To Light the Flame of Reason: Clear Thinking for the Twenty-First Century

by Christer Sturmark, Douglas Hofstadter (Contribution by), Douglas Hofstadter (Foreword by)

Overview

To Light the Flame of Reason is all about the art of clear thinking, an art that is needed now more than ever in the world we now live in. Written for anyone who wants to navigate better in this world filled with populist dogmas, anti-science attitudes, and pseudo-philosophy, authors Christer Sturmark and Douglas Hofstadter provide a set of simple tools for clear thinking, as well as a deeper understanding of science, truth, naturalism, and morality. It also offers insights into the rampant problems of extremism and fundamentalism – and suggestions for how the world can move towards a new enlightenment. The book argues that we need to reawaken the basic values and ideals that defined the original age of enlightenment. We need to accept the idea that the world we inhabit is part of nature, and that it has no trace of supernatural or magical forces. Ethical questions should be detached from religion. This doesn’t mean that the questions become any easier — just that ideas are tested and judged without being profoundly tainted and constrained by religious dogmas. Such a form of secular humanism builds on the power of free thought — the power to investigate and understand the natural world. Although not everything can be investigated or understood, the sincere quest for knowledge and understanding establishes a flexible, nondogmatic attitude toward the world. Curiosity and openness lie at the core of such an attitude. The scientific method of careful and open- minded testing, as well as science’s creative and reflective ways of thinking, provides key tools. What clear, science-inspired thinking helps us to understand, among many other things, is that a person can be good and can be motivated to carry out morally good actions without ever bowing to, or being limited by, supposedly divine forces. To Light the Flame of Reason will appeal to adults who are trying to figure out how to deal with the ever-increasing daily bombardment of conflicting messages about what is right, true, sensible, or good, and it should appeal even more to teenagers and university students who are struggling to find a believable and reliable philosophy of life that can help guide them in their choices of what and whom to trust, and how to act, both on the personal and the social level. Today, more people have greater access to information and knowledge than ever was dreamt of before, and more people are concerned about the world situation. More people have the chance, through their own actions, to make a difference. Each one of us, as an individual, matters. It is thus vitally important that each of us should choose, in a conscious and reflective manner, our own views of reality, of the world, and of humanity. And this means that it is crucial for us all to train ourselves in the art of thinking clearly. Christer Sturmark along with Pulizer Prize winning author Douglas Hofstdter argue that we must refocus our efforts on cultivting a secular society, and in doing so, we will rediscover the values and ethics that are so foreign in today’s society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633887749
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/01/2022
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	1,069,018
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.50(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword Douglas Hofstadter ix

Foreword Christer Sturmark xv

Prelude: Concerning Yesterday's World and Today's World xxi

A Global Psychosis xxii

Fatal Superstition xxvi

Swedish Extremism and Superstition xxvii

What We Need Is a New Age of Enlightenment xxxi

Part I The Art of Thinking Clearly

Chapter 1 To Meet the World with an Open Mind: Concerning the Tools and Compass Needed in the Quest for Knowledge 3

My Own Bumpy Trip 3

To Have an Open Mind 7

Explanations and Ockham's Razor 9

Traps in Thinking 11

Rationality and Wisdom 13

Having Ideas and Forming a Philosophy of Life 15

My Point of View 18

Secular Humanism 19

Interlude: On Spirituality and Flow 21

Chapter 2 Believe That I Know: Concerning Reality, Knowledge, and Truth 23

What Is Knowledge? 24

Is What Seems Real Really Real? 26

Matters of Fact and Matters of Taste 28

What Is Truth? 30

Truth as Absolute, Truth as Relative 33

Social Constructions 39

Postmodernism and Education 41

Relativism and Politics 43

Interlude: On Three Great Mysteries 44

Chapter 3 Beliefs Based on Good Reasons: Concerning the Grounds That Underlie One's Convictions 47

"But What Do You Believe in, Then?" 49

Is Belief in Science a Kind of Faith? 50

Intellectual Honesty 51

"Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence" 55

Unmasking What Is Implausible 56

Interlude: On Exploring Rival Moves in Chess and Rival Moves in the Game of Life 61

