Communism as a political movement attained global importance after the Bolsheviks toppled the Russian Czar in 1917. After that time the works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, especially the influent
Summarizes humanist views on the meaning of life, civil liberties, suicide, abortion, divorce, euthanasia, sexual freedom, ecological and economic planning, and the world community
Introduces twenty-five extraordinary men and women who followed their own convictions, saw life from a new perspective, and changed and shaped the course of history.
First published in 1940, this book has been helpful for over half a century to people not comfortable with the religious format of typical funeral services. The author, renowned humanist Corliss Lamon
As the indisputable father of Western philosophy, Socrates stands as the archetype of free inquiry and intellectual honesty throughout history. He dared to explore the minds of men, to analyze the con
Detective Eli Paxton is hired to find the missing Westminster Dog Show winner, a case that leads him across the country and that turns out to be anything but routine when people start mysteriously dyi
Are there any ethical values and principles that nonreligious individuals can live by? In a time when many have forsaken otherworldly religions, what does human life mean? What is its significance? S
In this moving depiction of a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the master French realist has created a novel of vivid characters and subtle commentary on suffering and the belief in miracles as the last despera
Plato's fascinating dialogue about legislation and governance in an ideal state supposedly takes place among three travellers passing the time during a long journey by foot through the countryside of
Addresses global issues and conflicts through a humanist ethics perspective, and offers solutions based on reason, optimism, and the values of international human rights.
In this privately published work (1872), written in the tradition of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, English novelist, essayist, and iconoclast Samuel Butler (1835-1902) describes an imaginary v
With the passion of a true poet, Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. 99-55 B.C.E.) expounds the most coherent and eloquent system of materialism surviving from the ancient world. Developing the atomic theory
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), author and pioneering feminist, answers Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France in this, her first stirring political pamphlet. In A Vindication on the
Before the introduction of antisepsis and inoculation, people commonly died due to unsanitary conditions in the home, or following surgery or childbirth. Between them, the great scientists Louis Paste
In his last years Mark Twain had become a respected literary figure whose opinions were widely sought by the press. He had also suffered a series of painful physical, economic, and emotional losses.
The Anglo-American writer and political theorist Thomas Paine (1737-1809) boldly spoke out for social and political reforms, and played an active role in the American War of Independence. His great an
Like many cultures then and now, the early Greeks pondered the nature of the soul. Originally conceived as a kind of ghost, surviving in a bloodless existence after the death of the body, the soul was
What is the foundation upon which moral judgments are made? Why and how do we conclude that an action, performed or contemplated, is right or wrong, good or bad? In the eighteenth century, English phi
The nature and theoretical underpinnings of ethics have been an intellectual driving force animating the pursuits of great scholars. In The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785) Im
People who help us understand the world and how it works are important people. They are scientists, teachers, parents, and many others. They should also help us understand what it means to be a human
This reflective and solitary work was written by one of the best of the "good" Roman emperors, Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121-180), during the course of his military campaigns against barbarian hordes who
