Richard Dawkins. Stephen Hawking. João Carlos Silva. Learning from the Masters of Suspicion by Robert W. Jenson. Sam Harris (author) Samuel B. "Sam" Harris (born April 9, 1967)[2] is an American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist. He is the co-founder and CEO of Project Reason.[3] He is the author of The End of Faith, which was published in 2004 and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for 33 weeks. The book also won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction in 2005.[4] In 2006, Harris published the book Letter to a Christian Nation as a response to criticism of The End of Faith. This work was followed by The Moral Landscape, published in 2010, his long-form essay Lying in 2011, and the short book Free Will in 2012.
Harris grew up in a secular home in Los Angeles, and is the son of the TV producer Susan Harris,[9] and actor Berkeley Harris. In 2009, Harris earned a Ph.D. degree in cognitive neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles,[11][20][21] using functional magnetic resonance imaging to conduct research into the neural basis of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty.[11][21] Project Reason. History[edit] The project will draw on the talents of prominent and creative thinkers from a wide range of disciplines — science, law, literature, entertainment, information technology, etc. — to encourage critical thinking and wise public policy.
It will convene conferences, produce films, sponsor scientific research and opinion polls, award grants to other non-profit organizations, and offer material support to religious dissidents and public intellectuals — with the purpose of eroding the influence of dogmatism, superstition and bigotry in the world.[4] "One immediate need", according to Sam Harris, "is to build an archive of the best secular resources on the Internet. Registered users can submit their favorite articles, videos, interviews, etc". Users are also encouraged to make donations: "The leading religious organizations have operating budgets of over $100 million per year. There is no equivalent organization in the secular world. Advisory board[edit] Projects[edit] See also[edit] Denys Turner.
Denys Alan Turner (born 5 August 1942) is a British academic in the fields of philosophy and theology. He is currently Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at Yale University having been appointed in 2005, previously having been Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University. He earned his PhD in Philosophy from Oxford University. He has written widely on political theory and social theory in relation to Christian theology, as well as on Medieval thought, in particular, mystical theology. Prior to his position at Cambridge, he was Professor of Theology and Head of Department at Birmingham and has also held Head of Department at the University of Bristol. Turner also worked at University College, Dublin and Manhattanville College, New York. Works cited[edit] Turner has written a number of books on philosophy and theology, has contributed to dozens of others and has written a large number of articles in the course of his academic career.
External links[edit] Michael Shermer. Shermer is also the producer and co-host of the 13-hour Fox Family television series Exploring the Unknown. Since April 2001, he has been a monthly columnist for Scientific American magazine with his Skeptic column. He is also a scientific advisor to the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).[3] Shermer states he was once a fundamentalist Christian, but ceased to believe in the existence of God during his graduate studies. He accepts the labels agnostic,[4] nontheist,[5][6] atheist and others.[7][8] He also describes himself as an advocate for humanist philosophy[9] as well as the science of morality.[10] He has expressed reservations about such labels for his lack of belief in a God, however, as he sees them being used in the service of "pigeonholing", and prefers to simply be called a skeptic.[7] Early life and career[edit] Shermer was raised with guns.
Shermer graduated from Crescenta Valley High School in 1972. Competitive bicycling[edit] Graduate studies and teaching[edit] Daniel Dennett. Daniel Clement Dennett III (born March 28, 1942)[1][2] is an American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science.[3] Early life and education[edit] Dennett was born on March 28, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth Marjorie (née Leck) and Daniel Clement Dennett, Jr.[6][7] Dennett spent part of his childhood in Lebanon, where, during World War II, his father was a covert counter-intelligence agent with the Office of Strategic Services posing as a cultural attaché to the American Embassy in Beirut.[8] When he was five, his mother took him back to Massachusetts after his father died in an unexplained plane crash.[9] Dennett says that he was first introduced to the notion of philosophy while attending summer camp at age 11, when a camp counselor said to him, "You know what you are, Daniel?
First ... Bill Maher.