Chapter 4 What Is Science? Concerning Theories, Experiments, Conclusions, and Science's Essence 65

At the Very Heart of Science 66

Experimentation, Rejection, and Revision: The Very Core of What Science Is 71

Deductive Processes of Inference 78

Inductive Processes of Inference 80

Case Study: Louis Pasteur and Spontaneous Generation 82

Falsifiability 84

Mathematics and Its Absolute Truths 85

Blind Experiments and Placebos 87

The Darker Side of Science 89

Are Religion and Science Mutually Compatible? 90

Interlude: On the Usefulness of Science 91

Chapter 5 Ghosts in the Head: Concerning Our Wonderful but Easily Fooled Brains 93

Our Brains Pull the Wool over Our Eyes 93

Social Thinking and Abstract Thinking 110

Moral Thinking 113

Was the Human Brain Designed to Be Religious? 114

Our Very Human Theory of Mind 119

Magical Thinking 120

Interlude: On Heaven and Paradise 121

Chapter 6 A Natural World: Concerning Naturalism, Agnosticism, and Atheism 123

Naturalism and Materialism 123

Atheists as Provocateurs 125

Atheism in American Life 125

Atheists as Beings with No Morality 128

Agnostic or Atheist? 128

Many Agnostics Are Actually Atheists 130

What Does an Atheist Actually Believe? 132

Thirteen Prejudices about Atheism 135

Atheism's Rebirth and Disappearance 143

Interlude: On Superstition and Hocus-Pocus 143

Chapter 7 Being Good without Needing God: Concerning Goodness, Evil, and Morality 147

The Problem of Evil 147

Omnipotent-Yes or No? 148

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways 149

Some Kinds of Evil Aren't Real, despite Appearances 150

Is God Actually Good? 151

Morality Has No Need for a God 152

The Fight between Zeus and Shiva 155

Eve is Always Right 157

A Secular View of Evil and Morality 158

"The Problem Is Merely That Humans Misinterpret Religion" 159

The Natural Roots of Morality 160

Empathy and Identification 163

Interlude: On prime, Punishment, and Responsibility 164

Chapter 8 New Age Beliefs and the Crisis of Reason: Concerning People's Beliefs in Strange Ideas 167

Unreasonable Beliefs 167

Positive Thinking and Pseudoscience 168

Nikken as a Case Study 169

Homeopathy 173

Exploiting the Cachet of Antiquity and That of Science 175

Quantum Physics and the New Age 176

Category Errors and the Ladder of Sciences 177

A Case Study: Astrology 180

Second Case Study: The Myers-Briggs Test 183

Synchronicity 186

Case Study: Hug and Bug 187

New Age Prejudices 189

Interlude: On the Mystic Land of Shangri-La 193

Part II The Pathway to a New Enlightenment

Chapter 9 When Religion Runs off the Rails: Concerning Fanaticism, Extremism, and Christian-Style Talibanism 199

Does God Hate Women? 200

The Catholic Church's Opposition to Abortion 200

Sexual Apartheid in Judaism 201

Sharia and the Cairo Declaration 202

Religion and Tradition: A Study in the Oppression of Women 206

Blasphemy, Apostasy, and Freedom of Speech 208

ISIS 211

Nordic Terror 214

Christian Extremism 215

The Joshua Generation 216

Waiting for the Second Coming of Christ 217

Christian Taliban 219

Jesus Shall Crush the Nonbelievers 222

Interlude: On Human Suffering and Medical Practice 223

Chapter 10 The Battle over Our Origins: Concerning Evolution, Creation ism, and Anti-science 227

Darwin's Legacy 229

Monkey Trial, 1925 230

Evolution Scores a Couple of Victories 232

Intelligent Design 232

Intelligent Design in American Schools 236

Creationism in Sweden 238

Interlude: On the Normal and the Abnormal 241

Chapter 11 The History of Ideas: Concerning the Roots of Secular Enlightenment 243

