Ethical Record The Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society Vol. 114 No. 6 21.50 June 2009

TFIE ETHICAL SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION FT—STOTITIC7PI7AZC'E By Saturday 6 June, the exhibition of fossils THI KU. S 0 C I ETY I (some real, soMe copies), selected and arranged, by EVO4Ition'the Finsils Say Yes: Mike l-lowgate, had been set up in the corridor of Conway Hall. Richard Dawkins was i n the building having that morning spoken in the main hall as part of the BHA/SPES day of talks on the theme 'Religion, Humanism and Science'. In Mike's words, 'Richard has graciously Conway Hall foyer Fossil anunonites agreed to open the and drawings by Donald Roonm exhibition'. After cutting a red ribbon, Dawkins agreed the fossils do indeed say 'yes', being tangible, although they were not now the only important evidence for evolution. • In his lecture in the morning, Dawkins had examined in detail the famous dast paragraph of the 1st edition of Darwin's Origin of Species (a copy of which, he said, was his most prized possession — because in its later editions (2nd to 6th) the unscientific phrase `by the Creator' had been inserted after the word 'breathed"into a few forms or into one;'). Dawkins felt, as 1 think we all do, that those three words were added in deference to his wife's belief — [That she would go to Heaven while Charles, if an atheist, would go to Hell {Ed.}].

N. KOREA'S ATOM-BOMB ENRAGES TIIE HYPOCRITES Norman Bacrac

RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY AND VIRTUES John Radford 3

IN DEFENCE OF Isaac Ascher 8 Viewpoints: Chris Purnell, John Edmondson, Albert Adler 14

POEM: GUERNICA REVISITED Martin Green 17

THE SCIENCE COLLECTIONS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY ... Historical and Modern Paul Allchin 18

HUMANIST REFERENCE LIBRARY Some recent acquisitions 23

ETHICAL SOCIETY EVENTS 24 SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Conway Hall Humanist Centre 25 Red Lion Square, London WC I R 4RL. Tel: 020 7242 8031/4 Fax: 020 7242 8036 Website: www.ethiealsoc.org.uk email: [email protected] Chairman: GBes Enders Hon. Rep.: Don Liyersedge Vice-chairman: Terry Mullins Treasurer: John Edwards Registrar: Donald Rooum Editor, Ethical Record: Norman Bacrac SPES Staff Chief Executive: Emma J. Stanford Tel: 020 7242 8031/4 Finance Officer: Linda Alia Tel: 020 7242 8031/4 Lettings Officer: Carina Dvorak Tel: 020 7242 8032 Lettings Assistant: Marie Aubrechowa Caretakers: Eva Aubreehtova (i/c); Tel: 020 7242 8033 together with: Shaip Bullaku, Angelo Edrozo, Nikola Ivanovski, Alfredo Ofivio. Rogerio Retuema,Cagatay Ulker, David Wright Maintenance Operative: Zia Hameed

NORTH KOREA'S ATOM BOMB ENRAGES THE HYPOCRITES Once again the five nuclear powers, US, Russia, China, UK and France, which consider themselves so morally superior to all others that they alone may continue to maintain weapons of mass destruction, have begun threatening North Korea with sanctions for its effrontery. How dare it produce and test its own bomb and rocket? However, the UK's excuse for renewing our Trident submarines (at a cost of £25 billion) is that 'This is a dangerous world. We do not know what dangers we shall face in the future.' So fbr our security, we need to be able to threaten to nuke any country in the world (within 45 minutes!). Of course this argument is the very one used by the N.Koreans, who must be saying, with more justification, 'We are being threatened. We too need a deterrent.'

The five powers have reneged on their treaty obligation to work together for significant nuclear disarmament, contenting themselves with token reductions. They call for non-proliferation by other countries while implying that one can't be great and/or safe without the bomb. Will Obama's fine words get translated into action, as now, in view of the UK's (Blair and Brown's) pathetic failure of statesmanship, only the US can kick-start this urgent process? Otherwise we shall continue to witness steady proliferation (India, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, Korea, even Japan? ) until 's dire calculation of the probability of an eventual nuclear war materialises. NB. See: www.acdn.france.freeldspip/article.php3?id_article=5078dang=en

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Reg. Charity No. 251396 Founded in 1793, the Society is a progressive movement whose aims are: the study and dissemination of ethical principles based on humanism, the cultivation of a rational and humane way of life, and the advancement of research and education in relevant fields. We invite to membership those who reject supernatural creeds and are in sympathy with our aims. At Conway Hall the programme includes Sunday lectures. discussions, evening courses and the Conway Hall Sunday Concerts of chamber music:The Society maintains a Humanist Reference Library. The Society's journal, Ethical Record, is issued monthly. Memorial meetings may be arranged. The annual subscription is I:18 (£12 if a full-time student, unwaged or over 65).

2 Ethical Record, June 2009 RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY AND VIRTUES John Radford Emeritus Professor of Psychology University of East London Lecture to the Ethical Society, 17 May2009

'Religion', 'spirituality' and 'virtues' are often used as if they are inextricably linked, even interchangeable. Vincent Nichols. the new Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, said in The Daily Telegraph, 29 March 2009: 'Britain has increasingly abandoned spiritual and moral principles in favour of Secularism ... social values sudh as compassion, respect and tolerance (will) be lost if disconnected from their roots in Christian teaching'. But many people describe themselves as 'spiritual but not religious', and others would use neither of these but consider themselves 'good', however they express it. There is a danger of thinking that because there is one word, there must be one thing to which it refers. There are various approaches to definition, for example stipulative (stating what one intends the word to mean), lexical (the dictionary version), essential (specifying one distinguishing feature), and operational (what functions or counts as the thing in question). I think the last is the most helpful here.

For religion, we need a special kind of operational definition, the polythene, or 'family resemblance'. Religions share some of a family of characteristics, including these: belief in supernatural beings; distinction between sacred and profane; ritual; moral code; religious feelings (awe etc); prayer; a sense of purpose for the individual and the universe; a corresponding organization of life; a social group; doctrine; sacrifice; priesthood; retreat and pilgrimage; myth, legend and history; expression in the arts; spiritual development; mystical experience; iconography; ceremonies and festivals; a formal organization. Some may be necessary conditions for the label 'religious', for example some belief in the supernatural, or religious feelings. l3ut probably no one component would be regarded as sufficient alone. Religions also vary along many dimensions, both between and within themselves. The sacramental orientation emphasizes rituals and procedures. The prophetic stresses faith and personal commitment, the mystical. personal experience. In . the Roman and Greek churches tend more towards the sacramental. the Protestant ones to the prophetic, and the charismatic ones to the mystical. A fourth dimension is elitism, the extent to which all can participate fully in every aspect of the religion. A fifth is an emphasis on good conduct, rather than procedures, faith or personal experience.

What 'Spiritual' Can Mean 'Spiritual', and 'spirituality', are used with several distinguishable meanings. One is 'religious' in a formal sense, as in Lords Spiritual and Temporal. A second is 'not materialistic', but concerned with things of higher value. A third is 'experiential', but in a special sense, in religion 'mystical', but also non-religious as in creating or appreciating great art. Mystics themselves, though, would assert that their experiences are unique in several ways. A fourth sense is belief in, or awareness of, a realm of existence other than that of normal reality. This can also be non-religious.

