50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists by Russell Blackford, Udo Schüklenk (Editor)

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Synopsis

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents a collection of original essays drawn from an international group of prominent voices in the fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics who offer carefully considered statements of why they are atheists.

• Features original essays that offer an extremely diverse range of viewpoints by the inclusion of authors from every continent except Antarctica
• Includes the presence of academic philosophers who work in philosophy of religion, such as John Schellenberg, Graham Oppy, Michael Tooley and others, to give the collection added intellectual gravitas
• Likely to have broad appeal given the current public fascination with religious issues and the reception of such books as The God Delusion and The End of Faith

Library Journal

In more than 50 brief statements organized by Blackford (editor in chief, Journal of Evolution and Technology) and philosopher Schüklenk (coeditor, The Power of Pills: Social, Ethical & Legal Issues in Drug Development, Marketing & Pricing), contributors share views—their routes toward nonbelief and their feelings about the place of religion in the world, for good or ill—as various as those of Christian denominations quarreling over baptism. The only name of note here is James (the Amazing) Randi, a well-known magician and debunker of spurious psychic phenomena. Strikingly, the collection represents a fight of little interest to thoughtful theologians such as John Shelby Spong. VERDICT Considering the popularity of Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great, and Sam Harris's The End of Faith, this unsurprising gallimaufry of memoirs and observations will be of interest to disbelievers.

Biography

Russell Blackford is a freelance writer, critic, and editor, based in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches part-time in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at Monash University, where he specialises mainly in philosophical bioethics and legal/political philosophy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, an on-line peer reviewed journal devoted to rigorous consideration of future prospects for the human species or its possible descendants.

Udo Schuklenk is a German-Australian philosopher. He has written or edited five books and published over one hundred articles in peer reviewed journals and books. His latest books are the co-edited volumes The Power of Pills and The Bioethics Reader. He is the Joint Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Bioethics and currently the Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics at Queen’s University in Canada. His current research focuses on ethical and policy issues in drug research and development.