Drac

Any good suggestions?

Since I am new to thinking of myself as agnostic, would like some good food for thought. Bertrand Russell is the guy whom got me to change my mind on religion (I read his collection of essays "why I am not a Christian") and I am just finishing up reading Sam Harris's "Letter to a Christian Nation". I thought about picking up something by Dawkins, but he just comes across as a super hardcore atheist and sort of the archleader, but I have never read him, nor do I really know much of what he stands for beside the broad brush the media paints him with, so I have no idea if I would enjoy reading him.

So let me know what you think some good reads would be, keeping in mind I am newbie to this way of life.

I have a 50 gift card to Barnes and noble just begging for me to spend it.

shadowspires

I'd suggest anything by Ayn Rand...
She is a bit of an ardent atheist, but I don't think that is the biggest issue in her books...

"The Virtue of Selfishness" is a great read for someone looking for perspectives on philosophy and value systems.

SithLord

Thanks I may check that out myself.

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debdodd

Joseph Campbell is someone Og turned me on to ... you can ever see his lectures on line if you want to see what he's like before you buy the book. I want just a fun book to read ... going on a 3 week vacation next week and since I read so much at least one to two books a week ... I am running out of books to read .... I have plenty of "deep read" books ... I just want something that's not too deep or that makes me have to think too hard ... any suggestions?

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"Ubi dubium ibi libertas."

"We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again ....."

Armel P

I consider myself most closely identifiable with agnosticism but Dawkins is fantastic. In 98% of what he has written, the gap between atheism and agnosticism is not addressed. I think he's done incredible things from the biology point of view and it doesn't matter that he calls himself an atheist.

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Armel P

If you guys want food for thought / light / fun reading, get something by Michael Shermer.

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Og

"Death by Black Hole" by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

It's a fun little collection of essays about astrophysics stuff and what we know about the universe. He's a really fun author. Definitely lighter than the campbell stuff.

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pseudonous

If you haven't read Nietzsche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", that would be a good one. It's all in story form and is supposed to be one of the more popular philosophy books read for pleasure.

niranjan

Thomas Paines "age of reason " is also good, with the exception that Paine sees nature as God and nothing else.

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debdodd

Oh yeah right Ogster!!! collection of essays about astrophysics .... I don't think so .... I'm not talking trashy romance novels (barf) ... just a good thriller ... nothing about gore and slasher stuff .... a good thick, not to deep sci-fi would be a good read for a long plane trip. Any other suggestions other than "fun" thermodynamics or quantum string theory books?

__________________
"Ubi dubium ibi libertas."

"We are all lone souls. It pays to know humility, lest the delusion of control, of mastery, overwhelms. And indeed, we seem a species prone to that delusion, again and ever again ....."