`Spirituality' overlaps with 'virtue'. But this is again different. It refers to one 'thing', a set of desirable human characteristics, such as generosity, courage, devotion, delight, compassion. 'Higher values' surely include aesthetic excellence and supreme

Ethical Record, June 2009 3 levels of inspiration. And those who excel at sport report something that is very like a mystical ecstasy. Probably every culture, and every religion, has had an explicit or implicit set of traits considered admirable. They vaty in many ways. One is in stressing benefits either to the individual, or to society. Another is in regarding them as innate qualities of an aristocracy, or attainable in principle by all. Other differences include whether spiritual development can be attained in isolation from society, or within it; whether it occurs only, or better, spontaneously, or through preparation and practice; and of course whether it is or is not divinely inspired.

Systems Of Right And Wrong • Many attempts to establish a universal system of what is right and wrong have been religious, in monotheistic systems often handed down by , as the Ten Commandments were to Moses, and the Qu'ran to Mohammed. A minority of the human race believe each of these particular fairy stories, though probably a majority have some such faith, and each version is defended as the only true one. A second approach is intuitive, as in the American Declaration of Independence: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, etc.' The problem is that it is not self-evident. What the Founding Fathers should have said is that all men ought to be considered equal. (They might also have said 'people'. And the 'truth' did not prevent their owning slaves.) A third approach is the logical, rational one, exemplified by Immanuel Kant's 'categorical imperative'. 'Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.' Philosophical debate has continued ever since as to whether this or similar grounds are sufficient. One objection is that it is very difficult to see how it applies to particular cases. Is it good to give to the poor? If so, how much, and to whom precisely? And what would be the consequencesif it did become a universal law?

There is certainly much disagreement, but at some level there is also much commonality. A fourth approach can be called empirical, based on examining what people do in fact consider right and wrong. The non-religious 'positive psychology' movement led by Martin Seligman and others has focused on human happiness. because it is both desirable in itself, and associated with other benefits. Happy people are healthier, more successful and more socially engaged. They are also marked by 'virtues', particularly wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence, and by associated 'character strengths'. Studies of these across forty different countries yield very high levels of agreement for kindness, faimess, authenticity or genuineness, gratitude, and open-mindedness, followed by prudence, modesty and self-regulation. There are no significant cultural, ethnic or religious differences Other research has found that there is also more or less universal condemnation of murder, adultery, theft, deception, treachery and cowardice. These principles are generally regarded by those who hold them as immutable and not merely arbitrary conventions.

Why Were Invented Marc Hauser argues that underlying cultural variations there is 'a universal moral grammar', deriving from common properties of the human mind that constrain the range of possible development. This seems to be true in other dimensions of human experience such as language, music, sport and religion. Hauser uses the word 'instinct'. I prefer the term of the British psychologist William McDougall, 'propensity'. an inherited tendency towards certain sorts of behaviour. Experiments show that moral

4 Ethical Record, June 2009 decisions are usually made on the same basic principles, even though often these cannot be stated. We often know what we ought to do but not why. Perhaps gods were invented, not so much to make us good, as to explain why we are. Why we are.)s because it proved successful in the course of evolution. Complex animal societies survive better if members collaborate, and minimize harm caused to one another. The roots of morality lie in the prosocial behaviour of our remote ancestors. Not in Christian teaching as the Archbishop has it, though this is part of the complex story of its human development.

One way in which religion and virtue differ is in commonality, or agreement. There is near universal agreement that some set of 'right' characteristics is desirable and achievable. But there is strong disagreement as to whether religion as such is desirable, and if it is, whether it can or should be one system. Similarly, there is widespread agreement as to which characteristics are, in general, good ones, but there is notoriously conflict, all too often violent, over the merits of different religions, and over variations within the same faith. There is no agreement either as to whether authority for good behaviour lies with some supematural entity or with humans themselves. Possibly the oldest basis of authority is that of custom (which is in fact the root meaning of `moran. Possibly 'right' ways of doing things, emerging from their roots in the adaptive behaviour of our early ancestors, were simply copied by individuals. Both human children and other species seem to imitate spontaneously. Very early, however, 'religious' concepts emerged, possibly in notions of life after death. We cannot say when supernatural beings were first imagined, but we have no record of a society without them. Such beings presumably offered an explanation of many mysteries, and the justification for doing what had always been clone. For many millions of people religion still provides the authority for right behaviour. But at least since classical Greece, humans have questioned that authority. Protagoras of Abdera stated that he was unable to say whether the gods did or did not exist, Xenophanes said that men have made gods in their own image, and a play perhaps by Euripides proposes that they had been invented so that fear of them should keep evil-doers in check. These are the first records of such revolutionary thoughts. still hotly debated today.

Problems Of Religion-based Morals Religion as authority presents several problems. First, some systems include elements with which many people would disagree. Second, many would reject the idea of basing systems of behaviour on revealed authority, considering it both fictitious and arbitrary. To refrain from doing harm, or to engage in doing good, merely because you have been told to do so, or from fear of punishment, or hope of reward, in this life or the next, does not seem the most admirable behaviour. Third , authority may cease to be effective if it is withdrawn, or is no longer believed in. Children grow up, and no longer respect adults. Individuals and societies may decide that gods, heaven and hell, and the rest, do not actually exist. Fourth, different religious groups are in conflict over what is right and wrong. To decide between them, we must refer to some other criterion, which must necessarily be outside the religion. It must be a logical argument, or an intuition, or a demonstration that this is how humans ought to behave. Thus morality, or any virtue, cannot be equated with a religious system.

Religious apologists sometimes claim a vital connection with the arts, another 'higher value'. It does seem clear that what we separate out as religion and art share common roots, and for most of the past, a largely common development. The earliest

Ethical Record, June 2009 5 art we have is that of the Upper Palaeolithic, some 45,000 years ago, in particular cave paintings. We cannot say why these were done, but it appears almost incontrovertible that they must have had some ritual or magical sianificance. Jumping forward to historical times, the drama of classical Greece, and later of Elizabethan Enaland. both had roots in religious rituals. Innumerable poets, musicians, artists and craftsmen have been inspired by religious faith, and paid from religious funds. Religion can be a very powerful motivating force. But it can motivate destruction also. as by the Taleban in Afghanistan and the Conquistadors in Central America. In England the religion that inspired the builders of our great cathedrals and mediaeval churches, led others to wreck them.

Our Range Of Propensities Faith can drive people to extreme behaviour, good or bad. It is a poor guide to right and wrong. It seems to me that human beings have a ranae of propensities which includes visual representation, music, language, as well as many of the components of religion, including seeking for explanations, beliefs in the supematural, distinctions of right and wrong, personal 'spiritual' development, and so on. There is clear evidence that such traits have a genetic element, and evolutionary psychologists argue that mechanisms of thought underlying them are part of our mental structure. If you dOn't accept the God hypothesis, then the basis of morality as well as of excellence in other fields must lie in human nature itself and in the evolved urge to the welfare of human beings. extending to other living beinas and the natural environment. Many religions do stress these, of course, with or without reference to aods.

