metaphors, Minds, and the Fate of Special Pleading 12 Western Philosophy Galore Interview with George Tibor R. Machan Lakoff and Mark Johnson 13 The Evolution of 42 Humanity in Time Thought and Space James Underdown Victor J. Stenger 44 The Sources and 15 An Open Letter to Dangers of George Bush Postmodern Edward I abash Anti-Science Norman Lelia 17 Silverman's Wager f Jeri) Silverman DEPARTMENTS 18 R.I.P., Naked Public Square 20 Frontlines "luny I:I Vnn 22 Letters 48 Church-State Update REVIEWS Calm (?) Before the Storm 58 The Left Behind Tribulation Novels 67 Who's Who in Hell Tom Flynn Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins Warren Allen Smith Fdmund D. Cohen 49 Great Minds 67 Chocolat Errors of the Elohist Robert M. Price 62 The Myth of a Matriarchal Prehistory Jame., [ Inderdown Cynthia Eller 52 Media Scan Joan Kennedy Taylor Newspapers and Atheism Gary Sloan 63 The Quest for the Historical Muhammad j 53 God on Trial Q.cst tor 4, Ibn Warraq The Irrelevant `God fI storical Muñamma Robert Price Debate' Jeremy Patrick 65 Totally MAD the Learning Company 55 Science and Brian Siano Religion God and Darwin 66 Why I Am Not a Secularist Square Off rrad William E. Connolly Clay Farris Tom Flynn 70 Humanism at Large FI Editorial T Editor-in-Chief Paul Kurtz U Editor Thomas W. Flynn free inquiry Managing Editor Andrea Szalanski Editorial Board Deputy Editor Norm R. Allen, Jr. Robert Alley Columnists Nat Hentoff, Christopher Hitchens, Wendy Kaminer, Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Humanities Emeritus, Univ. of Richmond, Virginia Katha Pollitt, Justin Raimondo, Peter Singer, Christina Hoff Sommers Hector Avalos Senior Editors Vern L. Bullough, Richard Dawkins, Martin Gardner, James A. Haught, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Iowa State University Gerald A. Larue, Taslima Nasrin Joe E. Barnhart Professor of Philosophy, Associate Editor Wendy McElroy North Texas State University Contributing Editors Jo Ann Boydston, Paul Edwards, Albert Ellis, Roy P. Fairfield, H. James Birx Professor of Anthropology, Charles Faulkner, Antony Flew, Levi Fragell, Adolf Grünbaum, Marvin Kohl, Canisius College George Bishop Thelma Lavine, Joe Nickell, Lee Nisbet, J. J. C. Smart, Svetozar Stojanovic, Professor of Political Science, Thomas Szasz, Richard Taylor University of Cincinnati Rob Boston Editorial Associate Warren Allen Smith Author, Americans United for Separation of Church and State Art Director Lisa A. Hurter Barbara Forrest Associate Professor of Philosophy, Production Paul E. Loynes, Sr. Southeastern Louisiana Univ. Cartoonist Don Addis Stewart Guthrie Professor of Anthropology, Fordham University Contributing Illustrators Gerald Fried William Harwood Webmaster Terese Rozelle Author, Mythology's Last Gods Stuart Jordan Cover Illustration Brad Marshall Senior Staff Scientist, Depicted on the cover: (from left to right) John Dewey, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Baruch Spinoza, Plato, and Friedrich Nietzsche Alfred Kisubi Philosopher, Poet, University of Wisconsin Lena Ksarjian Committee on the History of Culture, Council for Secular Humanism University of Chicago Ronald A. Lindsay Chairman Paul Kurtz Lawyer, Philosopher Board of Directors Vern Bullough, Jan Loeb Eisler, Jonathan Kurtz, Joseph Levee, Timothy J. Madigan (Chairman) University of Rochester Press Kenneth Marsalek, Jean Millholland, Robert Worsfold Michael Martin Professor of Philosophy, Chief Operating Officer Thomas W. Flynn Boston University Coordinator, Alliance of Secular John Novak Professor of Education, Brock University Humanist Societies Erika B. Hedberg Jean Claude Pecker Coordinator, Campus Freethought Astronomer, Educator, Author, Alliance Austin Dacey Professeur Honoraire, Collège de France Anthony Pinn Director, African Americans Associate Professor of Religious Studies, for Humanism Norm R. Allen, Jr. Macalester College Robert M. Price Development Officer James B. Kimberly Professor of Biblical Criticism, Center for Inquiry Institute Director of Libraries 'timothy Binga Theodore Schick, Jr. Professor of Philosophy, Fulfillment Michael Cione, Michelle Keiper Muhlenberg College Victor J. Stenger Staff Pat Beauchamp, Sandy Lesniak, Georgeia Locurcio, Jennifer Miller, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Lisa Nolan, Anthony Santa Lucia, Heidi Sanders, Ranjit Sandhu, University of Hawaii Edward Tabash John Sullivan, Vance Vigrass Civil Liberties Attorney, Honorary Chair, Center for Inquiry West Executive Director Emeritus Jean Millholland Visit Free Inquiry's Web site at http://ww w.secularhumanism.org FREE INQUIRY (ISSN 0272-0701) is published quarterly by the Council for Secular Humanism, a nonprofit educational corpo- ration, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226. Phone (716) 636-7571. Fax (716) 636-1733. Copyright 02001 by the Council for Secular Humanism. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without permission of the publisher. COUNCIL Periodicals postage paid at Buffalo, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices. National distribution by International Periodicals FOR Distributors, Solana Beach, California. 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