Reason, Compassion, and Various "Golden Rules" 243

The Philosophy of Ancient Times 245

Three Intellectual Giants 247

Humanity at the Focal Point 248

The Middle Ages 249

The Renaissance 250

Rationalists and Empiricists 253

The Enlightenment 255

Secular Philosophy, Morality, and Politics 257

The Enlightenment as a Movement for Freedom 259

The Nineteenth Century 261

Freethinkers and Atheists 265

Interlude: On Free Will 266

Chapter 12 Secular Voices in Our Day: Concerning Awe, Politics, and Religion 269

The First Humanist Society in the United States 271

The Myth of Albert Einstein's Religiousness 272

Secular Voices Today 278

Interlude: On Teleportation and the Fear of Death 286

Chapter 13 Enlightenment: Concerning Freedoms, Rights, and Respect 289

Universal Rights and Human Liberation 290

Identity as a Trap 291

Islam and the Criticism of Religion 293

Essentialism and Viewpoints on Humanity 294

Gender Essentialism and the Lens of Gender 296

What Is Religious Freedom? 297

Example: Sikhs and Knives 300

For Ethical Independence Rather Than Religious Freedom 301

Religion and Medical Ethics 302

On Secularism and Social Health 303

Is Religious Belief Rising or Falling in Today's World? 307

Interlude: On Gratitude and Feelings of Guilt 309

Chapter 14 What Should We Teach Our Children?

Concerning Faith, Science, and How Schools Talk about Life 311

Let Children Discover the World as It Truly Is 312

Sectarian Schools in Sweden 314

Religious Education in Schools 315

A Fresh New Philosophy of Life for Schools 321

Interlude: On the Natural and the Supernatural 321

Afterword and Words of Thanks 323

Notes 327

Index 341

Editorial Reviews

In an era in which the ideals of the Enlightenment need all the help they can get, we’re lucky to have such a lucid, stylish, and intelligent exposition and defense. This is truly a book for our time. Steven Pinker

Christer Sturmark has done as much as anyone to uphold reason and humane critical thinking. ..His values are gathered and refocused in this, his own book. As a bonus, ..the eminent writer and polymath Douglas Hofstadter, adds his own distinctive lustre to an already luminous volume. Richard Dawkins

We live in a highly polarized world. Knowledge resistance, conspiracy theories and fake news make it ever more difficult to navigate. In To Light the Flame of Reason: Clear Thinking for the Twenty-first Century. Christer Sturmark reflects on our place in history as well as on our potential future as a more united and reasoning humankind. He gives a credible and sensible voice to the new enlightenment-oriented worldview. Björn Ulvaeus, lyricist, songwriter, former member of ABBA

Not only is Christer Sturmark and Douglas Hofstadter writing with clarity and passion about our urgent need for the values of enlightenment in this sad time of populism and scorn for science. They also have this wonderful page turning quality in their prose, that completely captures you like a good crime novel. David Lagercrantz, the New York Times number one bestselling author of The Girl in the Spiders Web.

The author of 'To Light the Flame of Reason', Christer Sturmark, has personally met and interviewed an impressive number of today's intellectual giants. He always manages to make the discussions highly interesting with straight-to-the point questions, thought-provoking angles and analogies, and a good sense of humor. Likewise with this impressive book. If a book like this had been available when I was in my late teens, it would have saved me years of collecting and contemplating important information about human thinking - and its failures. Today's youth need these insights even more, in this period of knowledge resistance, filter bubbles, internet trolls, fake news, false accusations of fake news, not to speak of dogmatic religions. Research indicates that the senior generation is even more gullible regarding social media. Thus, many adults too will benefit from reading this comprehensive collection of arguments - if they still have an open mind, i.e., open to rational reasoning and logical arguments. Dan Larhammar, Professor, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

As a publisher, Christer Sturmark is unique. In the books that he champions you can see his passions for reason and tolerance, for the full flowering of human potential. And now those passions are on full display in a beautiful book of his own, as lucid and illuminating as it is warm and inspiring. What a world it would be if there were more Christer’s populating it. Let enough people read his book and maybe there will be. Rebecca Goldstein

From the Publisher