'Virtue' can be developed. One way is by instruction. The Ten Commandments are a prime religious example, and every parent and teacher tells their charges what to do. But it is probably the least effective way. Simply telling children, or those of any age. that they ouaht to be honest, or generous. and so on, may have a temporary effect, particularly if the values are widely held, or if the instruction is accompanied by threats or promises. But the effect may be short-lived when these cease. A better way is example. Traditionally, parents (in particular), teachers, and group members, have been the most important. Recent research suggests that media personalities, especially on television, also function in this personal way. Better still is practice. Generally, the best way to learn is by doing. Practice requires opportunity, guidance, feedback and reward. Many families, schools and other organizations, including religious ones, do provide these. The Boy Scouts' traditional 'good deed for the day' was probably effective in 'character-building'. We may have thrown out this baby with the bathwater of 'Victorian values'. We do need character-building even if we don't like the phrase. Martin Seligman and his associates have done interesting experiments with some very specific and simple tasks. One is writing down each night for a week, three good things that happened that day. Another is using one of the `character strengths', such as kindness, modesty, etc., each day, in a new way. These two tasks, in particular, produced increased happiness, and decreased depressive symptoms, for six months. 'Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny' (attributed to another Victorian, Charles Reade).

More generally, while as the cliché has it, you can't change human nature, human culture depends upon, indeed consists in, modifying it. As Katherine Hepburn's missionary said to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, 'Human nature, Mr Allnutt, is what we were put in this world to rise above'. We know a good deal about

6 Ethical Record, June 2009 how to do this, and I think in better ways than hers. Religion is not likely to disappear in the foreseeable future. We need to encourage what is good in it and limit what is bad. Spirituality involves seeking higher values and personal fulfilment. Virtues are what wc should encourage, and to me they centre around the welfare of humans and other beings, using our capacities for enquiry, intelligence and thought, as well as those for compassion, empathy and imagination. What we need, it seems to me, are spirituality without dogma, and virtues independent of doctrine. The course of human growth, in evolution and in the individual, is, in favourable circumstances, towards greater awareness of reality. Awareness is linked to compassion, benevolence, wisdom, justice and so on; however you like to frame the list. Religions do stress many of these, but too often are lumbered with much less desirable qualities, and depend upon a framework of supernatural belief that is, as I see it, in the end unsustainable. The task is to find a structure that builds on human potential and human propensities.

Ethical Record, June 2009 7 IN DEFENCE OF AGNOSTICISM Isaac Ascher Lecntre to the Ethical Society, 3 May 2009

The intent of this lecture is to rescue agnosticism from some misunderstanding and undeserved belittlement in terms of its status as a theoretical position. Clearly, religious belieland are entirely opposed to each other. But I contend that agnosticism does not occupy some comfortable or uncomfortable middle position between them. Agnosticism makes impossible any assertion of the existence of any god.

In the minds of many people, agnosticism may also be regarded as an 'easy way out' of philosophical discussion – as if an agnostic cannot be someone who is really serious in wanting a straight answer. This is surely an unfair view, perhaps implying that an agnostic has not even tried enough to find out whether a god exists. However, it may well be that an agnostic has made a great effort to decide, yet honestly cannot come to a final choice. The agnostic is presumably still considering the question, keeping an open mind – or, may indeed have decided that it is not a question that can yield a solution.

What follows makes particular reference to Richard Dawkins' book, , which I find an excellent polemic, very useful and indeed entertaining, apart from his `spectrum of possibilities' to which I shall refer. After sections on word origins, biblical references and on Pascal's Wager, I shall refer to agnosticism in the philosophies of David Flume and Immanuel Kant. In con- clusion, I shall commend the late Professor Sir Karl Popper as a modern agnostic: he was Professor of Logic and Scientific Method at the LSE, 1949-69, and Professor Emeritus from 1969 till his death in 1994.

A variety of recent polemics has prompted today's talk. As reported on the covers of the Ethical Record last January and February, there has been excitement over rival advertisements on London buses - one version, reproduced on the Theobalds Road window here at Conway Hall, reading `There's Probably no God...', with Richard Dawkins regretting the insertion of the word 'probably'; and concern over the extent of Young Earth Creationist belief in the USA. I am also interested to refer to the article in April's Ethical Record by Robert Schwarz on 'Pascal's Wager: is it philosophy?' (pp 9-10). On 25 January here at SPES, we had a debate between a Moslem (Adam Deen) and our Ethical Record Editor, Nonnan Bacrac, on the motion that `A God Exists': on that occasion, I briefly mentioned my own personal position: I am `an agnostic in theory and an atheist in practice.'

Dawkins"Spectrum Of Probabilities' Despite Richard Dawkins' regret at the insertion of the word `probably' in `There's probably no God ...' on London buses, I find him quite straightforward with the readers of his book The God Delusion (1) (2006). Dawkins acknowledges the possibility of his being mistaken — on pp 50-51 he lists a 7-stage `spectrum of probabilities' regarding the existence of God, and counts himself in category 6: `Very low probability of God, but still short of zero: a de facto atheist: I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there ... Atheists do not have faith; and reason alone could 8 Ethical Record, June 2009 not propel one to total conviction that anything definitely does not exist.' But, given Dawkins' self-assignment into category [6] (not [7]), he should best be classified as an atheist-leaning agnostic (2). That, I submit, would certainly be a better formula than (say) 'an agnostic-leaning atheist'. Both theist and atheist are absolute terms: it is 'agnostic' that occupies the wide spectrum in between. [Dawkins' 7 stage scale of the probability of God has [I] as absolute conviction of God's existence (corresponding to the mathematical probability of 1, or certainty, going down to [7] as denial of any possibility at all (the mathematical probability of 0)(Ed.}]

Thomas Henry Huxley The term agnostic was coined by Thomas Henry Huxley (British biologist, 1825- 1895) in 1869, alluding to St Paul's mention of an altar 'to the Unknown God'. It expresses the attitude of those withholding assent to whatever is incapable of proof, e.g. an unseen world, a First Cause. In his 1893 work, Science and Christian Tradition, chapter VII, Huxley explains: 'Agnosticism in fact is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle ... (which) is as old as ... it is the foundation of the Reformation, which simply illustrated the axiom that every man should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him; it is the great principle of Descartes (1596 - 1650); it is the fundamental axiom of modern science. Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable.' (3). Michael D. Coogan, a Professor of at Stonehill College, North Easton MA USA, refers to the Apostle Thomas (John 20.24-29), where his insistence on physical proofs for Jesus' resurrection led to the phrase doubting Thomas. In the Acts, thc name Thomas (which means 'twin' in Aramaic) led to his identification as Jesus' twin brother (4). However, R.E. Nixon, Censor of St John's College, Durham UK, prefers to cast doubt, in his contribution to The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church (5): 'The name apparently comes from an Aramaic word. meaning 'twin', but it is not certain whose twin he was ... Thomas is unwilling to accept the account given him by the other disciples of the risen Jesus whose appearance he missed seeing (John 20:240, but: the climax of the Fourth Gospel comes when Doubting Thomas is given the evidence for which he asked, and in return expresses the supreme confession of faith, 'My Lord and my God!' The last great beatitude is then pronounced on those who have not seen and yet believe.'

