
The Moral Landscape
How Science Can Determine Human Values
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Narrated by:
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Sam Harris
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By:
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Sam Harris
Sam Harris’s first book, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people—from religious fundamentalists to nonbelieving scientists—agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the most common justification for religious faith. It is also the primary reason why so many secularists and religious moderates feel obligated to "respect" the hardened superstitions of their more devout neighbors.
In this explosive new book, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a "moral landscape". Because there are definite facts to be known about where we fall on this landscape, Harris foresees a time when science will no longer limit itself to merely describing what people do in the name of "morality"; in principle, science should be able to tell us what we ought to do to live the best lives possible.
Bringing a fresh perspective to age-old questions of right and wrong and good and evil, Harris demonstrates that we already know enough about the human brain and its relationship to events in the world to say that there are right and wrong answers to the most pressing questions of human life. Because such answers exist, moral relativism is simply false—and comes at increasing cost to humanity. And the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality.
©2010 Sam Harris (P)2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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It will soon become a sociology classic
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4
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Wow. Should be mandatory reading.
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Everyone should consider this book...
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groundbreaking
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Thought provoking as always.
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Important discussion
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Perfectly mind altering
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The author reads the book himself, and his tone is very conserved, conversational, and logical.
Science _can_ tell us how to live a good life.
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This book.
Sam has a way of putting things that make them seem clear and incontrovertible. He gently disintegrates the counter arguments that once seemed almost plausible if only because of their ubiquity.
This book is a well founded, well intentioned and well executed attempt at remaining rational, factual, and scientific. It succeeds!
If I had read the manuscript and could have offered advice I would have suggested that Sam point out the ramifications for us if we fail to adopt a rational model for ethical reasoning. It isn't an exaggeration to say that all life on earth could be extinguished in what amounts to a delusional cult reacting to voodoo warnings of an imaginary enemy. By definition the only differences are that cults are newer and have fewer adherents, delusion excludes religious believe, and instead of spells, people use prayers.
I think you should read this book if you are on the fence. It will likely knock you off onto the correct side.
I love Sam and I think he is doing great work. This book is no exception. Buy it.
Intensely rational. Classic Sam Harris.
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