The-moral-landscape

<p><p>bestselling Author Sam Harris Dismantles The Most Common Justification For Religious Faith&mdash;that A Moral System Cannot Be Based On Science. <p>sam Harris's First Book, <i>the End Of Faith, </i>ignited A Worldwide Debate About The Validity Of Religion. In The Aftermath, Harris Discovered That Most People&mdash;from Religious Fundamentalists To Nonbelieving Scientists&mdash;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.</p>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 We <i>ought </i>to Do To Live The Best Lives Possible. </p>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&mdash;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. </p><p>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. </p></p> <h3> The Barnes & Noble Review </h3> <p> <p>it Used To Be A Given That Religion Was The Source Of All Important Knowledge. Both The How Of The Universe -- What It Is Like, And How It Works -- And The Why -- Why It Exists At All, And Why Human Life Has A Place In It -- Were To Be Answered By Referring To Religious Stories And Authorities. With The Rise Of Modernity Questions Of The First Sort Were Removed From Religion's Purview: We Think Of Them Now As Scientific Questions, To Be Answered By Empirical Investigation. But Many Defenders Of Religion Cling To The Idea That, While Science Is The Proper Venue For How Questions, We Must Still Turn To Religion To Find Answers To Questions Of Meaning And Purpose, Of The Value Of Human Life, And Of Moral Behavior.</p> <p>but Why Should This Be? In Part, As Sam Harris Notes In His New Book, <i>the Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values</i>, It Is Because Secular Liberals Have Tended To Accept A Form Of Moral Skepticism Or Relativism, According To Which There Are No Moral Truths At All Other Than Those That Can Be Asserted Within A Particular Cultural Context. The Idea Of An <i>objective</i> Moral Truth, Then, Is Something That Secularists Have Largely Abandoned To Believers. </p> </p>