Pascal's Wager: A Denial Of The Validity Of Agnosticism I have (for lack of time and space) to omit references to agnosticism between the ages of Socrates and Doubting Thomas, and the era of Hume and Kant. I was impressed by Robert Schwarz' article on Pascal's %ger in the Ethical Record, and so refer to it here: For me, Pascal's Wager is not philosophy - it merely recommends a 'safe bet': and in doing so, omits the possible agnostic position on the problem of God's existence. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was recognised as a mathematical genius at the early age of 11. He struggled between the skepticism of Montaigne (1553-1592), a radical scepticism deriving from Pyrrho (c.360-270

Ethical Record, June 2009 9 BCE); and the stoicism of Epictetus (60-138CE) as well as the ideas of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638). The radical skepticism of Montaigne is so radical that it gives up the possibility that human reason can arrive at truth — thereby preparing the way for the reception of divine grace. This happened to Pascal one night in 1654.

Pascal hence decided that the way to God had to be via Christianity, not via philosophy. In para. 233, section III of his Pensees, Pascal insists that reason can play no part in deciding a wager on the existence of God, and neither can one not wager: 'You must wager. It is not optional. You are embarked ... What harm will befall you in taking this side (of God)? ...You will at last recognise that you have wagered for something certain and infinite, for which you have given nothing.' (6). Robert Schwarz concludes his article with references to William James, and adds: 'Arguing from a need for God to the existence of God is questionable.' I agree.

Fundamentalism, Agnosticism: Hume and Kant as Agnostics I am now at a turning-point in this lecture, in wanting to return to Richard Dawkins' 7-stage 'spectrum of probabilities regarding the existence of God. He assigns himself to category [6], not [7], as a 'de facto atheist' I find he should have chosen some of his terms more precisely, as he lists category [I] as: 'Strong theist. 100% probability of God; in the words of C.G. Jung, 'I do not believe, I know.' In view of earlier references to Blaise Pascal and the search for divine grace, we are entitled to include Pascal in category [I].. But I find Dawkins' phrase '100% probability of God' confusing. Surely, category [1] refers to absolute certainty, to fundamentalism? [As previously noted, 100% probability does indeed = certainty. {Ed.)]

With category [7]: 'Strong atheist. I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung knows there is one'; I suggest that Arthur Schopenhauer could fit into this category, in being a very strong, indeed fundamentalist, atheist (7). Of course, if you disapprove of my entries into categories [I] and [7], then - to find places for fundamentalist religious believers, and fundamental atheists - we shall require a category preceding Dawkins' [ I ], and another following his [7]. In short, for an adequate discussion, I am calling for places into which we can fit fundamentalists. Once that is done, we can see agnosticism in better perspective.

As put by Sir Anthony Kenny, 'agnosticism is a more humble attitude than either faith or atheism' (8). Elsewhere he adds, 'From the viewpoint of an agnostic both the theist and the atheist err by credulity: they are both believing something - the.one a positive proposition, the other a negative proposition - in the absence of the appropriate justification. On the other hand, from the point of view of theism, the agnostic errs on the side of scepticism: that is, he has no view on a topic on which it is very important to have a view.... Since Socrates, philosophers have realised that a claim not to know is easier to support than a claim to know.' (9)

Both Hume and Kant were agnostics, from my point of view. In the case of (1711-1776), he had the misfortune of repeatedly being rejected in his applications for Chairs at Edinburgh University, and had further disappointments in the very poor reception given to his Treatise of Human Nature (1739) and a simplified, re - written version, the Inanity Concerning Human Understanding

10 Ethical Record, June 2009 (1748). His Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779) pursue the themes of the incomprehensibility of the idea of God, and a rationalist rejection of the possibility of miracles. In his criticism of the arguments for the existence of God, Hume anticipates Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).

Kant paid tribute to Hume, saying that Hume had awakened him from his 'dogmatic slumbers'. Kant dedicated both the first and the second editions of his Critique of Pure Reason to his Excellency, the Royal Minister of State, Baron von Zedlitz. This was a necessary gesture to ensure (in contrast to Hume's frustrations) the publication and appreciation of his work. Certainly Kant's Preface to the second edition of his Critique (1787) says that he 'found it necessary to deny knowledge, in order to make room for faith' (10). But Kant's treatment of his unresolvable theses, his antinomies of pure reason, make quite clear that he is bound to take up agnostic positions.

Kant's Antinomies His antinomies are: Whether the world has a beginning in time, and is also limited as regards space; whether every composite substance in the world is made up of simple parts, and whether nothing exists save the simple or what is composed of the simple; whether or not causality in accordance with laws of nature is the only causality from which the appearances of the world can all be derived.

To explain these appearances, is it necessary to assume that there is also another causality, that of freedom? And, does there belong to the world - either as its part, or as its cause - a Being (God) that is absolutely necessary? Kant presents and discusses the pros and cons of these antinomies and admits that we cannot resolve them. In every case he disproves to his own satisfaction each assertion by arguing in favour of its contrary position. The contraries win all the arguments, so that Kant cannot assert anything at all that is positive: therein lies his agnosticism.

Kant is forced to the conclusion that his ideas become transcendent, i.e. cannot refer to human experience. His ideas cannot refer to reality, but are merely 'thought-entities' (11). Consequently, arguments in favour of the existence of God are relegated to the resolution of moral and aesthetic problems. There is here some- thing of an echo of Descartes' attempt to prove the existence of God: by assuming that thinking about something implies the existence of that thing. The content of our ideas — or, of some of them — must, it was argued, refer to a reality other than the ideas themselves, and yet corresponding to them. Descartes argues that the idea of himself as imperfect must come from the idea of God as a perfect being, and that the idea of God must come from God himself. Descartes presented these ideas in his Meditations on First Philosophy (first published in Latin (1641), and in his Replies to Objections (12).

Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach This is the title of Professor Sir Karl Popper's work, published with revisions in 1979. I am happy to say that I attended many seminar meetings of his at the LSE (London School of Economics) in the early 1960s. For me, Popper was an agnostic par excellence, insofar as he insisted on the critical examination of all theories, not with a view to their confirmation, but with a view to their possible falsification.

Ethical Record, June 2009 II Furthermore, he saw many scientific discoveries, such as Einstein's on relativity, as the result not so much of the patient accumulation of observations as by imaginative illuminations, hunches and suspicions, overall interpretations of factual data. He says: 'I believe that theory - at least some rudimentary theory or expectation - always conies first; that it always precedes observation; and that the fundamental role of observations and experimental tests is to show that some of our theories are false, and so to stimulate us to produce better ones. Accordingly I assert that we do not start from observations but always from problems - -either from practical problems or from a theory which has run into difficulties ... we may saythat the growth of knowledge proceeds from old problems to new problems, by means of conjectures and refutations.' (13).

