Sam Harris’s Moral Desperation Move

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Coming to the National Conference on Christian Apologetics? Look me up there, or send an email, please—I’d love to connect with you. I’m waiting for a chance to read Sam Harris’s new book, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values. I like Harris’s thoughtfulness, his recognition of moral realities, and his stand against …

October 13, 2010 – 11:14 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, Origins and Science | Tagged | Comments (102)

Watching Sam Harris Hurt Himself

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Book Review I’m not sure which is more painful: seeing a brilliant intellect like Sam Harris be so deceived, or knowing how surely he is deceiving others. Either way I grieve. So far I’ve only read the introduction to his recent best-seller The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, but that’s enough to …

January 17, 2011 – 3:32 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , | Comments (9)

Sam Harris: Where Reason Fails, Resort To Dogma

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Book Review My reaction to Sam Harris’s latest book has progressed from “painful” to “alarming”—alarming for what Sam Harris is doing to himself, and what he proposes for the rest of us. How, for example, does one explain a paragraph like this from one who claims to champion rationality? This does not mean, of course, …

January 19, 2011 – 9:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , | Comments (7)

Sam Harris: “Firmware” To Upgrade Your Ethics

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Melissa commented concerning Sam Harris: I’m not sure whether you’ve seen this article: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2011/02/07/3131377.htm but Sam Harris spells out exactly how he sees the future. However, some people were not ready for this earthly paradise once it arrived. Some were psychopaths who, despite enjoying the general change in quality of life, were nevertheless eager to …

February 7, 2011 – 7:37 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments Off

Harris’s Inhuman Utopia

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

Sam Harris struggles manfully to defend his Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by way of an online response to objections that have been voiced against it. There are several interesting things to discuss in there, of which I will address just one for now: his proposition, mentioned in this morning’s post, that …

February 7, 2011 – 12:56 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments (5)

Sam Harris: Objections Sustained

This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Sam Harris's Moral Landscape

It’s time for a final look now at Sam Harris’s Moral Landscape, specifically his recent online response to objections (with thanks again to Melissa who pointed it out to us). As I’ve said before, I affirm him for insisting that there are objective moral facts. The question is whether he has found a way to …

February 8, 2011 – 5:08 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism | Comments (4)