Notes and References Dawkins R., The God Delusion. London &c.: Bantam Press, 2006. For all Dawkins' enthusiasm for atheism, in view of his self assignment to Category [6] in his spectrum of probabilities (his book, pp 50-51), he cannot be classed as a fundamentalist atheist. For a religious view, ref. comments by McGrath, Alistair, & McGrath, Joanna Collicut, The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the denial of the divine. SPCK 2007, pp 6-7 &c. - For atheist fundamentalism, ref. note (7) below. I have not been able to locate T.H. Huxley's 1893 book for this quotation, but have taken it from Seldes, George, The Great Thoughts (rev. ed.), New York: Ballantine Books, 1996, p 220. (Some passages quoted by Dawkins repeat, or connect, with this one: Dawkins op. cit., p 49). Metzger, Bruce M., & Coogan, Michael D., The 04Ord Companion to the Bible (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), p 743. Douglas, J.D. (General Editor), The New International Dictionmy of the Christian Church. Exeter, UK: The Paternoster Press 1974, p 970. Blaise Pascal, Pensees (together with the Provincial Letters & Scientific Treatises), transl. W.F. Trotter. University of Chicago 'Great Books' vol. 33, pp 215-216. Schopenhauer's argument against the existence of God rests on his principle of sufficient reason, which does not allow of the universe existing because of something else: i.e., the cosmological proof of the existence of God is inadmissible. Kenny, A., The Unknown God: Agnostic Essqvs. London & NY USA: Continuum Publishers 2004, 2005, P 4. Sir Antlrony Kenny was originally a Roman Catholic priest, then resigned from the priesthood. Kenny, A., op. cit., pp 108-109. Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, transl. by Norman Kemp Smith. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan, 1929 & later reprints (1990), p 28.

— (11) Immanuel Kant, op. cit., p 484. A useful paperback is in the Wordsworth Classics of World Literature series: Descartes, Key Philosophical Writings, publ. Ware, Herts., 1997 (translations by E.S. Haldane & G.R.T. Ross). - The most comprehensive English translation of Descartes' Philosophical Writings is by John Cottingham & others, (eds. & translators) 3 vols., Cambridge University Press, 1985-1991. Popper, K.R., Objective Knowledge: an Evolutionary Approach, Oxford: Clarendon Press, rev. ed. 1979, p 258. For a less technical presentation by Popper, see: Popper: Selections, ed. David Miller, USA: Princeton University Press, 1985.

12 Ethical Record, June 2009 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES An outstanding recent book on agnosticism that is not academic in its treatment, is by John Humphrys, In God We Doubt (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2007). This is the same John Humphrys who is a presenter and interviewer on BBC Radio He was brought up a Christian and prayed every day, till he was overwhelmed by uuubt - a case comparable to that of Sir John Kenny cited above. This book includes his interviews of Archbishop Rowan Williams, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs, and the leading Moslem academic Professor Tariq Ramadan, in 2006. Humphrys however rejects the label atheist, and cannot accept the view of Jean- Paul Sartre that 'There is no purpose to existence, only nothingness' (p 321). He adds: 'Trite it may be, but most of us can see the beauty as well as the horrors of the world and, sometimes, humanity at its most noble. We sense a spiritual element in that nobility and in the miracle of unselfish love and sacrifice, something beyond our conscious understanding. You don't need to be an eastern mystic or a devout religious believer to feel that' (pp 321-322).

In the USA, religious belief is apparently losing its hold: the number of Amej icans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15% . Furthermore, northeastern USA emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified (2009 American Religious Identification Survey, summaries in Newsweek, 20 April 2009, pp 14-18).

However, a contrary trend is evident in Russia, partly at least as a result of official state favour. A recent general impression is provided by an outstanding broadcaster, Jonathan Dimbleby, in Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and its People (BBC Books, 2008) . Jonathan Dimbleby made a point of visiting Novgorod and provides a clear summary of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church on pp 92-98. Incidentally, he identifies himself as 'an agnostic who veers towards atheism' (p 93). More detailed treatment is in Soul of Russia, Resurrecting Russia's Church, by Serge Schmemann: National Geographic Magazine, April 2009, pp 112-137. 'Prime Minister Vladimir Putin...has called the church as vital to Russia's security as its nuclear shield' (p 120).

John Habgood, a former Archbishop of York, in his Varieties of Unbelief (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, publ. 2000) does not try to justify religious belief so much as insist that 'what we are is more important than what we say', and: 'The Christian faith is irreducibly historical and God is irreducibly personal'. He admits that `the evidences for religious belief are much less clear-cut and much more difficult to handle than most of the evidence for scientific theories' (p 14); and 'One of the lessons of history is that some religions die, though more, I sus- pect, as the result of cultural change than through intellectual collapse' (pp 125- 126). Unfortunately, he does not properly connect cultural change with the iidellectual collapse of religion: he merely assumes he is right in his beliefs, in appealing to feelings (emotions, p 96), and then regretfully describes ongoing cultural change. In short, John Habgood cannot let go of what is, ultimately, his religious fundamentalism.

The views -expressed in this Journal are not necessarily those of the Society.

Ethical Record, June 2009 13 VIEWPOINTS

The Crime of Aggression Contrary to what Chris Coverdale sought to argue (ER May 2008 from page 12), the crime of aggression — the crime against peace — is not a crime under UK domestic law. In R v Jones, the House of Lords held this, (2 All England Law Reports 2006, at page 742) and went on to explain that new crimes in the UK have to be created by Parliament and Parliament had omitted to include the crime of aggression in the UK's 2001 International Criminal Court Act.

We need for that Act to be amended to include this crime — with a definition and an exposition of the elements of the crime. Even in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, where the crime of aggression is included at Article 5, there is no definition and the elements of the crime are not spelled out.

. Both the Rome Statute and the UK 2001 Act need, therefore, to incorporate the words used in the definition of crimes against peace in the Nuremberg trials after World War II, Crimes against peace: (i) planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a •ar of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances (ii) participation in a common plan or conspiracyfor the accomplishment ofany of the acts mentioned under (1).

Unless the crime of aggression, with a definition and exposition of its elements, is incorporated by Parliament in a UK Statute, future 'statesmen' will not be deterred by the threat of punishment from launching further illegal, aggressive wars such as the attack on Iraq 2003. Chris Purnell, Barrister — Orpington, Kent Pascal' s Wager limit wager that God exists and he does, you gain all Ifyou wager that he does and he does not, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation, that he does exist. - Blaise Pascal I was very interested in the article by Robert Schwarz on Pascal' s Wager (ER May 09) as I have recently been challenged by it during a discussion. A few reflections of my own might therefore help further. Putting aside the fact that the word 'God' almost certainly means different things to different people I would like to begin by disagreeing with William James that believing in God is innocuous if one accepts the common if sometimes vaguely held view that there is a great Creator, independent of his creation, omnipotent and omniscient among other great attributes.and-who-can-be-Urnal to in times of great need._

I belong to a discipline very close to that of psychology and from about the age of 10 to 45 I was a fervent believer in God and prayed to him every day. Something then happened that jolted my faith to its foundations and I became an atheist in less than a year. I also came to realize that there is real damage in a belief system that diverts one's psychic energies away from solving the problems of life oneself to "trusting Jesus" as in the words of a well-known hymn, 'Are you weak and heavy laden — take it to the Lord in prayer etc.' The net effect of this is to split one's thinking and this weakens one's efforts.

14 Ethical Record, June 2009 Not believing in God is not easy; it is just that I have discovered that it is more successful. One of the thinkers who has come to help me most is . In some ways I am surprised he is not better known. The impact of what he thought was not missed on the believers of his day. In 1656, as a young man, he was excommunicated from the Jewish congregation of Amsterdam. Later the Inquisition tried to seize his manuscripts (and very nearly succeeded).

I was curious too to see a news flash that John Paul II towards the end of his pontificate had entertained the mathematician Prof Michael Fleller of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, Cracow while on a retreat. Prof. Heller thinks that there is mathematical support for the idea that God is outside the Universe. In the course of his argument he referred back to Spinoza and also favoured the views of Leibnitz who opposed Spinoza in his day According to a summary of the argument in The fines it was suggested that Heller did not prove the existence of God but only that there was enough space for Him but as I have no hope of following the mathematics it is best I leave it there. However it all illustrates the point that the theological world of the believers still see Spinoza as a serious threat.

Spinoza changed the whole basis of the debate about God. He suggested that there was no justification for distinguishing between God and the Universe. In modem jargon he was a pantheist. I think it is easy to assume from the suffix -theist that he was a variant of a God believer while what he was really saying is that while we might stniggle to leam more and more we can never jump out of our Universe and take a short-cut to a Creator.

After all that is what people mean in practice when they say that they believe in God. If God, and Pascal did see things this way, was an infinite being then we could in no way grasp Him anyway, He would simply disappear into His own infinity. But believers do not think like that. God has come down to us: in the Bible - the "Word of God", or He is incarnate in the Son of God as in, "our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man." One can see too the point as far as the Pope was concerned. Once a revelatory God is gone, so too has the authority of the Catholic Church.

But what Spinoza was saying is that it's all a human effort to build up our lives. lt is also our responsibility. One person who grasped this clearly was Albert Einstein. He saw scientific endeavour as one of the few ways of fmding out more about life and existence. He was clear that he had no belief in a personal God or in human beings being in some special relationship to Him. He did sometimes use the word God but, as he said himself, it was Spinoza's God he was thinking about. So my answer to Pascal is to put up an altemative statement. If there is no God and you do not believe in Him it doesn't make any difference but if you spend all your life in His service and He doesn't exist then you have wasted much of your life.

At a deeper level I also think there is something bogus about the whole argument. I do not think that if one arrived at the Pearly Gates and said, "Well I didn't know whether God existed or not so I took a chance on it and thought it safer to believe in Him,- I think St. Peter, together with the best theologians, would agree that God would not be impressed with this sort of manipulation.

Ethical Record, June 2009 15 What is needed is a deep honesty and sincerity. That is what we should work for in formulating our ideas and in the running of human life both at an individual and a public level. Humanity may be finite, may have made many mistakes and gone up blind alleys but this life is the only life we have got and we had best make the most of it and seek to build a stronu platform for our children's future. The God debate now seems to me to be one of the biggest blind alleys down which humanity has gone in the past and if I'm not much mistaken a great number of people are now realizing this in their own way. The task is to create an alternative and it will not be helped by taking a chance on ones commitment, as Pascal suggests.

But, oh yes, just supposing this way of thinking is all wrong after all, supposing some deity is there to greet me after death and so I say, "I did work out the best conclusions I could with the evidence I had and I tried to love my fellow human beings and struggled with them to make the world a better place for our children, I may have made a few mistakes but will you forgive my big mistake in, not believing in You and accept my sincerity?" Well, do you think that God would refuse?

PS. If there are feminists around who object to my sticking with the masculine gender pronouns He, Him etc when referring to God may I say that as I cannot think of God as existing the issue seems to me to be redundant. John Edmondson - Louth, Lincolnshire

Casual Immorality Robert Schwarz (ER May 09) began by quoting Blaise Pascal to the effect that "If you wager that God exists and he does, you gain all. If you wager that he does not and he does not, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation, that he does exist."

Consider the casual immorality and indeed futility of what is being proposed. One is asked to attempt to gain an immortal reward by wilfully deceiving the supposed fountainhead of morality and perception — for if one truly believed that God existed, what need for Pascal's proposed wager? The argument that you lose nothing comes strangely from one whose fame partly rest on his having propounded the nature of probability arising from the study of uambling. After all, the very essence of making a wager is that the gambler advances a stake which he stands to lose. What then in reality is the nature of the stake that the gambler, in despite of Pascal's sophistry, is bound to lose'? It is surely nothing less than his moral autonomy! For if he is to make a convincing show — at least as far as human cognisance is concerned of his sincerity, is he not bound to unquestioningly accept the authority and guidance of the priest and to go through the motions of believing in the absurd? Hence, so far from losing nothing, he in fact stands to lose his immortal soul. In religion as elsewhere he would learn that hereds,no_free lunch! What indeed would it profit a man even if he gained a (wholly imaginary) heaven only1to-lose-all-that-in_the_real apprehensible world gives a man dignity and self-respect!

No, Pascal. You lie if you wish to, to your own, and God's, hearts' content: the virtuous (and rational) man is not prepared to allow the priest to walk all over him on the basis of some paltry spiritual sleight-of-hand. The stake that you are tempting him to wager (and surely lose!) is far too high a price to pay for a purely notional 'heaven'. Albert Adler – London

15 Ethical Record, June 2009 GUERNICA REVISITED

This poem by SPES member Martin Green is displayed in-the Whitechapel Art Gallery, East London, opposite a tapestry of Picasso's Guernica

On the walls of the United Nations building in the City of New York They have a mural of Pablo Picasso's Guernica A painting that commemorated the first aerial bombardment of a civilian population An early experiment in what the Nazis were later to call 'total war'.

Around the world, night after night, people were able to witness in their homes Delegates of the United Nations running to and fro In front of Picasso's Guernica, a scream of pain upon the wall. Meanwhile, American and British airplanes were bombing the city of Baghdad With hundreds of thousands of tons of explosives.

The delegates of the United Nations were unconcerned as to the defenceless citizens They were hurrying to and fro in the corridors While Picasso's Guernica was screaming silently on the wall.

The dead citizens of the capital of the Basque country, Guernica Are commemorated in the hall of the building of the United Nations in New York The dead citizens of the capital of Iraq, Baghdad, were commemorated fleetingly in images round the world.

On the road from Kuwait to Basra, a retreating army was mercilessly massacred. The delegates of the United Nations were meanwhile running to and fro beneath the mural of Pablo Picasso's Guernica.

Ethical Record, June 2009 17 TULE SCIENCE COLLECTIONS IN THE BRITISH LIBRARY ... HISTORICAL AND MODERN Paul Allchin Lecture to the Ethical Society 8 March 2009, SPESk contribution to the British Associationk Annual Science Week to celebrate achievements in the advancement of scientific knowledge.

The presentation aimed to provide an overview of the historical and modem science collections in the British Library, to impart a flavour of the richness and breadth of the BL science collections and where to find what, with modem online resources.

An important intention was also to provoke questions about the nature and definition of science and scientific research, such as 'What is knowledge?' and the role of the BL and other science collections and archives as knowledge power houses or dusty archives. Are science libraries just for researchers to regurgitate and recycle text or to add their own creative sparks to this knowledge? What does advancing knowledge really mean?

In the information world, professionals are interested in asking 'What is happening between people and paper, between eye to print, within human-computer interactions, between people and pc screens?'

Role Of The British Library The BL offers the space and facilities for innovative researchers to develop new models for the mind, enhancing inner world representations of outer world realities ... thereby advancing knowledge for society. Cognitive reprocessing and conceptual reorganisation transfonns data into information and information into knowledge, with its many social applications.

The British Library is the UK National library and steward of the nation's intellectual heritage includinc the sciences. The library is a two site organisation: reference collections are housed at St. Pancras, London and lending collections at Boston Spa, Yorkshire.

The mission of the BL is outlined in the British Library Corporate Strategy 2008-2011 and includes 7 key priorities ...to capture extensively and store UK digital publications, to connect users with content, to transform access and preservation for newspaperS, to support UK research with innovative services and integrated processes, to build the digital infrastructure, to integrate storage and preservation of physical collections and to develop as an organisation.

Brief History Historically the BL was set up by the 1973 Act and founded from the National Central Library, London (1916) and the National Lending Library of Science and Technology, (1961).

In 1998 the new HQ at St. Pancras opened by HRH The Queen and this signalled the culmination of over 30 years of planning and to create a new central national UK library. In 2001 the launch of the integrated catalogue was an important symbolic step towards collection integration. 18 Ethical Record, June 2009 Guiding The Science Researcher Through The BL Collections Accessing science collection items involves going through the reader registration process and requires an ID, proof of address and clearly stated research needs.

Collections are on open access on shelf, closed access in storage. Online ordering is through the integrated catalogue and delivery times vary from 70 minutes, 2 hours, 6 hours to 48 hours.

There are designated reading rooms and security measures for consulting rare and valuable science material The lending of BL stock occurs only through public and academic libraries from the lending collection stock in Yorkshire, not through the London reading rooms.

Opportunities and challenges faced by the science researcher in the BL are based on the fragmented yet rich variety of science sources in many formats. Science sources are scattered between many departments and collections.

Resource discovery, learning to be an investigator and evaluator of information and developing research skills are the challenges that await the new comer. They will be supported by expert reference teams and guided towards what they need and user training is readily available.

Other challenges that may be encountered include language barriers ... changing specialist discourses and terms over time and place, e.g. medieval science in Latin, 19th century industrial chemistry advances in German, non-western science e.g. oriental medicine etc.

Learning to use the computers for research and knowing their limitations may need patience for novice and experience user alike but will reap dividends in accessing the vast number of electronic resources available.

Science Resource Discovery ... Finding Tools A wealth of finding tools awaits the researcher in tracking down both classical and modem science including British Library integrated catalogues, online databases, both bibliographic and full text.

The BL offers access to commercial publishers' portals and electronic journals, professional organisations' online portals and their publications e.g. IEEE, IET, Institute of Physics, Royal Society etc.

The range of finding tools for tracking down historical science literature includes the ESTC 18th Century Short Title Catalogue, subscription based databases for the history of science, print based unpublished catalogues and card indexes held by BL departments, encyclopaedias and biographical dictionaries, specialist internet sites' hand-lists, pre-I801 auction and book dealers' catalogues, newspaper cuttings collections etc.

In addition full text e-journal platforms e.g. JSTOR include digitized full text science journals from the 17th century e.g. Royal Society of London Philosophical Transactions I665-. Subject access to early printed material via the British

Ethical Record, June 2009 19 Museum's subject indexes is another research route. The Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (1801-1919) and the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue remain useful tools for these time periods.

Types Of Science Literature There exist a variety of published and unpublished types of literature including books, monographic series, journals, abstracting journals, conferences, grey literature, PhD theses, technical report series, patents, technical standards, (e.g. BS, ISO, ASTM, ANSI ... print/online), newspapers and bibliographies.

Other types of science literature include official and government publications commissioned by government agencies, inter-governmental agencies and their publications, business information sources, journals, company reports etc, publishers archives.

More unusual types of science literature includes explorers' expeditions and their collected data and reports, 19th and 20th century scientists' private papers and correspondences, e.g. Wallace, Huxley, Garton, Lankester, Eva Germaine.

Diversity Of Science Publication Formats ...Print versus e-sources Traditional formats like print include books, journals, newspapers, while microfiche and microfilm reels e.g. for 18th and 19th century research collections provide an alternative preservation format. Audio formats in various guises e.g. wax, tape, records, e-files, images are traceable through the Sound Archive catalogue.

Online BL catalogues for these 18th and 19th century microform collections (23, 000 works) exist to access and explore this format. One of these catalogues Mcludes the photographically illustrated book catalogue from 1839 — 1914.

Modern electronic formats encompass digital collections as hand held CDs, DVDs, and online resources via the web. Examples include virtual books (based on Turning the pages software) in the 13L online gallery eg: Leonardo's personal sketches and notebooks, the Terra Nova Scott expedition, Nobel prize winners e.g. Fleming, Vesalius's Anatomy, Elizabeth Blackwell's Timbal and Mercator's Atlas. Modern Science In The Science Reference Collections The focus in the BL for research level modern science from the 19th, 20th and current century can be found on reading room levels 1, 2 & 3 and were historically formed from the Patent Office Library (1855-1962) and later in the 1950s expanded with medical-and-bioscience-topicsrA-business-collection-was-added-in-1 982, the nucleus of the present Business and Intellectual Property Centre, as it is called today.

Modern Science In The Humanities And Social Sciences A good open access reference collection exists in the main reading room on level 1 with the main collections stock in closed access storage in basements, Woolwich and Boston Spa. Collection items need to be ordered online through the catalogue. The subject scope includes popular science and textbooks, nursing, psychology, psychotherapy, counselling, alternative medicine (in various collections) etc.

20 Ethical Record, June 2009 Distribution of Science in the BL Departments & Named Collections LISS Humanities and Social Popular science, science Sciences collection biographies, textbooks, technical manuals, history of science, s cholog STM Science Technology Modern, pure & research level Medicine collection science, history of technology

BIPC Business & Intellectual Key business sources, 19th & Property Centre 20th century trade literature, history of science inventions as atents APAC African Pacific & Asian UK colonisation and it s collection technological im act Manuscripts collection Medieval science includin illuminated NSA National Sound Archive Wi I dl ife, scienti sts, oral hi stori es Map collection , Geological surveys etc Social Sciences & Official Pub. Science related statistics, state science, law etc DSC Document Supply Centre Science lending collection Newspaper library Trade and professional

Modern Science In The Social Sciences This collection includes law and official publications from the House of Lords. House of Commons. It includes 1-lansard debates, statutory instruments, Parliamentary Committees and their papers and is an invaluable series of sources for exploring the impact of science and technology on social and political history and the legislative responses to the UK industrial revolution, e.g. clean air acts, health & safety, etc.

Publications from national public and governmental agencies such as the Departments of Health, Food, Agriculture, regulatory bodies overseeing atomic energy, research councils and National Physical Laboratory are all housed here.

This social science focus includes the National Statistics Collection, covering the publications of the UK Statistical Office, economic history resources, demographic trends and health care management.

Modern Science ItiThe Document Supply Centre Lending Collections DSC provides interlibrary lending and document supply to the UK, Europe, and internationally. The scientific conference collection and grey literature e.g. research report series, theses etc provide a crucial research base of literature that includes a journal collection of 40,000 current titles and 250,000 titlesmany c " abstracting journals and post 1958 Soviet research reports.

Ethical Record, June 2009 21 Historical Named Collections

Sir Hans Sloane Printed Book Medieval science, medicine, Collection (formerly basis of maths, astronomy, astrology, BM library) & Royal Soc alchemy and magic mem bers Sir Edwin Chadwick collection 1800-1890 Public health & sanitation George Richard Jesse Vivisection collection Sir Joseph Banks Medieval science

King George III Mixed collection 18th century, English & European Thomas Grenville 60 manuscripts

Marie Charlotte Carmichael 1880-1958 Birth control and Stopes health issues , Rev Dr Charles Burney 1757-1817 18th century newspapers Evanion Collection Victorian ephemera

Science In The African, Pacific And Asian Collections This collection includes non-European science (1600-1947) and is based on the India Office Library, East India Co and Foreign Office Board of Control records.

Geographically the collection covers India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, Persian Gulf; Middle East, North Africa, Ethiopia, Indo-China, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and has a wealth of sources on the history of western technology transfer and 'development'.

Additionally, official publications of the India colonial central, provincial and presidential government publications including series from 1829-1950 covering British-Imperial-imperatives-to-use-technology-to-civilize_India,_ in_the_areas of transport, medicine, agriculture etc are part of this collection.

These resources can be accessed through the India Office Records available via the National Archives web site at Kew and BL web site.

Science In The Map Library And Collections The BL map collection is a UK national collection spanning cartography from 15th century to present, including geology, astronomy and navigation. A variety of maps, . national, regional, agricultural, meteorological, population, medical, statistical, transport related e.g. canals, railways, telegraph, military, naval and maritime can be

22 Ethical Record, June 2009 traced through the map catalogue. The collections can provide evidence for the UK's urban development through urban plans... land use, town planning, architectural history, sanitary engineering, chemical pollution and also offer ordinance maps through the centuries and the impact of world wars.

Science In The National Sound Archive The National Sound Archives (NSA) offers a wide variety of sound formats and topics including bioacoustics, i.e. wildlife sounds, ornithology, etc, oral history, e.g. famous scientists, doctors, nurses, physiotherapisLs, including Lord Rutherford amongst others. The NSA collections naturally focus on audio engineering journals and books, audio technology history and 6,000 sound recordings of industrial archaeology, machinery and transport. The NSA catalogue provides the search tool for this unique collection.

Science In The Newspaper Library And Collections • The Newspaper Library at Colindale, London holds weekly science trade journals such as Railway magazine 1835-, Builder 1842-, Engineer 1856-, Automotor & Horseless Vehicle journal 1896 — etc. Newspaper e-resources and news databases including NewsBank can be used for-full text online searching.

For Maher enquiries, contact Paul Allchin on pauLallchin@bLuk

HUMANIST REFERENCE LIBRARY Some recent acquisitions Antony, Louise M. Philosophers without Gods. Meditations on atheism and the secular life. Barnes, L.Philip. Religious education: taking religious difference seriously. Beckley, C. & Waters E. Who holds the moral high ground? Berg, Geoffrey. The six ways of atheism. New logical disproofs of the existence of God. Clark, Thomas W. Encountering Naturalism. A worldview and its uses. Flew Antony with Varghese A. There is a God. How the world X most notorious atheist changed his mind. Fuller Steve. Dissent over descent. Intelligent design's challenge to Darwinism. Herrick, Jim. Hutnanism - an introduction. 2nd edition with a new Forword. Heyeokah Guru. Adam and evil. Hider, James. The spiders ofAllah. Travels of an unbeliever on the frontline of holy war Holloway, Richard. Godless morality - keeping religion out of ethics Holohan, David. Baron d 'Halbach X Christianity unveiled. A new translation. Madigan, Tim. W.K. Clifford and The ethics of belief. McGrath, Alister with McGrath, Joanna C. The Dawkins delusion. Atheist findamentalism and the denial of the divine. Onfray, Michel. In defence of athetXm. The case against Christianity. Judaism and Islam. Park, Robert L. Superstition. Belief in the age of science. Warraq, 1bn. Defending the West. A critique of Edward Said X Orientalism.

The Humanist Reference Library is open for members and researchers on Mondays from I2noon-4pm and on Tuesdays to Fridays from 2 - 6pm. Please let the Society know of your intention to visit. The Library has an extensive collection of new and historic freethought material.

Tel: 020 7242 8031/4. Email: [email protected] Ethical Record, June 2009 23 PROGRAMME OF EVENTS AT THE ETHICAL SOCIETY The Library. Conway Hall. 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, WC IR 4RL. Tel: 020 7242 803114 Registered Charity No. 251396 Website: www.ethicalsoc.org.uk email: [email protected] For programme updates, entail: speseventsgyahoo.co.uk. No charge unless stated.

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY presents an Exhibition of EVOLUTION: THE FOSSILS SAY YES! Fossils selected and arranged by Mike Howgate Open now - View any time Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Lohdon WC1

JUNE 2009 Sunday 14 1100 WILLIAM NICGONAGALL (1825-1902): 'THE WORLD'S WORST POET'? Ian King 1230 RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION IN NIGERIA. Len Igwe (CFI and IHEU) 1500 THE FOSSIL EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION. Prof. Adrian Lister, Natural History Museum Palaeontology Dept. Sunday 21 1100 WHAT IS THE 'NEAR DEATH' EXPERIENCE? Chris Bratcher 1500 HUMANISM AND RELIGION IN PERU. An account by Manuel Paz y Mino, founder and Director of the Peruvian Rationalists and Humanists Sunday 28 1100 THE KEYNESIAN 'REVOLUTION'. David McDonaugh JULY Sunday 5 1100 W.K.CLIFFORD AND 'THE ETHICS OF BELIEF'. Tim Madigan on his new book (ISBN 1-84718 -503 -7). Saturday II PER/SPES LECTURE: 1-100—THROWAWAY-PEDAGOGYAND-THE-DOWNSIZING-OF-EDUCATION Frank Furedi, Sociology. University of Kent. 1300 Optional buffet E5. Sunday 12 1100 INTELLECTUALLY RESPECTABLE CREATIONISM. Donald Roourn 1500 RELIGIOUS LIFE ALONG THE SILK ROAD Part II. Mao Ming (SOAS) returns to show slides of the ancient reliuions in Asia Sunday 19 Events to be confirmed. Sunday 26 0930 ANNUAL COACH TRIP. Meet at Conway Hall.- - Probable destination Kent (tbc).. For details ring 020 7242 8031 Published by the South Place Ethical Society, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, WC1R 4RL Printed by J.G. Bryson (Printer). 156-162 High Road, London N2 9AS. ISSN 0014 - 1690